Dr. Riah Patterson is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with joint appointments in the Departments of Psychiatry and Emergency Medicine. She serves as the Service Line Leader for Adult Inpatient Psychiatry, Director of the Perinatal Psychiatry Program, and Medical Director of the UNC Perinatal Psychiatry Inpatient Unit (PPIU).

Dr. Patterson dedicates the majority of her clinical time to the PPIU, where she leads a multidisciplinary team in providing specialized inpatient care for women who are pregnant or postpartum and experiencing acute psychiatric conditions. She has extensive experience with neuroactive steroids and administered Brexanolone infusions for postpartum depression during its commercial availability from 2019 to 2024. Her research interests include clinical trials for postpartum depression, investigating mechanisms of action for neuroactive steroids, and previous work with esketamine and psilocybin.

In addition to her work on the PPIU, Dr. Patterson serves as an attending physician in the UNC Psychiatric Emergency Service, where she manages patients in acute crisis and supervises a diverse team of advanced practice providers, licensed clinical social workers, psychiatric residents, interns, and medical students.

Board-certified in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dr. Patterson’s academic interests center on women’s mood disorders and their impact on family dynamics during the perinatal period—a critical time in the development of the family unit.