Director, Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health
Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Associate Professor of Medicine
Duke University Medical Center
Adjunct Professor, Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Adjunct Professor, Department of Public Health, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, PRC (2014-2023)
Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychiatry, School of Osteopathic Medicine, Campbell University, Buies Creek, NC
Visiting Professor, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Full Curriculum Vitae
B.S. Stanford University
R.N. San Joaquin Delta College
M.D. University of California at San Francisco
M.H.Sc. Duke University
Dr. Koenig completed his undergraduate education at Stanford University, his medical school training at the University of California at San Francisco, and his geriatric medicine, psychiatry, and biostatistics training at Duke University. He is board certified in general psychiatry, and formerly boarded in family medicine, geriatric medicine, and geriatric psychiatry. He is on the faculty at Duke University Medical Center as Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Medicine. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Medicine at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and is Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health at Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, China (2014-2023). In addition, he is a Visiting Professor at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Shiraz, Iran. Dr. Koenig has published more than 650 scientific peer-reviewed academic articles, 100 book chapters, and 67 books in print or preparation. His research has been featured on many national and international TV programs (including ABC’s World News Tonight, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Dr. Oz Show, NBC Nightly News) and hundreds of national and international radio programs and newspapers/magazines (including Reader’s Digest, Parade Magazine, Newsweek, Time). Dr. Koenig has given testimony before the U.S. Senate (1998) and U.S. House of Representatives (2008) concerning the benefits of religious involvement on public health. He is the recipient of the 2012 Oskar Pfister Award from the American Psychiatric Association, the 2013 Gary Collins Award from the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC), and the 2021 Frank Minirth Award for Excellence in Christian Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine from AACC. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Religion and Health and is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine (2022-present).
Dr. Koenig is lead author of the Handbook of Religion and Health, 3rd edition (2024, Oxford University Press, with professors Tyler VanderWeele, Ph.D., TH Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, and John Raymond Peteet, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School). He also co-led the 2022 Professional Development Training Course (PDTC) that trained over 1000 U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard chaplains and religious program specialists on “Spiritual Readiness” for combat operations for military personnel, as well as trained Ukrainian military leaders and chaplains on prevention of suicide. He is lead author of Spiritual Readiness: Essentials for Military Leaders and Chaplains (2022) and Moral Injury: A Handbook for Military Chaplains (2023), both available on Amazon.com.
In June 2023, Dr. Koenig was ranked 10th in the world by Research.com in the category of Best Social Sciences and Humanities Scientists, and was ranked 7th best in the United States (Duke Research Blog). In 2024, Dr. Koenig was ranked 1st in the world (lifetime) among highly ranked scholars in the academic discipline of spirituality (Scholars GPS in Spirituality) and 29th in the world in the field of psychiatry (Scholars GPS in Psychiatry). In two recent reviews of papers published in the academic literature on religion, spirituality and health, Dr. Koenig was ranked as the most published and cited author in the field: (1) Yaminfirooz et. al (2024). Informology, 3(1), 111-126 (access); and (2) Abdelwahab et al. (2025). Journal of Religion and Health, 64, 6–33 (access). Until July 1, 2024, he had an active clinical practice as director of psychiatric services at Duke University’s GET clinic, and continues there informally as a consultant.
In the News
New York Times (2-20-2025) on Moral Injury (if unavailable, also click here)
National Public Radio (NPR) Open to Debate (2-21-2025) on “Can religion cure the loneliness epidemic?”
Invitation to White House Faith Office Meeting with Paula White and Jenny Korn, March 5, 2025, and April 22, 2025
