Richard P. Swinson, MD, is professor emeritus and past chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He is also medical director of the Anxiety Treatment and Research Centre and past psychiatrist-in-chief at St. Joseph's Healthcare, also in Hamilton. Swinson is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the American Psychiatric Association,and the Royal College of Psychiatrists UK. He was awarded an inaugural fellowship of the Canadian Psychiatric Association in 2006. His research interests lie in the theory, assessment, and treatment of anxiety disorders, particularly obsessive-compulsive disorder and social anxiety disorder. He has published more than 180 peer-reviewed papers, thirty book chapters, and eight books. Swinson has held numerous research grants since 1966, and has been an invited speaker at many conferences around the world on anxiety and substance use disorders. He also chaired the steering committee for the Canadian Anxiety Treatment Guidelines Initiative, leading to the publication of Canadian Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Anxiety Disorders in 2006.
