Andres Pumariega, MD
Professor
Chief, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Dr. Pumariega has devoted his over 40 year career in psychiatry and child/adolescent psychiatry to children’s systems of care and cultural diversity in mental health. He received his M.D. from the University of Miami School of Medicine (and later inducted into its Alumni Hall of Fame in 1999) and residency and fellowship in general and child psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center. He previously headed two pediatric psychiatry consultation-liaison services (Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine-Texas Children’s Hospital); three directorships of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (University of Texas Medical Branch, University of South Carolina, and East Tennessee State University), and chaired three departments of psychiatry (East Tennessee State University, Reading Hospital and Medical Center, and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University/Cooper University Health).
He also headed the ETSU Center of Excellence for Children in State Custody, awarded the American Psychiatric Association’s Silver Award for Outstanding Service in 2004, and was Co-Principal Investigator and head of the Cooper Hub for the NJ Collaborative Pediatric-Psychiatry Collaborative, in collaboration with Meridian Health (funded by the NJ Department of Child and Family Services). He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), and Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists and American Orthopsychiatric Association.
He has served as Associate Editor of the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry and the Journal of Child and Family Studies,and on the Editorial Board of Community Mental Health Journal, Journal of Child and Family Studies, and Adolescent Psychiatry. He co-led the drafting of the CMHS Cultural Competence Standards (1999) and the AACAP Practice Parameter for Culturally Competent Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Care (2013), the only cultural competence practice parameters in Medicine. He served as President of the American Orthopsychiatric Association (2010-2012) and President of the American Association of Social Psychiatry (2013-2015), now Immediate Past President of the latter. He was the founding Chair, Work Group on Systems of Care (1994-2001), and Co-Chair, Committee on Diversity and Culture (2007-2015) in the AACAP; and Chair, Committee on Hispanic Psychiatrists (2006-2009) of the APA. He has over 200 scientific publications, published over 250 abstracts, edited three textbooks and four journal special issues.
Dr. Pumariega has received numerous awards, including the APA’s Simon Bolivar Award and Lecture in Hispanic Psychiatry (2004), and the AACAP’s Jeanne Spurlock Award and Lecture on Diversity and Culture (2007).
Associate Professor
Program Training Director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Medical Director, Student Health Psychiatry
Dr. Brown is a Gainesville area native. He completed his undergraduate training here at UF and received his MD degree at the University of South Florida. He went on to complete both his General Psychiatry Residency and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base/Wright State University (WPAFB/WSU) in Dayton, OH from 1999 – 2004. He was then stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base (Shreveport, LA) before returning to WPAFB to serve as the U. S. Air Force Fellowship Training Director for Child & Adolescent Psychiatry for three years. During his tenure in the USAF, he also spent time serving his country at Keesler Air Force Base (Biloxi, MS) and was deployed to Afghanistan before separating in July of 2008.
As a civilian, Dr. Brown worked as a staff Child Psychiatrist at Halifax Behavioral Services in Daytona Beach for just under one year, before moving to Little Rock, Arkansas and joining the faculty at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) from 2009 – 2014. He served as Medical Director for various child psychiatry clinics and was the Division Chief for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry during the last 2.5 years at UAMS. He returned to Gainesville in May of 2014, at which time he worked as a staff Child and Adolescent psychiatrist at Meridian Behavioral Healthcare before joining us here at UF.
Emeritus Professor
Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics
Dr. Bussing’s major clinical interests include comprehensive treatment approaches to disruptive disorders of childhood, combining pharmacotherapy, parent training, clinical group therapies, and school interventions. She enjoys treating the entire spectrum of child and adolescent disorders.
Of special clinical interest is the comprehensive outpatient treatment of disruptive disorders of childhood, combining evidence-based pharmacological and psychosocial therapies. She adapted an established parent group intervention for ADHD, combining it with a child social skills group, into an eight-week manual-based program. Another related project has been the development of a school-problem clinic in conjunction with our psychology services. This clinic provides multidisciplinary assessment of the various school problems children get referred for, with comprehensive treatment planning including medication regimens, behavioral interventions, and tutoring.
Emeritus Associate Professor
A 1991 graduate of the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Dr. D’Alli completed residency training in general psychiatry and fellowship training in child psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center. For 13 years Dr. D’Alli took clinical and administrative leadership of the Division of Child Development and Behavioral Health in the Duke Department of Pediatrics.
Dr. D’Alli developed an Internet-based telepsychiatry service for special education students with learning, social, and emotional difficulties in self-contained Durham, North Carolina, public school therapeutic programs, providing weekly, interactive telehealth consultation to the children, school staff, and on-site child psychiatry trainees during the school year. In 2015 Dr. D’Alli joined the faculty of the University of Florida College Of Medicine, where he played an active role in the clinical, educational, and scholarly missions of the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, including program development in autism and developmental-behavioral pediatrics services. Since his retirement in 2022, Dr. D’Alli has remained engaged with the fellowship program, providing didactic education for our fellows.
