It takes a special person to dedicate his or her life to the care and healing of children. From the specialty consultant to the faculty physician, from the reception desk to the administration office, you will find our people eager to help you become the best child and adolescent psychiatrist you can be. All staff are committed to helping you achieve your training aims and will share in the support and encouragement that will help you excel.
At Iowa, you will be exposed to some of the best clinicians, researchers, and teachers in our profession. Through formal mentoring as well as an open-door philosophy, we provide high-powered opportunities for you to learn career-long lessons from these dedicated professionals.
Undergraduate school: Idaho State University
Medical school: University of Utah School of Medicine
Undergraduate school: Wartburg College
Medical school: University of Iowa Roy J. And Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
Undergraduate School: University of North Carolina Wilmington
Medical School: Eastern Virginia Medical School
Professional Interests: Neurodevelopmental Disabilities, Community Psychiatry
Undergraduate School: Reed College, Portland, OR
Medical School: West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine
Undergraduate School: University of Illinois at Chicago
Medical School: University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine
Professional Interests: Mood disorders, Women's health
Undergraduate School: University of Iowa
Medical School: University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
Professional Interests: Community and Rural Psychiatry
Welcome to the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry training program at the University of Iowa! As the Department Chair, I am excited about our educational mission. We are a highly regarded psychiatry department nationally in clinical care and research. We similarly believe we are a top department in the educational domain, as we are deeply committed to excellence in teaching, and have had great success in turning out well trained and highly sought after residents. Certainly our Child and Adolescent Psychiatry residents have consistently been superb.
We are very proud of the success of our Child and Adolescent Psychiatry program. Its roots stretch back to the beginning of our department in 1920, when Department Chair Samuel Orton, pioneered the study of dyslexia. He worked with a student here named Lauretta Bender, who went on to become one of the founders of the field of child psychiatry. Since that time many distinguished child psychiatrists have graced our halls, including Richard Jenkins, among the first to successfully treat Tourette syndrome, Mark Stewart, an expert on ADD and conduct disorder, and Joe Piven, a current leader in autism research.
The department has been training psychiatrists since the 1920s, with the first of these being Dr. George Sprague, who graduated in 1922. He went on to a distinguished career that included being on the committee that wrote the first Diagnostic and Statistical Manual or DSM, in 1952. Recently retired past Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division head Sam Kuperman has been active in the training program since 1989 and continues to be an active educator. His success is reflected in the recent establishment, by a grateful former trainee, of the Sam Kuperman Career Development Fund in Child Psychiatry.
Our Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Training Program Director, Dr. Carissa Gunderson, is a master clinician and a tireless advocate for trainees. Dr. Gunderson has a stellar reputation here in Iowa for her insightful clinical care, particularly in the interdisciplinary ADHD clinic she created, but has made a mark at the national level with her involvement in medical student career development within the Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation program which she brought to Iowa in 2015. Associate Program Director, Dr. Emira Deumic Schultz, while new to this position, brings years of teaching experience with medical and undergraduate students and a strong interest in interventions for sleep and physical health within child psychiatry.
Our goal is to provide residents with a broad education that will prepare them for life-long self-learning and dedication to the practice of psychiatry at the forefront of evolving knowledge. We seek to provide residents with a variety of educational experiences so that they may choose among the many available career options. Our residents consistently score high on national examinations and frequently receive awards. These have recently included election to an APA/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Minority Fellowship. While many of our Child and Adolescent Psychiatry residents have gone into clinical positions, others have headed towards fellowships and academics, including faculty positions at Iowa and a recent fellowship at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. We are quite proud of all of our trainees as their success points to the high quality of the people who train here, and the high quality of the educational experience that is provided by our training directors and by all of our teaching faculty.
We welcome your interest in the department, and look forward to getting to know you and letting you know more about the terrific opportunities that exist here in lovely Iowa City, a UNESCO World Heritage City of Culture. Both the city and the department are wonderfully friendly places with a strong sense of community. Come have a look. You’ll like what you find!
Peggy Nopoulos, MD
Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Pediatrics
Chair and Department Executive Officer of Psychiatry
Allan Andersen, MD, is a child psychiatrist with clinical expertise in developmental disorders. He also conducts research focusing on the interaction between epigenetic changes and the immune system in psychiatric disorders.
Dr. Banerjee is a child and adolescent psychiatrist with clinical expertise in childhood and adolescence mental health conditions, including depressive and anxiety disorders, ADHD, behavioral disorders, and tic disorders/Tourette’s. She is particularly interested in early onset mania and psychosis. She also provides psychiatric care to rural areas throughout the state of Iowa via the Child Health Specialty Clinics of the Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
Nancy Beyer, MD, collaborates with Iowa City schools to enhance access to mental health care through school and community psychiatry programming. She serves as the outpatient and consultation-liaison service medical director. She came to child psychiatry after working 10 years as a pediatric nurse, first completing a graduate degree in Spanish language and literature.
Kaley Boress, PhD is a clinical neuropsychologist who joined the Department of Psychiatry in 2021. She is a lifespan neuropsychologist who works primarily with adolescent, adults, and older adult populations. Her clinical areas of interest include attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, traumatic brain injury, dementia, Huntington’s disease, epilepsy, and complex medical conditions/comorbid psychiatric disorders. She is also involved in a multidisciplinary neurocritical care clinic where she completes neuropsychological assessment with children and adolescents who have sustained acute neurologic injury.
Emira Deumic Shultz, MD is a child and adolescent psychiatrist with clinical interest in diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders across the span of childhood. She has a passion for education and teaching, working closely with medical students, residents, and fellows. She is also the Associate Training Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program.
