Welcome to the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. Whether you are a prospective student, resident, fellow, faculty member, researcher, or community partner, we appreciate your interest in our Department, and I am honored to serve as your Chair.
I joined OU in July 2026 with a vision I call “Innovate & Integrate”, a commitment to advancing our clinical care, research, and educational missions to achieve national prominence, meaningful community impact, and a thriving academic ecosystem. What drew me here is what I found in this Department: exceptional talent, deep commitment, and a genuine readiness to build the next phase of excellence together.
Our Vision
Education and Training. We are strengthening interdisciplinary, hands-on learning to help our students, trainees, and faculty reach their full potential. We are developing career pipelines, mentorship, and research literacy so that everyone in our Department — trainees, faculty, and staff — can contribute to our educational, clinical, and scholarly missions. Our curricula continue to evolve to embrace simulation, telehealth, artificial intelligence, digital health, ethics, and the social determinants of health. We continue to enrich our training opportunities for all. Please visit our website for our Training and Education Programs.
Research and Scholarship. We are building a department-wide research culture in which discovery is integrated across every role and is not limited to investigators alone. OU offers remarkable assets including the Siemens 7T MRI and strengths in health services research that position us for translational, innovative studies. Through internal mentorship, incubators, and pilot funding, we are expanding our investigator pipeline and elevating the visibility of our science, building pathways toward grant success and new discoveries.
Clinical Care. Guided by our "Innovate & Integrate" vision, we strive to anticipate Oklahoma's evolving healthcare needs while setting a national standard for excellence in value-based care. Through prevention, personalized and outcomes-focused care, measurement-guided and technology-enabled practice, and an integrated approach that honors each person's clinical, personal, and cultural needs, we are improving the health, functioning, and well-being of the individuals, families, and communities we serve. Because clinical and patient-related content is maintained separately, please visit the OU Health Mental & Behavioral Health Services page to learn more about our integrated clinical programs.
Culture and Leadership. I believe in leading with accessibility, transparency, collaboration, and accountability. Our transformation will be incremental and sustainable, building on small wins —like a flywheel gaining momentum — and empowering our faculty, staff, and trainees to innovate, integrate, and achieve excellence together—with faculty and staff well-being at the foundation of that culture.
Partnership. We partner across the University of Oklahoma and with communities throughout our state to grow programs, expand our impact, and establish OU as a national and global leader in mental and behavioral health. Through our collaborations, we aim to pioneer new metrics and pathways for early identification and monitoring complex conditions, strengthening the precision and effectiveness of both treatment and prevention efforts while creating rich training opportunities, attracting top talent, and informing new research studies.
This is a pivotal moment for our field and for Oklahoma, and I am inspired daily by the dedication of the people in this Department and the support of leadership at OU. Guided by a shared commitment to be “never done, never outdone,” we are expanding and transforming our Department into a model of integrated, innovative, outcomes-driven clinical care, research, and education built on motivated people, bold vision, and a culture of sustainable excellence.
Thank you for visiting our Department. I welcome you to explore our pages, learn about our faculty and programs, and connect with us.