Robert Hales, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the School of Medicine, has been named acting director of the MIND Institute while a search is conducted for a permanent director.

Hales’ appointment is scheduled to begin July 1. He will replace Robert Hendren, who has accepted the position of director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and vice chair of the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Francisco.

Hales is an internationally renowned psychiatrist who specializes in neuropsychiatry, clinical psychiatry and community mental health.

“Robert Hales is a highly skilled clinician, academician and administrator who is perfectly suited to guide MIND Institute programs,” said Claire Pomeroy, vice chancellor for Human Health Sciences and dean of the School of Medicine.

As acting director, Hales will oversee a staff of more than 250 employees, 40 research labs and a budget of more than $30 million.

The MIND Institute was founded in 1998 as a unique interdisciplinary research center where parents, community leaders, researchers, clinicians and volunteers collaborate to study and treat autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.