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Steven Siegel, MD, PhD
Steven Siegel, MD, PhD

Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences, Keck School of Medicine

Dr. Steven Siegel was appointed Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of USC in July 2016. He is a physician-scientist specializing in the treatment of psychosis.


In his current role as Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences, Dr. Siegel oversees operations for a department comprised of 200 faculty members, 50 staff members and 100 residents, fellows, and trainees; more than tripling the size of the department in 5 years since he arrived. His department provides a broad range of mental health services to children and adults at LAC+USC Medical Center including Emergency, Inpatient, and Outpatient Services. Additionally, he has expanded and improved the quality of mental health services at Keck Medicine and USC Care, with an emphasis on consultation liaison and specialty services. During his first year at USC he designed and oversaw the incorporation of student mental health services into Keck Medicine of USC. 


He continues to lead and guide the evolution of student mental health services at USC, both within Student Health, and in the new Keck Medicine student outpatient practice that launched in late 2019. He was named the inaugural Chief Mental Health and Wellness Officer for Keck Medicine of USC in 2021, with responsibility and oversight of mental health services across the Keck enterprise as well as leadership of wellness program as part of Keck Medicine’s nationally acclaimed Care for the Caregiver program.


Prior to joining USC, Dr. Siegel was involved in medical, undergraduate and graduate education. He was Associate Director of Masters in Translational Research for 6 years at the University of Pennsylvania. He directed a course on Therapeutics and Commercialization at Penn, based on his experience with technology transfer. Other major educational roles at Penn included Director of the Clinical Training Program that spanned 6 clinical specialties. He was named one of the nation’s outstanding clinicians by the National Association for Mental Illness.


Dr. Siegel came to USC after 20 years at the University of Pennsylvania, where he had roles in research, teaching and clinical care. He received his B.A. in Neuroscience at Colgate University in 1986, and his M.D. and Ph.D. in Neurobiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1996. He later completed a MacArthur Foundation Training Fellowship before completing his residency in Psychiatry and a Fellowship in Neuropsychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania.

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