Karin Neufeld begins as chair of McMaster University’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences on Jan. 1, 2023.

The Canadian-born Neufeld is returning after three decades in the United States, where she was a professor of psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.

Neufeld was also a clinician at both the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Centre and the Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she was clinical director of psychiatry and led its behavioral health consultation service for acute inpatient medical and surgical services.

“The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster offers many important opportunities, including its unique problem-based learning approach, impressive educational, research and clinical services, and especially its culture of collaboration,” said Neufeld, who will also be a professor of the department.

“McMaster’s culture of interdisciplinary collaboration, innovation and dedication to diversity, equity and inclusion are inspiring. I am truly honoured to be a part of this enterprise and excited to contribute to our department’s continued growth,” she said.

Neufeld co-led the design and implementation of major reforms to integrate service delivery at Johns Hopkins, as well as linking inpatient care to outpatient settings for improved, patient-centered outcomes.

Neufeld’s other leadership roles included running an assertive community treatment team caring for people with severe psychiatric illness in East Baltimore, overseeing an inpatient rehabilitation unit for substance use disorders and managing an outpatient care clinic in a medication-assisted treatment program.

Her academic research focuses on delirium epidemiology, prevention, detection, and treatment and she has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles.

Neufeld obtained both her BSc in medicine and her MD from the University of Manitoba School of Medicine. She completed her residency at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Maudsley Hospital Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience in London, England, and followed with a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

“Dr. Neufeld is a researcher and clinician of the highest calibre, whom we are delighted to welcome to McMaster University,” said Paul O’Byrne, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences.

“Her research and clinical expertise will help keep McMaster at the forefront of developments in psychiatry and help to change many people’s lives for the better.”