Robert L. Trestman, MD, PhD

Robert L. Trestman, Ph.D., M.D., joined Carilion Clinic and the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine in April 2017 as Professor and Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine. Dr. Trestman previously was a tenured professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine with a joint appointment as Professor of Nursing. He served as executive director of Correctional Managed Health Care (CHMC), a division of the University of Connecticut Health Center. In this role, he led a health system that provided global health care to all inmates within the Connecticut Department of Correction. Previously, he served in numerous academic and leadership roles at the University of Connecticut, Mount Sinai Medical Center, and the Bronx Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Dr. Trestman brings a wealth of experience to Carilion in all aspects of managing care and directing program growth. He is the co-developer of START NOW, a skills-based psychotherapy in use in five countries. In addition, he has given over 150 regional, national and international invited presentations.

Dr. Trestman’s interests include mental health services research and the treatment of people with severe mood and personality disorders. He has authored or coauthored over 180 peer reviewed articles, book chapters and commentaries, and is the senior editor of the Oxford Textbook of Correctional Psychiatry, which received the 2016 Guttmacher Award.

Dr. Trestman is the Chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Healthcare Systems and Financing, is the Liaison between the American Hospital Association and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and chairs the American Association of Chairs of Departments of Psychiatry’s Clinical Enterprise Committee. He serves on the Board of the Bradley Free Clinic in Roanoke VA and is Chair of its Behavioral Health Committee and sits on the Western Virginia Division of the US District Drug Court as the Expert Medical Consultant.