Kevin Mauclair Simon, MD

Dr. Kevin Simon, a practicing pediatric addiction medicine psychiatrist, is Boston’s first Chief Behavioral Health Officer appointed by Mayor Michelle Wu. As Chief Behavioral Health Officer, Simon leads a Citywide behavioral health strategy and plan through the Boston Public Health Commission. Simon is the rare academic triple threat, a physician who conducts original research, inspires learners and provides exemplary clinical care. He is also a health policy expert and a noted writer. He is an attending physician in the Boston Children’s Hospital Adolescent Substance Use and Addiction Program (ASAP), an instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a Commonwealth fund fellow in health policy at Harvard University, the Medical Director of Wayside Youth and Family Support Network, and a health care policy and systems consultant.

 

Academically, he has won multiple awards for leadership and research on mental health, substance use, and (in) justice systems, including an American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) – Physician-Scientist Career Development “K Award,” funded by the National Institute of Health. As Medical Director, he oversees the planning and implementation of a Community Behavioral Health Center (CBHC) and programs funded by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. Additionally, Simon regularly consults on behavioral healthcare system design for municipalities and provides expert advice to federal agencies reviewing best practices. Simon has published research and writings on improving healthcare systems in leading academic journals, like the American Journal of Public Health and the New England Journal of Medicine.

 

For clinical training, he completed fellowships in child & adolescent psychiatry and addiction medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital | Harvard Medical School and adult psychiatry residency at Grady Hospital and the Veterans Affairs in Atlanta through Morehouse School of Medicine. He earned his M.D. from SIU School of Medicine after graduating from Morgan State University. He frequently contributes to the national mental and behavioral health discourse through a range of trusted media outlets like NPR.