Dr. Barbara J. Coffey, M.D., M.S.

Expert Publications

• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder: fact or artifact?
• Habit reversal versus supportive psychotherapy for Tourette's disorder: a randomized controlled trial.
• General psychiatry residents' perceptions of specialized training in the field of mental retardation.
• Reexamining Tic persistence and Tic-associated impairment in Tourette's Disorder: findings from a naturalistic follow-up study.
• Treatment of co-morbid obsessive compulsive disorder, mood, and anxiety disorders.
• Contemporary assessment and pharmacotherapy of Tourette syndrome.
• Atypical neuroleptic malignant syndrome in an adolescent.
• Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcus: comparison of diagnosis and treatment in the community and at a specialty clinic.
• Aripiprazole in children and adolescents with Tourette disorder with and without explosive outbursts.
• Psychosis or atypical neuroleptic malignant syndrome in an adolescent?
• Complex tics and complex management in a case of severe Tourette's disorder (TD) in an adolescent.
• Executive function deficits, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, tics, and obsessive-compulsive disorder in an adolescent.
• Developmental and behavioral disorders grown up: Tourette's disorder.
• Aripiprazole in children and adolescents with Tourette's disorder: an open-label safety and tolerability study.
• Hyperprolactinemia in an adolescent with psychotic disorder on risperidone.

Media Releases

Get to know Psychiatrist Dr. Barbara J. Coffey, who serves patients in Florida.

An exceptional psychiatrist, Dr. Coffey is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She has held the position of Chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry since October 1, 2017, and Director of the University of Miami Tourette Association of America (TAA) Center of Excellence since July 1, 2019. She is an internationally recognized specialist in tics, Tourette’s Disorder and related disorders, such as ADHD and OCD.

The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine was established in 1952 as Florida’s first medical school, with just four faculty members and 28 medical students in its inaugural class. Since then, it has grown to become an internationally recognized institution with more than 1,700 faculty members, 48 centers and institutes, 29 clinical and basic science departments, and an average annual class cohort of more than 200 students.

Back in the early days of her academic career, Dr. Coffey earned her medical degree from the Tufts University School of Medicine in 1975, and received her Master of Science degree from the Harvard University School of Public Health. She then went on to complete her residency in psychiatry at the Boston University School of Medicine in 1978, before returning to Tufts to complete her fellowship in child & adolescent psychiatry in 1980.

Subsequent to her education, the doctor attained board certification in psychiatry and child & adolescent psychiatry through the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). The ABPN is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to promoting high-quality patient care for the public through the initial and continuing certification of psychiatrists and neurologists.

An avid researcher, she is the author of more than 150 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, abstracts, and book chapters. Co-Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of the Tourette Association of America, Dr. Coffey’s research has focused on the clinical course, psychiatric comorbidity, phenomenology, and novel treatments of Tourette’s Disorder.

Professionally, Dr. Coffey is the former Chief of the TAA Center of Excellence at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at ISMMS, and Research Psychiatrist at the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research in Orangeburg, New York between 2012-2017.

Furthermore, she has served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and was Director of the Tourette's Clinics at McLean and Massachusetts General Hospitals in Boston between 1992-2001, and Director of the Tics and Tourette’s Program and Associate Professor at New York University School of Medicine between 2001-2012.

Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behavior, cognition, and perceptions. Psychiatrists evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients with mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. They conduct thorough psychiatric evaluations, develop treatment plans, prescribe medication, and evaluate treatment results.

Among her most notable achievements, Dr. Coffey has been the recipient of the America’s Top Doctor Award (12 times), Top Doctor in New York Metro Area Award (12 times), New York Magazine Top Doctor Award (2003-2007, 2013, 2015-2018), Castle Connolly America’s Top Doctor Award (2016-2021), Coral Gables Magazine Top Doctor Award (2019), and Exceptional Women in Medicine Award (2019-2022).

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