UMSOM Department of Psychiatry Creates New Position to Strengthen and Support Research Program

Psychiatrist-Researcher Dr. Gloria Reeves Appointed to Serve as Vice Chair for Research

Jill RachBeisel, MD, Interim Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), along with UMSOM Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA,  announced today that Gloria Reeves, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, has been appointed to serve as the Vice Chair for Research of the Department.

The new position will provide a centralized office for the coordination of research scholarship in the Department, which has 82 full-time faculty and a research base of $41 million in fiscal year 2019.

“This newly created position represents a major leadership appointment within the Department and signifies the critical importance of our research agenda,” said Dr. RachBeisel. “With her vast 18 years of experience as a faculty member in our Department and her stellar research skills, Dr. Reeves is the perfect choice to help us expand and strengthen our research program.”

In her new role, Dr. Reeves will focus on supporting career development of faculty through grant writing and submissions, establishing a formalized mentorship program in the Department, and providing added support for the Department’s research education curriculum for residents.

In particular, Dr. Reeves will support junior and mid-level faculty members in their career development, as well as facilitate communication, connections, and collaborations within the Department, other UMB Schools and Departments, as well as other institutions.

Dr. Reeves joined the UMSOM faculty in 2002 after completing her medical, residency, and fellowship training, all at UMSOM. Her expertise is in pediatric psychopharmacology and obesity-related health issues among individuals with behavioral health disorders. She completed a National Institutes of Health-funded K12 career development award that was focused on state-of-the-art, obesity-related health assessments for youth and adults.

Dr. Reeves’ research team is structured to conduct “Family-Centered” research, which involves partnering and collaborating with consumers and community stakeholders in all phases of research – design, implementation, and dissemination. She is currently developing and testing a “Family Navigator” model to improve parent and child health outcomes through peer-delivered wellness strategies. Her research portfolio includes a total of $2.7 million in funding, from the National Institutes of Health and elsewhere, for fiscal year 2019.

Overall, the research portfolio of the Department of Psychiatry reflects a wide range of diverse clinical and basic science programs that span translational, educational, and psychiatric services, making significant contributions to scientific knowledge and the delivery of evidence-based care.

“There is a strong tradition of research in the Department of Psychiatry, with the longstanding Maryland Psychiatric Research Center and its nationally-recognized focus on schizophrenia,” said Dean Reece, who is and Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs at University of Maryland Baltimore and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor.  “We look forward to the Department building on this legacy with a new generation of brain and psychiatric research that will advance knowledge and provide critical therapies for our patients.”

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world -- with 45 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs; and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished two-time winner of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research.  With an operating budget of more than $1.2 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic and clinically based care for nearly 2 million patients each year. The School of Medicine has more than $540 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the nation in research funding. As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total population of nearly 9,000 faculty and staff, including 2,500 student trainees, residents, and fellows. The combined School of Medicine and Medical System (“University of Maryland Medicine”) has an annual budget of nearly $6 billion and an economic impact more than $15 billion on the state and local community. The School of Medicine faculty, which ranks as the 8^th highest among public medical schools in research productivity, is an innovator in translational medicine, with 600 active patents and 24 start-up companies. The School of Medicine works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu