Welcome to the Department

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine is among the nation’s best academic departments. We are committed to a vision of being international leaders in advancing the diagnosis and treatment of behavioral disorders.

Our mission is to acquire and refine medical and scientific knowledge and then to apply this knowledge through education and clinical service toward high quality, evidence-based treatment of people with mental illness. We are fortunate to have an outstanding, dedicated staff and excellent faculty committed to providing the best mental-health treatment, medical and graduate student education, residency training, and cutting-edge scientific investigation to achieve this mission.

Our research programs rank among the best in the world. The excellence and innovation of our work is reflected in our extensive research support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as well as other funding agencies. Our large NIH center and program project awards in bipolar disorder, addictive disorders, and basic mechanisms of eating behavior and metabolism place these programs among the nation’s elite.

We are working toward developing novel intervention to prevent the progression and even onset of psychiatric conditions. Our department is the primary location for the University of Cincinnati’s neurosciences research and training program, and this activity is recognized as an area of strength by the state of Ohio.

Our faculty members manage the Center for Imaging Research, a University core facility where we are uncovering the secrets of brain function and how disruptions in these functions lead to mental illness and addiction. In our laboratories we are revealing the molecular and neurophysiological basis of stress and eating behaviors in order to position ourselves for translational science that improves care in the clinic.

We are actively studying new treatments for a variety of illnesses ranging from fibromyalgia to bipolar disorder to cocaine addiction. We offer many opportunities to the public for participation in these studies in order to work with us to advance mental health care. With recent advances in neuroscience, these are very exciting times for psychiatry, and our department is on the leading edge of these advances.

In addition to our current work, we are also strongly committed to developing the next generation of clinicians and scientists. Our department is recognized annually by the College of Medicine as providing some of the best teachers and learning experiences that are among the best in the medical school, thereby helping attract promising young physicians into psychiatry.

We have an outstanding residency program that offers a diverse training experience, and each year we are joined by excellent new resident physicians who enhance our department through their curiosity and by providing compassionate treatment to our patients.

Many of our residency graduates remain in the department, enriching our faculty and becoming community leaders and advocates for mental health. In addition to providing new clinicians, in conjunction with departments throughout the University of Cincinnati, such as psychology and biomedical engineering, we train graduate students in the neurosciences. This training adds to the number of investigators committed to enhancing our understanding of human behavior and brain function, in order to guide future scientific developments that we cannot even imagine today.

Finally, our outstanding clinical programs span the entire network of care for those with mental illness in the Cincinnati region. Through University of Cincinnati Physicians (UCP), we staff University Hospital’s Psychiatric Emergency Service (PES) and inpatient units to provide acute and emergent mental health care for people throughout the Tristate area. In the past few years, we averaged 10,000 visits annually to the PES, a facility which serves as the gateway into mental health care for the entire region. We are currently in the process of expanding our hospital-based services to further improve the care we provide to the community.

Our UC Health-based providers located in the Stetson building near University Hospital provide the highest quality outpatient mental health care in the region; we specialize in the management of mood and anxiety disorders using evidence-based pharmacological interventions, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and other sophisticated psychotherapies.

Many of our psychiatrists have been identified as ‘Best Doctors’ in local as well as national listings. We provide forensic services to the courts and attorneys, and risk assessments to businesses to help manage impaired employees. We also provide addiction services that range from methadone substitution for heroin addiction (at our Crossroads facility) to management of impaired professionals (e.g., pilots or physicians).

Our Central Clinic sites provide compassionate care for the under-insured and have developed innovative programs for women, children and families impacted by mental illness and substance abuse.

Our faculty members also staff the new Lindner Center of HOPE in Mason. In total, we are the largest mental health provider group in the greater Cincinnati area, and we continually strive to ensure that our patients get the very best treatment and care available.

 I am honored and proud to be the leader of this outstanding psychiatry department. We are fortunate to have gathered such a talented group of clinicians, scientists, trainees and staff. We are strongly committed to our mission and to improving and advancing our activities.

Please check this website often to watch for exciting developments in our department. Thank you for your interest in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

Stephen M. Strakowski, MD