Steven Starks, M.D., M.B.A., DFAPA is a geriatric psychiatrist and adjunct faculty at the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine. He serves as the learning community professor for our medical students within the Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler Learning Community.  

Starks' work aims to create a culture where mental health treatment is compassionate, accessible, equitable and free of barriers. He has a passion for mental health advocacy and serving communities that have been marginalized and made vulnerable by systemic and structural factors. Starks was a Pozen-Commonwealth Fund in Health Equity Leadership at Yale University and a Health and Aging Policy Fellow and American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow who served in the Office of the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. There he contributed to the design, drafting and roll out of the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act.

He earned his medical degree from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, receiving the Dean’s Award at commencement. He completed postgraduate psychiatry training at Baylor College of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals Residency Program and a clinical fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at Yale-New Haven Medical Center. He holds a master of business administration from Yale School of Management and is a diplomate of the American Board and Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc. with certifications in the specialty of psychiatry and the subspecialty of geriatric psychiatry.  

Starks maintains a commitment to promoting health equity through his leadership on the American Psychiatric Association Board of Trustees, the Association of American Medical Colleges/National Medical Association Action Collaborative for Black Men in Medicine, AAMC Student Mental Health Working Group, E4 Center of Excellence in Behavioral Health Disparities in Aging National Advisory Board. Additionally, he also has leadership roles with the Alzheimer's Association Houston & Southeast Texas Chapter Board of Directors, NAMI Greater Houston Board of Directors, National Committee for Quality Assurance Geriatric Measurement Advisory Panel, National Advisory Committee on Seniors and Disasters, and MedCentral.