Jaime Elizalde, PhD is a child and adolescent psychologist with a specialization in school psychology. Her specialty areas include anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, and Tourette Syndrome. Dr. Elizalde is certified through the Tourette Association of America and has completed advanced training for treatment of OCD through the International OCD Foundation.
Amanda Elliott, DO, is the Medical Director for the Inpatient Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit and has specific expertise in acute-care health services and interdisciplinary approaches to behavior management in youth with challenging behaviors related to psychiatric conditions. She is the 2022-2024 President Elect of the Iowa Psychiatric Physicians Society, having spent the past 4 years serving as Secretary and Treasurer. She serves on multiple department and hospital wide committees to help improve both quality patient care and staff satisfaction and safety. Medical student, resident, and fellow education are a highlight of her day to day work.
Patricia Espe-Pfeifer, PhD, directs the Pediatric Neuropsychology Service and is also Director of Sports Psychology and Student-Athlete Mental Health Services for UI Athletics. Her areas of clinical interest include traumatic brain injury, sports-related concussions, epilepsy, stroke, Juvenile Huntington’s Disease, and collegiate athlete mental health. In addition, she specializes in neuropsychological assessment of patients with complex medical histories, including brain injuries as a result of an accident, a stroke, or an infection of the brain, and comorbid psychiatric disorders. Dr. Espe-Pfeifer is a faculty member and provider within the UIHC Stead Family Children’s Hospital Interdisciplinary Neurocritical Care Team and works closely with UI Sports Medicine Concussion Clinic and UI Athletics. She also provides group therapy interventions through the Outpatient Adolescent Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Program. Her areas of research interest include epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and Juvenile Huntington’s Disease.
Laura Fuller, PhD, ABPP, provides psychological assessment for ADHD, anxiety, depression, learning, and intellectual disability. She specializes in Collaborative and Proactive Solutions, an intervention for children with challenging behaviors, as well as elements of cognitive behavior therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions). Dr. Fuller also sees children and adolescents with voiding dysfunction and Differences of Sexual Development (DSD) together with medical providers. She is the Director of the Psychology Division within the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Fuller is also heavily involved in the psychotherapy training for the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry fellows.
Carissa Gunderson, MD, has expertise in evaluation and treatment of ADHD, OCD, and anxiety disorders. She runs two specialty clinics providing interdisciplinary care for children and has completed advanced training for treatment of OCD through the International OCD Foundation. Dr. Gunderson is dedicated to education and is the Program Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship and mentors the medical student child psychiatry interest group.
Aaron Kauer, MD has specific interests in treating autism spectrum disorders, tic disorders, and anxiety disorders. He also spends time educating medical students and residents. He is board certified in both child and adult psychiatry.
Jennifer Kuhle, PhD, BCBA-D is a clinical psychologist with a focus in the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with challenging behaviors. She is a member of the Intellectual Disabilities/Mental Health team (IDMI) at UIHC and has a history of providing behavioral services in the school setting.
Priya Larson, MD is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and a co-director of the outpatient clinic. She provides general psychiatric care and participates in team evaluations for autism spectrum disorder. She also specializes in gender dysphoria and is passionate about helping other clinicians work in this arena.
Dr. Liesveld’s clinical interests include medication-assisted treatment and treatment of people with co-occurring substance use disorders and psychiatric illness.
Erin Olufs, PhD, is a pediatric psychologist with specialization in behavioral pediatrics and treatment of somatic symptom disorders. She is a member of two interdisciplinary care teams providing evaluation, consultation, and intervention in both Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Pediatrics. Her areas of focus include the treatment of ADHD, encopresis, chronic pain, autonomic dysfunction, and functional neurological symptom disorder.
Adjunct
Kelly Pelzel, PhD, is a psychologist with interests in infant and early childhood mental health, parent-mediated interventions, early detection of autism, and interventions for young children with autism. She is the clinical coordinator for the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital Autism Center, the psychology consultant for the Regional Autism Assistance Program, and the president of the Iowa Association for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health.
Hanna Stevens, MD, PhD, is a child and adolescent psychiatrist with expertise in early childhood assessment, ADHD, and research education who runs a developmental neuroscience lab. She is the Child Psychiatry Division Director and an AACAP Distinguished Fellow. Visit her lab website.
Beth Troutman, PhD, trains providers in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, an evidence-based practice developed to reduce disruptive behavior. She has developed a modification of PCIT called Integration of Working Models of Attachment into Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (IoWA-PCIT), which integrates findings from attachment theory research into PCIT. Visit her lab site.
Dr. Anureet Walia shares a joint appointment within the Departments of Anesthesia, Psychiatry and Pediatrics. She is board certified in Psychiatry, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Pain Medicine. Her primary academic interest is treating chronic pain in the pediatric population, and is the founder and director of the Pediatric Comprehensive Pain Clinic where she combines use of her unique board certifications in child and adolescent psychiatry and pain medicine. Besides that, she also provides clinical services in the Child & Adolescent psychiatry inpatient unit and the Adult Chronic Pain Clinic. She is highly engaged in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at the University of Iowa Health Care.
Meggan Riggan-Rocha
University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center
Department of Psychiatry
2900 John Pappajohn Pavilion (JPP)
200 Hawkins Drive
Iowa City, IA 52242
Clinic and Patient Inquiries: 319-356-1188
Residency Inquiries: 319-467-8427
Fax: 319-384-8843
Email: meggan-riggan-rocha@uiowa.edu