Erick Messias was born and raised in Brazil, where he completed medical school and practiced family medicine in rural areas before moving to Baltimore for residency training.
He completed a psychiatry residency at the University of Maryland, in 2001, and preventive medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in 2003. While at Hopkins he also received a master in public health and a PhD in Psychiatric Epidemiology.
Since graduation, he has held academic positions in medical schools in Brazil, and later in Georgia and Arkansas where he was medical director of the Walker Family Clinic and responsible for the House Staff Mental Health Service at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock.
Dr. Messias has over 40 publications in scientific journals, has published several book chapters, and edited a volume on schizophrenia for psychiatrists; he’s the recipient of many research and teaching awards. He’s currently the Associate Dean for Faculty Affair for the UAMS College of Medicine.