Richard K. Ries, MD is Professor of Psychiatry, Director of the Addictions Division in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and Director of the Addiction Treatment Services at Harborview Medical Center in downtown Seattle. Dr. Ries received his undergraduate degree from Stanford, medical degree from Northwestern Medical School and completed his psychiatric residency at the University of Washington, where he was chief resident.
Dr. Ries is board-certified in Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology with Added Qualifications in Addiction Psychiatry, and the American Board of Addiction Medicine. A Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, he is on the editorial board and a reviewer for several scientific journals and holds a number of research grants from the National Institute of Health. He has published numerous articles and abstracts on topics related to treatment of persons with severe mental illness, with special emphasis on those with co-existing problems with alcohol or drugs, and was the chair and co-chair of TIPS 9 and 42 on Treatment of Persons with Co-occurring Disorders published by the National Center of Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). He has active funded research in the areas above, military suicide intervention, addiction and suicide, PTSD, and addictions in Native American populations. He is senior editor of the key reference text Principles of Addiction Medicine (editions IV and V), published by the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and a noted expert in the field of addictions.
Dr. Ries has worked collaboratively with various medical/surgical services at Harborview, and hopes that UW PACC can help primary care providers, especially those more rural-based, to feel and be better prepared to deal with their often difficult patients with mental and/or addictions disorders.