The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Soares named chair of psychiatry

Following a national search, Dean Giuseppe Colasurdo has announced Dr. Jair Soares will be the next chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, effective June 1.
Soares is presently a distinguished professor of psychiatry and director of the Center of Excellence in Research and Treatment for Bipolar Disorders at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“I am pleased that Dr. Soares is joining the Medical School in this leadership role, and I want to thank Dr. Pedro Ruiz for his leadership and commitment to education during his term as interim chair,” Dean Colasurdo said.

Colasurdo also thanked Dr. James Grotta, who led the search committee, as well as the committee members and the entire department for their patience.

Soares, who received his medical degree from the University of São Paulo Medical School, said he was delighted to join the Medical School as chair.

“This is a great time for psychiatry as a discipline, in particular with advances in the clinical neurosciences,” he said. “The possibilities for further expansion of our clinical services and academic mission are tremendous. I am very enthusiastic about joining the department and working with Dean Colasurdo, the UT leadership, and our faculty to continue to build a top-notch psychiatry department that will fully embrace cross-departmental collaborations.”

Soares completed his internship in internal medicine and psychiatry at the UPMC Health System, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh and his postdoctoral fellowship in neuroimaging at Yale. He completed a residency in adult psychiatry at the University of São Paulo and one at the UPMC Health System in psychiatry, research track.

Prior to joining the University of North Carolina, Soares held faculty appointments at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and the University of Pittsburgh. His clinical research interests include mood disorders and using brain imaging to investigate such disorders.

Read the original announcement in the Scoop

-D. Brown