Medical Director, Professor & Chair, Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience
SSM Health Saint Louis University
Erick Messias, M.D., MPH, PhD was born and raised in Brazil, where he completed medical school and practiced family medicine in rural areas before moving to Baltimore for residency training. Dr. Messias completed his psychiatry residency at the University of Maryland in 2001, and preventive medicine training at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2003. He is currently the Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and Medical Director at SSM Health System. Dr. Messias has received many research and teaching awards, published over 50 publications in scientific journals and several book chapters, and edited a volume on schizophrenia for psychiatrists and a textbook on Positive Psychiatry, Psychology and Psychotherapy.
While at Hopkins, Dr. Messias additionally received a Master of Public Health and a PhD in Psychiatric Epidemiology. Subsequently, he held academic positions at his alma mater in Brazil, and later in Georgia and Arkansas, responsible for the House Staff Mental Health Service at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock and serving as medical director of the Walker Family Clinic. Dr. Messias also served as Associate Dean for Faculty Affair for the UAMS College of Medicine and Program Director for the Baptist-UAMS psychiatry residency program and as VP and Medical Director for Beacon Health Options, overseeing care received by Arkansas Medicaid recipients.
Solving the Psychiatric Staffing Crisis
Monday, March 2, 2026
4:30pm - 5:30pm CT