Skip to main content
Tyler A. Durns
No Rating Available
(Learn About Our Rating System)

Tyler A. Durns, MD

Languages spoken: English
  • Tyler Durns, MD, Assistant Professor (Clinical), earned his medical degree at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He completed Adult Psychiatry residency at the University of Utah where he served as Chief Resident. Dr. Durns subsequently completed his fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry with the University of California Davis Division of Psychiatry and the Law. He is board-certified in both Adult and Forensic Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Durns' clinical interests include treatment-resistant mood disorders, schizophrenia spectrum and related disorders, trauma and other related disorders, borderline personality disorder, existential and behavioral psychotherapies, and advanced psychopharmacology. His forensic interests include violence risk assessment, criminal responsibility, psychopathy, malingering, and medical malpractice. Dr. Durns is excited to continue mentoring trainees as a member of both the clinical adult inpatient and outpatient teams at the University of Utah Huntsman Mental Health Institute. He also founded and serves as the Program Director for the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship in the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine.

    Board Certification

    American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Psychiatry)
    American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Sub: Forensic)
  • Tyler Durns, MD, Assistant Professor (Clinical), earned his medical degree at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He completed Adult Psychiatry residency at the University of Utah where he served as Chief Resident. Dr. Durns subsequently completed his fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry with the University of California Davis Division of Psychiatry and the Law. He is board-certified in both Adult and Forensic Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Durns' clinical interests include treatment-resistant mood disorders, schizophrenia spectrum and related disorders, trauma and other related disorders, borderline personality disorder, existential and behavioral psychotherapies, and advanced psychopharmacology. His forensic interests include violence risk assessment, criminal responsibility, psychopathy, malingering, and medical malpractice. Dr. Durns is excited to continue mentoring trainees as a member of both the clinical adult inpatient and outpatient teams at the University of Utah Huntsman Mental Health Institute. He also founded and serves as the Program Director for the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship in the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine.

    Board Certification and Academic Information

    Academic Departments Psychiatry -Assistant Professor (Clinical)
    Academic Divisions Adult Psychiatry
    Board Certification
    American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Psychiatry)
    American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Sub: Forensic)

    Education history

    Undergraduate Molecular & Cellular Biology; Minors in Chemistry and Psychology - University of Arizona B.Sc. (Hons)
    Professional Medical Medicine (with Distinction in Research Leadership and Innovation, and Commitment to Underserved People) - University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson M.D.
    Residency General Psychiatry (with emphasis in Neuropsychiatry) - University of Utah School of Medicine Resident
    Residency General Psychiatry - University of Utah School of Medicine Assistant Chief Resident
    Residency General Psychiatry - University of Utah School of Medicine Chief Resident
    Fellowship Forensic Psychiatry - University of California, Davis Fellow

    Selected Publications

    Journal Article

    1. Durns (2021). Do no harm in due process - a historical analysis of social determinates of institutionalization in the USA. History of psychiatry, 32(4), 478-487. (Read full publication)
    2. Durns TA, O'Connell PH, Shvartsur A, Grey JS, Kious B (2021). Effects of temporary psychiatric holds on length of stay and readmission risk among persons admitted for psychotic disorders. International journal of law and psychiatry, 76, 101695. (Read full publication)
    3. Murzl CA, Durns TA, Mowrey LT, Tubbs AS, Boeve S (2017). A Medical Student-Run Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic: One Institution's Experience. Academic psychiatry, 41(5), 582-586. (Read full publication)
    4. Spooner E, McLaughlin BM, Lepow T, Durns TA, Randall J, Upchurch C, Miller K, Campbell EM, Fares (2013). Systematic screens for proteins that interact with the mucolipidosis type IV protein TRPML1. PloS one, 8(2), e56780. (Read full publication)
    5. Dang H, Klokk TI, Schaheen B, McLaughlin BM, Thomas AJ, Durns TA, Bitler BG, Sandvig K, Fares (2011). Derlin-dependent retrograde transport from endosomes to the Golgi apparatus. Traffic (Copenhagen, Denmark), 12(10), 1417-31. (Read full publication)
    6. Durns (2022). Pharaohs, Philosophers, and Freud - Tracing Bias in Modern Correlates of Hysteria. The Journal of psychohistory, 49(4), 298-312.
    7. Durns T, Gethin-Jones T, Monson E, O'Donohoe (2022). Response of US psychiatric programs to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on trainees. BMC medical education, 22(1), 229. (Read full publication)
    8. Lewis BR, Garland EL, Byrne K, Durns T, Hendrick J, Beck A, Thielking (2023). HOPE: A Pilot Study of Psilocybin Enhanced Group Psychotherapy in Patients With Cancer. Journal of pain and symptom management, 66(3), 258-269. (Read full publication)

    Review

    1. O'Connell PH, Durns T, Kious B (2021). Risk of suicide after discharge from inpatient psychiatric care: a systematic review. International journal of psychiatry in clinical practice, 25(4), 356-366. (Read full publication)
    2. Durns T and Iannuzzi (2026). Contextualizing Violence Risk Associated with Hallucinogens. Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing), 24(1), 17-26.

    Book

    1. Durns T, Scott C, Whitehead P, McDermott (2025). A Clinical and Forensic Guide to Cults and Persuasive Leadership.

    Book Chapter

    1. Durns T, Tolton D, Nguyen S, Neha (2020). Indications for Psychotherapy in Older Adults.

    Commentary

    1. Durns (2018). Dave and the person in the room. International journal of psychiatry in medicine, 53(1-2), 103-107. (Read full publication)

    Book Review

    1. Durns T, Kious (2023). Book Reviews: Andrew Scull, Desperate Remedies: Psychiatry's Turbulent Quest to Cure Mental Illness. 34(4), 497-499.
    2. Durns (2023). Book Review- Applied Criminal Psychology, A Guide to Forensic Behavioral Sciences, 2nd Edition. 51(3), 460-462.

    Case Report

    1. Durns T, Rich B, Benson C, Mickey B, Weischedel (2020). A Case of Biopharmaceutical-Induced Catatonia and the Implication of a Novel Mechanism. The journal of ECT, 36(3), e29-e30. (Read full publication)
    2. Grey JS, Durns T, Kious B (2020). Pseudologia Fantastica: An Elaborate Tale of Combat-related PTSD. Journal of psychiatric practice, 26(3), 241-245. (Read full publication)

    Letter

    1. Durns (2026). From Fear to Framework: Toward Understanding of Violence and Mental Illness. Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing), 24(1), 1.

    Other

    1. Durns T, Blum AW, Adhia S (2021). fMRI in the Courtroom.
  • News & Podcasts