CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – The University of Virginia School of Medicine has named Nassima Ait-Daoud Tiouririne, MD, a nationally recognized physician-scientist and academic leader, to chair the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, UVA Health has announced.
She assumed the role last week after being the interim chair following Anita Clayton, MD, stepping down last September after 20 years at the helm.
Clayton has continued as a professor and her clinical work.
Ait-Daoud Tioririne has spent her entire career at the UVA School of Medicine after earning her medical degree from the University of Algiers and completing residencies in psychiatry in Algeria and at UVA Health.
She joined UVA after completing a National Institutes of Health-funded fellowship in addiction research at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
She has held numerous leadership roles at UVA Health, including interim chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, vice chair for clinical affairs, medical director of ambulatory psychiatry, director of the Center for Leading Edge Addiction Recovery (CLEAR) and program director of the addiction medicine fellowship.
She also previously served as program director of the general psychiatry residency and has played a central role in advancing clinical care, education and faculty development across the department.
“As chair, I am committed to advancing excellence in patient care, education, research and community partnership while building an integrated behavioral health system that improves access to compassionate, evidence-based care for patients across Virginia,” Ait-Daoud Tiouririne said in a statement released by UVA Health.
“Dr. Ait-Daoud Tiouririne has done an excellent job as interim chair of department and has a long, successful track record of leadership here at UVA Health,” Colin Derdeyn, MD, interim dean of the UVA School of Medicine said in a statement. “She is deeply committed to our missions of patient care, research, education and serving our communities, and I am excited to continue working with her in her permanent role as chair of the department.”
Board-certified in psychiatry and addiction medicine, Ait-Daoud Tiouririne’s primary research focus is on developing innovative treatments for substance use disorders, including neuromodulation, pharmacotherapy and digital therapeutics, according to her UVA Health bio.
Ait-Daoud Tiouririne is also principal investigator on multiple federally funded trials, and her work seeks to improve outcomes for individuals with addiction through advances in neuroscience and translational research.
She has also been leading efforts toward care of unhoused individuals in the Charlottesville area.
In the summer of 2024, she began leading a UVA Health team comprised of a physician, nurse, and social worker to provide opioid-use disorder care at The Haven.
Backed by a grant from the state Opioid Abatement Authority at the time, the SmART (street medicine, access, reduction and treatment) program launched at The Haven providing medical care, medications for opioid use disorders, counseling and mental health support, case management and social services, follow-up care, and harm reduction.
That list is similar to UVA Health services the city and Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS) is seeking to offer at the 2000 Holiday Drive low-barrier facility that opens Sept. 1.
