Professor of Clinical Psychology John R. McQuaid, PhD, has been appointed Co-Director of Psychology for the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute (LPPI) by institute director and UCSF Department of Psychiatry Chair Matthew W. State, MD, PhD. As a member of the department's Executive Committee, he will join incumbent director Stephen P. Hinshaw, PhD, in focusing on a wide range of issues concerning psychology operations across the entire organization.
McQuaid holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Oregon and completed a predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at UCSF under the mentorship of Ricardo F. Muñoz, PhD. From 1995-2009, he served with distinction on the faculty of the UC San Diego/San Diego State University Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, as well as a member of the Psychology Service at the VA San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS). During his time there, McQuaid provided valuable leadership as director of the VASDHS Cognitive and Behavioral Interventions Program, associate director of the VASDHS Special Treatment and Evaluation Program, acting director of the VASDHS Family Mental Health Program, and associate chief of the VASDHS Psychology Service. He was honored for his efforts with the UCSD Department of Psychiatry’s Clinical Service Award in 2005.
In 2009, McQuaid joined the clinical staff of the San Francisco VA Health Care System (SFVAHCS) and the faculty of the UCSF Department of Psychiatry, where he has continued his record of distinguished service as a clinician, educator, and researcher. Over the past six years, he has served as the associate chief of SFVAHCS’s Mental Health Service, in addition to a three-year term as associate director of the center’s General Psychiatric Outpatient Service and five years as the site’s coordinator of evidence-based psychotherapy.
Over the past two decades, he has mentored and advised more than 100 students, fellows, and trainees in educational programs. A two-time recipient of the UCSD/VASDHS Psychology Internship Program’s Teaching Excellence Award, McQuaid has continued his work as an educator at UCSF, working as a lecturer and course leader in programs both at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. From 2009-2014, he served as a co-facilitator of the UCSF Clinical Psychology Training Program clinical seminar, and currently facilitates an annual nine month-long seminar series on evidence-based psychotherapies for VA staff and interns.
McQuaid has an extensive background in research with more than 70 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, articles, and reviews to his credit, as well as dozens of speaking and poster presentations at conferences around the nation. He currently serves as reviewer for eleven professional research publications and is a member of the editorial board of Psychological Services.
His research has focused on understanding diathesis-stress models of psychopathology, exploring factors that relate to change in cognitive behavior therapy, and developing interventions for disorders using cognitive behavioral techniques. He is currently the site investigator for a multisite VA cooperative study comparing prolonged exposure and cognitive processing therapy for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
McQuaid is the chair of the American Psychological Association (APA)’s Depression Guideline Panel and the past president of the Association of VA Psychologist Leaders (AVAPL). He is a member of the APA, AVAPL, Academy of Cognitive Therapy, and Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.
About UCSF Psychiatry
The UCSF Department of Psychiatry and the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute are among the nation's foremost resources in the fields of child, adolescent, adult, and geriatric mental health. Together they constitute one of the largest departments in the UCSF School of Medicine, with a mission focused on research (basic, translational, clinical), teaching, patient care and public service. UCSF Psychiatry has an organizational structure that crosses all major UCSF sites - Parnassus, Mission Bay, Laurel Heights, Mt. Zion, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, the San Francisco VA Medical Center, and UCSF Fresno.
About UCSF
UC San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It includes top-ranked graduate schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing, and pharmacy, a graduate division with nationally renowned programs in basic, biomedical, translational, and population sciences, as well as a preeminent biomedical research enterprise and two top-ranked hospitals, UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco.
