Leading Psychiatrist and Addiction Medicine Specialist Named Chair of UVA Department of Psychiatry

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. She assumed her new role last week. 

Ait-Daoud Tiouririne 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. Ait-Daoud Tiouririne 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. 

“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,” said Colin Derdeyn, MD, interim dean of the UVA School of Medicine. “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. 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. 

Ait-Daoud Tiouririne 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 earned her medical degree from the University of Algiers and completed residencies in psychiatry in Algeria and at UVA Health. 

“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. 

Ait-Daoud Tiouririne was appointed interim chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences in September 2025 and succeeded Anita Clayton, MD.