Takesha Cooper, MD
Dr. Cooper is a distinguished child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist serving as Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Nevada, Reno. She is President-Elect of the Nevada Psychiatric Association, a Specialty Board Member on the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN), and was recently elected to serve as the Psychiatry Director on the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM).
Previously, Dr. Cooper served as Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine and Chief of Behavioral Health at Renown Health. In just two years in that role, she expanded the psychiatry residency, launched Northern Nevada's first Addiction Medicine Consultation-Liaison Service and only mental health urgent care center, secured $1.3 million in opioid settlement funds to develop an Addiction Medicine Fellowship, established a comprehensive evidence-based adolescent intensive outpatient program utilizing DBT-trained clinicians aimed at preventing hospitalization and building parental skills and secured $1 million in philanthropic support for residency education & capital expansion. Before joining UNR, she held leadership roles at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine, including Psychiatry Residency Program Director, Vice Chair for Education, Equity Advisor to the Dean, and Chair of the Medical School Admissions Committee. She also co-founded UCR's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Training Program, which achieved full ACGME accreditation with commendation. Earlier in her career, she served as Associate Medical Director for the Riverside University Health System, as an adjunct clinical instructor at Stanford University School of Medicine, and ran a successful solo private practice near Stanford.
Dr. Cooper earned her MD from the Keck School of Medicine at USC, completed her general psychiatry residency at San Mateo County, and her child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Stanford University, where she served as Chief Fellow. She also holds a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a member of the American College of Psychiatrists and a 2023 graduate of the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program through Drexel University.
Her scholarly work focuses on the impact of adverse childhood experiences on mental health, psychopharmacology, health equity, and structural stigma in healthcare systems. She is co-editor of Stahl's Essential Psychopharmacology Case Studies, Volume 3, serves on the editorial board of CNS Spectrums, and is a reviewer for the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She currently collaborates with the UNR School of Social Work on implementation of Nevada Senate Bill 165, which creates a school-based behavioral health workforce, and with the UNR School of Public Health on substance use research focused on harm reduction and reducing addiction stigma.
Outside of work, Dr. Cooper enjoys spending time with her family, reading, hiking, and watching Netflix.