Message from our Chair Dr. Zafiris J. Daskalakis

It is my sincere pleasure to welcome you to the UC San Diego Department of Psychiatry.

The Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego is world-class. Our mission is "To enhance mental wellness and better the lives of people with mental illness across the lifespan through basic, clinical, and translational research; by educating the next generation of scientists and clinicians; and by providing state of the art, evidence-based personalized and compassionate care, in partnership with our community."

UC San Diego Psychiatry faculty provide exceptional clinical care, cutting-edge research and educational excellence, contributing to a culture of tremendous ingenuity and creativity. Innovations from our Psychiatry faculty have transformed our field. Among US Psychiatry Programs, UCSD ranks as one of the top Departments of Psychiatry in NIH funding. Psychiatry's considerable clinical expertise includes robust programs in inpatient and outpatient psychiatry, intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization programs, and thriving specialty programs in Eating Disorders, TeleMental Health, College Mental Health, Geriatrics, Women's Mental Health, Early-Onset Psychosis, Addiction, Post-Traumatic Stress, and Chronic Pain.

Trainees in the Department benefit tremendously from a multidisciplinary environment and diverse training experiences. Our Department is home to over 350 trainees, including graduate students, interns, residents and post-doctoral fellows, in addition to numerous undergraduate and medical students. We offer unique research and clinical training in diverse methods and applications, including molecular, systems and behavioral neurosciences, psychiatric genetics, psychopharmacology, neuropsychology, mental health technology, and implementation sciences. Residency Training offers tracks in Adult Psychiatry, Combined Psychiatry / Family Medicine Residency, Community Psychiatry, and Research. Department research training programs are supported by NIH and the Veterans Administration; our 19 different Fellowship programs include 4 ACGME-accredited fellowships in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry, Consultation Liaison Psychiatry, and Geriatric Psychiatry, along with Community Psychiatry, Eating Disorders many other clinical and research Fellowships.

Our Department thrives within the dynamic scientific and clinical environment at UC San Diego. Psychiatry faculty and trainees are housed within UC San Diego Health, VA San Diego Healthcare System, and Rady Children's Hospital, collaborating broadly with investigators in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SSPPS), Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health (HWSPH), and UCSD School of Engineering, as well as affiliated institutes including Scripps Research Institute and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. We have close links with San Diego State University through our UCSD/SDSU Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, and with San Diego County Agencies (e.g., Health and Human Services Agency) and the California State Government (e.g., Division of Health Services and Department of Corrections).

Our Department is leading efforts to fight mental health stigma, combat racism, and advance key social initiatives aimed at improving faculty and trainee diversity, inclusivity, and equitable access to care.

I am thrilled to have been recently selected as the Chair of the UC San Diego Department of Psychiatry. Prior to assuming this role, I was a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Temerty Chair in Therapeutic Brain Intervention at the University of Toronto.

As Chair of Psychiatry at UC San Diego, I will work to promote innovation, clinical and research integration, and equity and social justice, and to sustain excellence in our dynamic training environment. We will expand our collaborative research networks and advance measurement-based multidisciplinary care. Our efforts will lead to stronger mental health advocacy, advance patient outcomes, and provide vital opportunities for world-class clinically oriented research.

This is the most exciting time to practice, investigate and advance our field of Psychiatry, and there is no better place to do this than within our UC San Diego Department of Psychiatry! On behalf of our over 400 Departmental members, it is my pleasure to extend warmest greetings to you all.

Zafiris "Jeff" Daskalakis, M.D., Ph.D., FRCP(C)
Dr. Igor and JoAnn Grant Endowed Chair of Psychiatry
School of Medicine
University of California San Diego