After a national search, Carol Mathews, M.D., has been named chair of the UF College of Medicine Department of Psychiatry. She steps into this role after leading the department as interim chair since September 2021.
Chair & Brooke Professor
A nationally known clinician and translational researcher in the areas of obsessive-compulsive disorder, tic disorders and anxiety disorders, Dr. Mathews joined the University of Florida in 2015. She serves as the Brooke Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, the director of the UF Center for OCD, Anxiety and Related Disorders, the interim director of the UF Health Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment and the co-director of the UF Tourette Center of Excellence. She has also served as the vice chair for strategic development in the Department of Psychiatry.
Dr. Mathews received her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and her medical degree from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She completed her psychiatry training and research fellowships at the University of California, San Francisco, spending 15 years there and at the University of California, San Diego, as a clinician and research scientist before moving to Florida.
Her research and clinical interests focus on identifying the causes and neural underpinnings of OCD and anxiety spectrum disorders, hoarding disorder, tic disorders and hair pulling and skin picking disorders. She studies the causes and pathophysiology of Tourette syndrome and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders, as well as how individuals with these conditions process information, using genetics, neuropsychological approaches, neuroimaging and electrophysiological methods such as EEG.
Among Dr. Mathews’ notable patient-centered accomplishments are the establishment of the Fear Facers Summer Camp in 2017 — developed to help children with OCD and other types of anxiety find personal growth and manage symptoms — and the creation of a series of animated videos explaining cognitive behavioral therapy to children with anxiety and/or OCD and their families.
In addition to her work in the clinic and the lab, she serves on the advisory board for several nonprofit organizations, including the Family Foundation for OCD Research and the International OCD Foundation.