Assistant Professor
Dr. Jo joined the Department of Child and Adolescent psychiatry after having completed fellowship training from the same program. He currently serves as consult-liaison psychiatry faculty for patients of all ages with a focus and child and adolescents, providing evaluation and inpatient care to patients admitted at UF Health Shands Hospital. He also provides clinical teaching and supervision to medical students, residents, and fellows.
He completed his undergraduate and medical school education from the University of Miami and residency in Aventura, FL also near Miami. During medical school and residency training, Dr. Jo took particular interest in working with adolescents and young adults, specifically for those at risk of substance use. Dr. Jo has had several projects, publications, and posters in this topic. Dr. Jo is also interested in incorporating artificial intelligence in medicine, specifically to provide around timely detection and interventions to youths.
Dr. Jo has expertise in treating patients with neurodevelopmental disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and substance use disorders. In addition to English, he is proficiently fluent in Korean and Spanish. He enjoys travel, photography, musical instruments, and supporting the Miami Hurricanes athletics.
Donald R. Dizney Chair of Psychiatry
Pre-Eminent Professor
Dr. Mathews is the Brooke Professor and the Vice Chair for Strategic Development in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Florida, the Director of the Center for OCD, Anxiety and Related Disorders at UF, and the Interim Director of the UF Health Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment. Dr. Mathews completed her undergraduate education at Cornell University, and her medical training at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Mathews’ research and clinical interests center around identifying the causes and neural underpinnings of obsessive compulsive and related disorders, including OCD, hoarding disorder, tic disorders, and grooming disorders. She is the co-chair of Scientific Advisory Board of the Tourette Association of America and a member of the IOCDF Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board.
Associate Professor
Division Chief of Psychology
Co-Director/Research Director, Division of Medical Psychology Clinic
Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Dr. McNamara’s training includes the completion of Ph.D. programs in both Counseling and Developmental Psychology, an Internship in Clinical and Health Psychology, and Psychology Residency in the Division of Medical Psychology at the University of Florida. Over the course of his training, he sought out an array of clinical experiences in a variety of settings such as counseling centers, psychiatric outpatient facilities, and hospitals. These training experiences provided him with a solid foundation for treating a variety of disorders from a cognitive behavioral perspective.
Moreover, Dr. McNamara has worked with patients across the lifespan, ranging from ages 4 to 83. He treats both children and adults and has received additional training in Exposure-Response Therapy (ERT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). He has also received training in the treatment of insomnia. Within the teaching domain, Dr. McNamara is qualified to teach Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), therapeutic treatment of anxiety disorders, therapeutic treatment of depression, psychotherapy, supervision, and typical development.
Dr. McNamara conducts clinical research with patients as part of daily, biweekly, and weekly outpatient CBT for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Panic Disorder, and other anxiety related disorders. His research interests are concerned with the development of executive functioning, the role sleep plays in executive functioning, and the impact of executive function and sleep on treatment outcome. Currently, Dr. McNamara’s research team has both graduate and undergraduate students working on a several different research projects. He also leads the fellows process group.
Assistant Professor
Clinical Director of Psychology
Melissa Munson, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the Division of Medical Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at UF Health in Gainesville, Florida. Dr. Munson completed her doctoral training in clinical psychology at Louisiana State University. She completed her internship and postdoctoral training at the University of Florida and has received a variety of clinical experiences over the course of her training. Specifically, she has received extensive training in the assessment and treatment of both adults and children with a variety of disorders in both inpatient and outpatient settings. She specializes in the use of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy with Exposure with Response Prevention in the treatment of anxiety disorders and is the faculty coordinator of the UF Health Eating Disorders Intensive Outpatient Program at Springhill Health Center. She provides didactic seminars to the child psychiatry fellows. She also provides group and individual supervision for psychiatry medical residents and fellows, graduate students, interns, and postdocs in conducting psychotherapy and psychoeducational assessments.
Assistant Professor
Dr. Ashraf Muzwagi received his medical degree from the University of Tripoli in Libya. He completed his psychiatry residency at Texas Tech University Health Science, then a fellowship in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Florida.
He is board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology, and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. He has a particular interest in Neurodevelopmental disorders, Psychosis, mood disorders, OCD, and interventional psychiatry. During his training, he served as a Chief resident, Chief of the education committee, and Chief fellow. Moreover, he was awarded the AACAP Education Outreach award, and the Ralph Maurer, MD present for excellence in child and adolescent psychiatry. After he graduated in 2023, he joined the University of Florida Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry College of Medicine, as a Clinical Assistant Professor. In this new role, he supervises medical students, residents, and fellows at Shand’s inpatient psychiatric hospital.
Dr. Muzwagi enjoys camping, hiking, jogging, and swimming outside of work.
Associate Professor
Dr. Nelson earned her BA in Psychology and Mathematics at Illinois Wesleyan University and received her MA and PhD in Clinical Child Psychology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. She completed an APA-approved internship at Wayne State University working with children and families in setting such as an inpatient psychiatric hospital, an outpatient clinic, and hospital-based medical clinics. She then completed a 3-year post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Florida (UF) in the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology focusing on treatment outcome research. Dr. Nelson joined the faculty at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC), where she specialized in clinical practice, training, and research in disruptive behavior disorders and autism spectrum disorders from 2005-2012, before returning to Florida and joining the UF faculty.
