Geriatric Psychiatry Program

The UW Geriatric Psychiatry program is a national leader in geropsychiatrist patient care, teaching, and research. A notable strength is its diverse portfolio of clinical and basic research into aging and age-related mental disorders.

Main Challenge

The elderly – especially the very old – are the fastest growing population segment in the U.S. and around the world. As the “baby boom” generation enters retirement age, there is a tremendous need for improving the effectiveness of geriatric mental health care.

Our Approach

  • Understand the mechanisms that lead to behavioral disorders afflicting older adults and develop novel and improved treatments for those disorders.
  • Provide primary care and consultative services for older adults using an interdisciplinary approach that emphasizes chronic disease management and management of complex interacting medical problems.
  • Offer superior training in Geriatric Psychiatry/Psychology that allows trainees to grow in their clinical expertise as well as in the areas of teaching, leadership and innovation.​

Department Faculty

Whitney Carlson, MD

Heidi Clay, MD

Shaune DeMers, MD

Theresa Hoeft, PhD

Douglas Lane, PhD, ABPP, CPsychol

Suzanne Murray, MD

Elaine Peskind, MD

Patrick Raue, PhD

Mark Snowden, MD, MPH

Stephen Thielke, MD, MS, MA

Emily H Trittschuh, PhD

Debby Tsuang, MD, MSc

Richard C. Veith, MD

Lucy Wang, MD

Sherry Willis, PhD

Sample Projects

Care Partners: bridging families, clinics, and communities to advance late-life depression care

Discovering the capacity of primary care front-line staff to deliver a low-intensity technology-enhanced intervention to treat geriatric depression

Estia: computerized intervention targeting cognitive control deficits in depressed adults

Remote assessment of cognitive aging and mental health in older African Americans during COVID-19

Spanish-language lay-delivered Behavioral Activation in senior centers

Validating a non-invasive imaging method to measure astroglial water transport in brain health and disease