A Brief History of the UIC Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship

In the early 1990’s, Surinder Nand, MD, then the Director of Residency Training and Education for the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) College of Medicine, was asked by Boris Astrachan, MD, then Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, to develop fellowship programs, one of them being in Addiction Psychiatry. Dr. Norman Miller, a recognized leader in the field of addiction, came to UIC at a time of rapid growth for the Department and was the first Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Director. Sylvia Dennison, MD and Paul Harris, MD (now on the faculty of the Fellowship) respectively succeeded Dr. Miller. Rodney Eiger, MD succeeded Dr. Harris as Program Director and served in this role for over two decades. Beginning in 2016, the fellowship increased its capacity to two fellows. Over the years, the fellowship has evolved to provide a broad educational experience in a variety of clinical settings, sustained by a multidisciplinary faculty which represents a variety of professional experiences and expertise. In 2026 Chris Holden, MD was appointed the new Program Director, with Dr. Eiger shifting to Senior Associate Program Director. Dr. Holden is also the Program Director or UIC’s Addiction Medicine Fellowship and has been practicing in the field for over 15 years.