Kari M. Wolf, MD

Dr. Kari M. Wolf joined SIU School of Medicine in 2016 to serve as Chair of Psychiatry. Previously, she served as an Associate Professor of medicine at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin as well as President and CEO of the Seton Mind Institute in Austin and Chief Medical Officer for Seton Shoal Creek Hospital. Wolf also served as the chair of the Austin campus for the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Texas-Southwestern. She completed a psychiatry residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City (2001) after earning her medical degree at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine (1997). She earned a bachelor’s degree at William Smith College in Geneva, N.Y. (1992).

Since coming to SIU, she has served as a content expert for numerous pieces of legislation, created innovative psychiatric services to expand access in the region, served for 3 years as the Psychiatric Director for Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Service’s Behavioral Health Division, and participated in numerous national and regional talks on medical education, leadership, mental health policy, telehealth, and behavioral health workforce development.  She currently serves as the PI or co-investigator on several grants related to workforce development and is actively working with multiple partner organizations to enhance the behavioral health system of care in the region.

The Evanston, IL native is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She is a member of numerous organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association, the Association for Academic Psychiatry, the American Association of Medical Colleges Group on Women in Medicine and Science, and the American Association of Chairs of Departments of Psychiatry where she serves in a leadership position. Wolf has experience as a prior residency program director, medical student clerkship director, and has significant expertise in curriculum development, mentoring, quality improvement processes, health policy development, change management and strategic planning. Wolf’s interests include workforce development, population health, and health delivery science.