I am the Psychiatry Chief of Service for both campuses of the University of Washington Medical Center. I also direct our Psychiatric Consultation and Telepsychiatry Program. My clinical focus is on patients who are hospitalized with simultaneous psychiatric and medical issues. Academically, I most often teach psychiatry trainees about psychopharmacology for refractory mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders.
My research focuses on understanding and addressing the contextual factors like social support and policy that affect health and health behavior. I completed a VA Health Systems Research (HSR) Career Development Award focused on developing a behavioral weight management program for Veterans with PTSD called MOVE!+UP (2015-2020). We are currently testing MOVE!+UP in a VA HSR Merit-funded study using a hybrid effectiveness and implementation RCT design. I recently led another VA HSR Merit-funded study as Principal Investigator (PI) to test a self-directed behavioral weight management intervention among 500 Veterans with obesity; the findings were published in JAMA: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2799407. I am Co-PI for two additional VA HSR Merit-funded studies, both RCTs testing behavioral interventions that harness the power of social support. Last, I am Co-PI for a VA operations-funded project called MOVED By LOVE, a multi-method study that is partnering with Black Veterans to enhance how weight management care in VA serves Black Veterans. The first findings from the study were recently published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-024-08628-7. I am fortunate to work with Veterans with PTSD as a staff psychologist in the VA Puget Sound-Seattle PTSD Outpatient Clinic. Lastly, I have an interest in maximizing research impact by communicating about science with Veterans, the public, institutions, and policymakers.
I am a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and the Director of the Division of Population Health. I am also a Core Investigator at the HSR&D Center for Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, and the Director of the VA Virtual Care QUERI Program.
For the last 35 years, my research has focused on access to care. I have published a framework for conceptualizing access to care in the digital age that incorporates virtual care technologies. I have conducted clinical trials to test the effectiveness of virtual care technologies to facilitate the delivery of evidence-based mental health services in rural primary care clinics. I have also conducted implementation trials to test the effectiveness of strategies to promote the uptake of virtual care technologies by primary care patients and providers. My research has been supported by NIMH, NIAAA, PCORI, and VA HSR/QUERI.
As a board-certified clinical health psychologist, I have primarily focused my clinical work on preventive medicine with special expertise in diabetes, weight management, and tobacco use cessation. I train clinicians in motivational interviewing and health coaching, and am currently a co-investigator on a research study examining an intervention with peer health coaches in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).
After nearly two decades of working in complex healthcare settings, like the VHA and serving in several leadership roles within and external to the VHA, I have grown a passion for supporting those who serve others and improving workplace well-being. I am currently working toward ICF certification to be come an Associate Certified Coach and am enrolled in a Masters program in Leadership and Organizational Development.
Having always been interested in wholistic care, I completed a Med-Psych residency with board certification in both Internal Medicine and Psychiatry. My career has focused on integrating care to improve access to those who suffer from mental disorders. I have experience in developing, implementing, leading, and evaluating integrated Primary Care Mental Health programs. This work led to the development and national implementation of integrated care known in the VA as Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI).
At VA Puget Sound, I led a team that implemented and developed the first PCMHI program which has been rated as one of the top 10. It was through this integrated PCMHI work that I realized rural populations lacked access to mental health care and I became interested in how the emerging digital technologies could be leveraged to provide care. With the goal to improve mental health care for this population, I developed, implemented, and led the first Telemental Health Service at VA Puget Sound known as Promoting Access to Telemental Health (PATH). This program focused on implementing digital health into routine mental health care, evaluation of implementation efforts, and digital health curriculum design. PATH has been fully implemented into VA Puget Sound Mental Health Service Line.
As a researcher, I have served as a principal and co-investigator on numerous research projects that focused on the development and implementation PCMHI and Care Manager programs. More recently, my research has focused on evaluation and implementation of telemental health programs. Current work focuses on improving virtual integrated care in rural VA clinics, integrated care curricular design, evaluating mental health service delivery for the national VA Telehealth Clinical Resource Hubs, and supporting the UW Behavioral Health Institute to develop Digital Health Training programs. In addition, I am proud to serve as a Captain in the United States Navy Reserve and I am an Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran.
Dr. Russell’s professional interests include ADHD, integrated/collaborative care, prevention and complementary/integrative approaches to child and adolescent mental health. He takes a holistic approach to psychiatric well-being that extends beyond medications and psychotherapy to include other evidence-based practices shown to improve brain health including regular exercise, time in nature, supportive social interactions, mind-body activities, good nutrition and sleep hygiene.
I am a consultation-liaison psychiatrist and health services researcher in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Rehabilitation Medicine and Epidemiology. I am also Medical Director of the Department of Psychosocial Oncology at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.
My research interests are in psychiatric epidemiology, health services research, psychiatric oncology, and neuropsychiatry. In my clinical practice, I use a comprehensive, multifaceted approach that may include medications or counseling to help patients achieve their goals. My primary interest is helping people who are coping with medical illness. I am particularly interested in developing better approaches to delivering person-centered psychiatric care to these populations.
I have pursued a career at the intersection of mental health and primary care, training in both family medicine and addiction psychiatry. I currently practice in various integrated care settings as a consulting psychiatrist and in the outpatient adult psychiatry clinic. I am the co-medical director for the University of Washington Psychiatry and Addiction Case Conference (UW PACC), a weekly online learning collaborative to help community providers across the state improve their psychiatric and addiction clinical skills. My area of interest is focused on improving addiction and psychiatric treatment to primary care settings. I also spend a significant amount of time training both family medicine and psychiatry trainees and fellows on integrated treatments for substance use disorders.
As a clinical neuropsychologist who has specialized in aging, I have over 20 years of experience in the field of geriatrics. My clinical work and research has been focused on the full continuum of cognitive aging – from neurodegenerative disease of varied etiologies to healthy brain aging into the 90s and beyond. I have been based at the VA Puget Health Care System since 2008. In this time, I have developed additional and complementary interests in the older adult Veteran who has PTSD, especially how this disorder can interfere with cognition and might contribute to decline and also in the area of reducing disparities in neuropsychological care for individuals who are transgender and gender diverse. Currently, I am the Associate Director for Education and Evaluation for the VISN 20 Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) at VA Puget Sound. I am a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry. Provision of training for future geriatric care providers (MD, PhD, RN, SW, etc) is an important part of my personal mission. I also enjoy connecting with the older adult community through various events and at local senior centers.
