Ryan Edwards, MD, will step down as the Child and Adolescent Division Director in the Department of Psychiatry on June 30, 2026. Edwards has led the division since 2019.
“I am grateful to Dr. Edwards for his steady leadership of the Child Division,” said David Cates, PhD, Behavioral Health Director for the Department of Psychiatry. “He has advocated effectively for his division, partnered seamlessly with clinic leaders, and built meaningful and productive relationships with internal and external partners, including the Department of Pediatrics, Munroe-Meyer Institute, and Children’s Nebraska. During his tenure, the division has grown and thrived, and Dr. Edwards leaves a legacy of responsive leadership, strong interdisciplinary collaboration, and a focus on outstanding patient-centered care.”
Terri Mathews, PhD, RN, PMHNP-BC, PPCNP-BC, FAAN, said she enjoys working with Dr. Edwards.
“Working with Ryan is very easy. He’s very supportive and eager to help you advance in your profession,” said Dr. Mathews, a child and adolescent psychiatry nurse practitioner. “He’s a visionary leader, but also laid back, so there’s no undue pressure at work.”
Dr. Edwards graduated from the UNMC College of Medicine in 2012 and spent six years at the University of Michigan before returning to Omaha as a faculty member in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division. When the Child and Adolescent Division Director position opened in 2019, Howard Liu, MD, MBA, also a child psychiatrist, asked Dr. Edwards to take on the leadership role.
Dr. Liu, Psychiatry Department Chair, said Dr. Edwards has been an inspiring, authentic, and caring leader.
“During that time, Dr. Edwards has been a wise mentor for new faculty and trainees, a creative and talented clinician who has coached so many of us on how to improve access while ensuring continuity of care, and a gifted diplomat to the pediatrics community to optimize our partnership on consults. He truly cares about child mental health, and I am grateful for his contributions and thrilled that he is staying with us to continue to enhance access to care.”
When Dr. Edwards accepted the division director role, he knew he would work with amazing psychiatrists and staff members.
“I told Howard I believed I could be a really good pilot for this ship,” Dr. Edwards said. “We had a really good team working in child psychiatry, and my motivation as a manager was to maintain that level of professionalism, collegiality, and high patient care.”
While Dr. Edwards is stepping down as division director, he will remain in the department as a child and adolescent psychiatrist. His clinical interests include outpatient-based child & adolescent psychiatry, obsessive-compulsive disorders, complex anxiety disorders of childhood, and integrative and collaborative care across health care disciplines.
“I really look forward to getting back and focusing on what I went into child psychiatry to do at first, which was quality patient care,” Dr. Edwards said. “I’m also looking forward to working more with the anxiety subspecialty.”
Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Priya Gearin, MD, will be promoted to Interim Child and Adolescent Division Director on July 1, 2026.