Dr. Nelson directs the Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) program in the Division of Medical Psychology. PCIT is an empirically supported therapy designed for young children who are displaying disruptive behavior that was developed by Dr. Sheila Eyberg, UF Distinguished Professor Emeritus. Dr. Nelson is a certified Master Trainer in PCIT and supervises PCIT training and treatment in the division. She is also developing a research program to add to the evidence base that supports PCIT. Clinically, she specializes in working with young children with a wide range of concerns (including disruptive behavior, anxiety, depression, autism spectrum disorders, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) and their families.
Assistant Professor
Dr. Romero was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the Greater Los Angeles area after college. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology, with an emphasis in Human Services from Assumption College, Philippines. She attended graduate school at Palo Alto University – Pacific Graduate School of Profession Psychology where she obtained both her Master of Science, Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Clinical Psychology, and a Certificate for Clinical Neuropsychological Assessments. Dr. Romero completed her pediatric neuropsychology internship at Virginia Beach Cities Public School (APA-accredited) and her two-year postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric neuropsychology (in accordance with Houston Conference Guidelines) in the Division of Pediatric Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota (U of MN) Medical School and Children’s Hospital. She received further training as a fellow in the U of MN Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities Program. After her fellowship, she was an Assistant Professor at Minnesota School of Professional Psychology and an Adjunct Professor at U of MN, Global Pediatrics.
In 2013, Dr. Romero relocated to Florida. From 2013 to 2017, she was a licensed psychologist in private practice conducting comprehensive developmental/neuropsychological evaluations and providing treatment interventions for children, adolescents, and adults. She also provided training and supervision to graduate students, interns, and postdoctoral fellows.
Dr. Romero’s professional interests include pediatric neuropsychology, multicultural psychology, special education, and transition to adulthood services.
Takahiro Soda, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Soda is boarded in general psychiatry, as well as child and adolescent psychiatry. He obtained his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts and obtained his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts as art of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology Medical Scientist Training Program. Dr. Soda completed his residency in general psychiatry and a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of North Carolina Hospitals. He is a member of AACAP ethics committee and ISPG ethics committee.
Dr. Soda will work in the Child Division and provide patient care services at UF Health Springhill II clinic and Shands Psychiatric Hospital. He will also conduct clinical research in autism and neurodevelopmental disorders in adults, adolescents, and children as well as, be an integral role in the development of research programs both in UF Health Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment (UF Health CAN), and in the UF Center for OCD, Anxiety and Related Disorders (COARD). In addition, he will serve as an important academic teacher and mentor for medical students, interns, training residents and fellows.
Assistant Professor
Dr. Teaford completed his undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning a bachelor of arts degree in Psychology with honors. He then went on to complete his premedical coursework at Santa Monica College, while employed as a research coordinator in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, contributing to research on a treatment intervention being developed for low frequency drug users at risk for addiction. During the time between his undergraduate and medical training, Dr. Teaford also spent a year working as an operating room assistant at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, GA, and completed a thru-hike of the 2,665 mile long Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail.
He earned his medical degree at Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Georgia, then moved to Gainesville, Florida to complete his general psychiatry residency, and child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship training at the University of Florida. While a trainee, he engaged in a wide range of professional activities from co-authoring poster presentations and housestaff lectures, to participation in institutional and professional organization committees. After graduation in 2022, he joined the University of Florida Department of Psychiatry faculty as an assistant clinical professor. In this role, he supervises resident and fellow clinics, oversees an early psychosis inpatient treatment team at the Shands Psychiatric Hospital, and has a faculty practice that he hopes to grow into a comprehensive first episode psychosis treatment program in the coming years.
Sarah Vas, MD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Vas is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She is most interested in prevention and treatment of mental illness and substance use in children and adolescents, using a youth guided and family driven model. Dr. Vass completed her undergraduate and graduate education in Washington University in St. Louis and her medical education in Manipal University-Kasturba Medical College/American University of Antigua College of Medicine, graduating with magna cum laude and summa cum laude honors respectively. She joined residency in Internal Medicine at the VA Caribbean Healthcare System in San Juan, PR and switched to Psychiatry after her first year. During her General Psychiatry training, she discovered her passion for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and moved to Gainesville to complete the combined Psychiatry – Child Psychiatry track at the University of Florida. During Child Psychiatry training, Dr. Vas’ recognized the importance of prevention of substance use and addiction right from adolescence. As a natural alignment to Dr. Vas’ interests, she went on to complete an Addiction Medicine Fellowship at the University of Florida. During her Addiction Medicine Fellowship, Dr. Andrews continued to treat children and adolescents as part-time Adjunct Faculty. In her present role, Dr. Vas serves as a teacher and mentor to medical students, residents and fellows in the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics.
Dr. Vas has consistently participated in community activities geared toward children and a adolescents. Dr. Vas enjoys learning languages and is fluent in Spanish. She enjoys spending time with her family, playing music, traveling, crafts and keeping up with technology.
Psychology Faculty
We work closely with the Psychology Clinic Faculty