Deborah Deas, MD, PhD

Deborah Deas, M.D., M.P.H. is Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences, the Mark and Pam Rubin Dean of the School of Medicine, and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California Riverside (UCR). She serves on the Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Since joining UCR, she led the opening of UCR Health which includes primary care and multispecialty clinical services, and under her leadership UCR School of Medicine has expanded its clinical affiliations, increased its National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, and increased student, staff and faculty diversity. Most recently, UCR School of Medicine was awarded one of 13 National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Center grants.

Prior to joining UCR School of Medicine, Dr. Deas served as interim dean of the College of Medicine and professor of psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). During her tenure at MUSC, she served as senior associate dean for medical education, chief academic officer, associate dean for admissions, senior associate dean for diversity and led the College of Medicine’s committee on accreditation for the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

Dr. Deas earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the College of Charleston in 1978 and her Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from the University of South Carolina in 1979. She earned her M.D. from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1989 where she also completed her residency in adult psychiatry and fellowship training in child and adolescent psychiatry as well as addiction psychiatry. She also completed a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) substance abuse research fellowship.

Dr. Deas is board certified in adult psychiatry, child/adolescent psychiatry and addiction psychiatry. She was the Founding Director of the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program at the Medical University of South Carolina. She has been honored with several national awards in the areas of diversity and inclusion as well as in the field of psychiatry.

Dr. Deas is a fellow with the American College of Psychiatrists and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. She is a member of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Council of Deans. She has been an active participant in the AAMC’s Group on Diversity and Inclusion, Group on Educational Affairs, Group on Women in Medicine and Science and the Group on Student Affairs. Other affiliations include the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Ad Hoc Committee on Editorship and Publications, the American Psychiatric Association Council on Addiction, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, the National Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the Research Society on Alcoholism, and the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism.

Her research interests include pharmacotherapy and psychosocial treatments for adolescents and adults with substance use disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) and anxiety disorders. She has received NIH funding (R01) as well as industry funding for her research and published articles in several peer-reviewed journals.