Dr. Matthew State, MD, PhD, Oberndorf Family Distinguished Professor, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California San Francisco, and director of the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute (San Francisco)

Dr. Matthew State joined the faculty at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) in 2013. He is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and human geneticist. His research focuses on understanding the genetic contribution to autism spectrum disorders and other neurodevelopmental syndromes. These efforts aim to reveal the biology of these conditions to develop new and more effective therapies.

Outside the lab, as the chair of one of the leading departments of psychiatry in the country, he’s advancing behavioral health and health equity broadly through the department’s commitment to clinical care, research, education, and public service. He and his colleagues in the neurosciences at UCSF have focused on collaboration, breaking down silos separating medical disciplines and consolidating expertise from across specialties and departments to advance disease prevention, patient-centered care, and the discovery of a new generation of psychiatric treatments.

Specifically, State was a driving force behind the creation of the UCSF Nancy Friend Pritzker Psychiatry Building, opened in spring 2022. The 173,000-square-foot building serves as a nexus for brain health at UCSF, bringing physical and mental health programs and researchers from across the university together for the first time in UCSF’s history, including psychiatry, psychology, neurology, neurosurgery, radiology, pediatrics, anesthesiology, and obstetrics/gynecology. During planning and design, State and the project team engaged more than 100 faculty from these disparate specialties in discussions and design charettes to consider how the aspirations for the building might set a new standard for the integration of mental health into an academic medical center. And they hoped, more broadly, to “flip the narrative about what it means to seek psychiatric care,” State says.

The message begins with a light-filled atrium designed to create a sense of openness and connection by providing visibility into the operations of the building, including the waiting areas, consult rooms, dry labs, open-plan workspaces, and staff lounges that are arranged on various levels around the atrium.

Additionally, the building foregoes traditional palettes for mental health spaces with a bright, uplifting aesthetic using natural materials, colors, and textures that evoke the Bay Area region, including terrazzo and white oak flooring, and two photography/art programs (one showcasing work by 11 to 17-year-olds participating in a local community mentoring program and the other consisting of more than 100 works focused on the natural environment from acclaimed Bay Area photographer, Richard Misrach). Furthermore, security features are integrated into the design, such as 6-foot-tall glass guardrails installed along the atrium to create a barrier to deter potential suicide attempts, without obscuring views, or using reception desks that double as security stations.

Since opening, the building has been transformative, State says. “Our patient, staff and faculty surveys have seen remarkable improvement. The proximity of research, clinical care, and education is very exciting, and the building has become a hub of activity for conferences, meetings, and events for all of UCSF. It’s very satisfying to have become such a popular space on campus—it’s not a position that most departments of psychiatry are used to.”

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