MetroHealth Appoints Chair of Psychiatry
The MetroHealth System has appointed Rajendra Badgaiyan, MD, as its new Chair of the Department of Psychiatry.
He joins MetroHealth from South Texas Veteran Health Care System in San Antonio, where he served as Chief of Psychiatry. An international expert in the field of cognitive science, his passion to bring mental health care to the most vulnerable patients led him to Cleveland and MetroHealth. Dr. Badgaiyan replaces Ewald Horwath, MD, who is retiring.
“I have always been interested in developing a model for providing behavioral health service to people who have limited resources, and that aligns well with MetroHealth’s commitment to provide service to everyone, irrespective of their ability to pay,” said Dr. Badgaiyan, who was program director for the Multidisciplinary Advanced Fellowship in Addiction at Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital in San Antonio. “I also believe there is a need to make our health care delivery system more accessible and effective. As the primary training and teaching site of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, MetroHealth has the talent and ability to innovate and develop that sort of system.”
Dr. Badgaiyan developed the Single-scan Dynamic Molecular Imaging Technique (SDMIT), a neurotransmitter imaging technique for detection of acute changes in concentration of dopamine released in the live human brain during performance of a cognitive, behavioral or emotional task. The technique, which extends the scope of neuroimaging research by allowing the detection of task-induced changes in brain chemistry, is now used in several laboratories all over the world.
“We are proud to welcome Dr. Badgaiyan to MetroHealth,” said Richard Blinkhorn Jr., MD, Executive Vice President, Chief Physician Executive and Clinical Officer. “It is our good fortune to have someone with his distinguished background and vast experience to lead the innovative work we do here in the field of behavioral and mental health. He is known worldwide for his innovation and entrepreneurial approach to finding solutions. Those skills are essential to our mission to fight addiction in our community and care for patients along their recovery journey.”
Dr. Badgaiyan is also a Professor of Psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University and MetroHealth Medical Center. He received medical degrees from Bhopal University in India and completed his residency in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School followed by post-doctoral training in molecular imaging at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.). He is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the American Board of Addiction Medicine.
Founded in 1837, MetroHealth is leading the way to a healthier you and a healthier community through service, teaching, discovery, and teamwork. Cuyahoga County’s public, safety-net hospital system, MetroHealth meets people where they are, providing care through four hospitals, four emergency departments, and more than 20 health centers and 40 additional sites. Each day, our 8,000 employees focus on providing our community with equitable health care–through patient-focused research, access to care, and support services–that seeks to eradicate health disparities rooted in systematic barriers. For more information, visit metrohealth.org.
