The UAB Department of Psychiatry is pleased to announce that Irena Bukelis M.D., Assistant Professor in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, has been appointed as the new Associate Program Director of the General Psychiatry Residency Program. Since joining the Department in 2015, Dr. Bukelis’ clinical and teaching responsibilities have been primarily at Children's of Alabama.

Dr. Bukelis received her M.D. from Kaunas University of Medicine in Lithuania. She subsequently relocated to Baltimore, Maryland where she served as Center and Research Coordinator at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, an internationally recognized Johns Hopkins Medicine affiliated facility. In 2010 she joined UAB where she completed her residency in General Psychiatry followed by a fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, during which she served as Chief Resident in her last year.

Since joining UAB, Dr. Bukelis has distinguished herself academically through her efforts to advance child and adolescent psychiatry by creating a scholastic culture around quality improvement. In addition to her academic commitment, “she has passion for treating patients with autism and looks forward to bringing her expertise to bolster the training that our general psychiatry residents receive in treating patients with autism,” said Dr. Meador-Woodruff, Heman E. Drummond Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry.