About me
Rachel Talley, M.D. is Chief Medical Officer for the Behavioral Health Administration in the Maryland Department of Health. Prior to her current role, she served as Program Director of the Fellowship in Community Psychiatry, Associate Program Director for the adult psychiatry residency program, and Director of the PennCOBALT Spaces of Color program at the University of Pennsylvania. She also worked clinically in the public mental health system in Philadelphia, PA, providing direct services to individuals with severe mental illness at Horizon House, Inc.
Dr. Talley received her B.A. from Harvard University and her M.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine. She completed adult psychiatry residency training at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center/New York State Psychiatric Institute and public psychiatry fellowship training at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. She remains on the appointed faculty of the University of Pennsylvania as Clinical Associate Professor for Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine.
Dr. Talley’s contributions to public mental health leadership and policy include serving on an ad hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on Strategies to Improve Access to Behavioral Health Care Services through Medicare and Medicaid. She is a member of the board of the American Association for Community Psychiatry and the National Council for Mental Wellbeing Medical Director Institute. She has published several peer-reviewed articles and presented regionally and nationally on health services issues related to health equity and the care of individuals with severe mental illness. She has been recognized for her teaching and leadership in community mental health, including receipt of the University of Pennsylvania Department of Psychiatry Albert Stunkard Faculty Recognition Award (2021, 2022, 2023) and receipt of the 2021 Larry A. Real Award from the Montgomery County PA chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). She was recognized in the inaugural 2023 class of Black Health Connect’s 40 Under 40.
