College of Nursing launches behavioral health nursing center of excellence

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Sept. 3, 2025) – The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) College of Nursing (CON) launched the Center of Excellence in Behavioral Health Nursing to address the growing demand for skilled behavioral health care professionals by advancing education, research and practice in mental health. The center will expand care models to improve accessibility, especially for underserved populations.

“Our vision for the center is to become a national leader in behavioral health, mirroring excellence in nursing education, research and clinical practice. Our mission is to provide immersive training and advanced interdisciplinary care and to develop behavioral health professionals,” said Tatiana M. Davidson, Ph.D., inaugural Endowed Chair, Center of Excellence in Behavioral Health.

A key focus is on training and preparing highly qualified behavioral health care professionals. By implementing cutting-edge patient care models and integrating the latest research, the center aims to elevate standards of care across the field. “The goal is to build scalable, sustainable models of care that can be replicated nationally, ensuring long-term impact,” said Davidson.

The center is committed to expanding access to behavioral health care for all individuals by leveraging telepsychiatry, integrating behavioral health into primary care and applying trauma-informed approaches to better serve communities most in need.

The center is advancing education by recruiting a director of Behavioral Health Practice Initiatives and Education and developing new continuing education unit programs, strengthening research with over $10 million in grant proposals submitted in the past nine months, expanding clinical capacity through the hiring of new psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners and discussing opportunities for collaborative agreements with MUSC leadership to broaden behavioral health services and training opportunities.

For more information, visit https://nursing.musc.edu/research/centers/behavioral-health.

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About MUSC 

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the state’s only comprehensive academic health system, with a mission to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates over 3,300 students in six colleges and trains more than 1,060 residents and fellows across its health system. MUSC leads the state in federal, National Institutes of Health and other research funding. For information on our academic programs, visit MUSC.edu.

 As the health care system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest-quality and safest patient care while educating and training generations of outstanding health care providers and leaders to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. In 2025, for the 11th consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health University Medical Center in Charleston the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit MUSCHealth.org. 

MUSC has a total enterprise annual operating budget of $8.3 billion. The nearly 34,000 MUSC members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers, scientists, contract employees, affiliates and care team members who deliver groundbreaking education, research and patient care.