Dr. Debra Pinals

Biography

Debra Pinals is a lecturer at the University of Michigan Law School and a clinical adjunct professor at the University of Michigan Medical School. She serves as the director of the Program in Psychiatry, Law, and Ethics, and is the medical director of behavioral health forensic programs at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Pinals is board certified in Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry and is a diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Medicine. Between 2008 and 2016, she acted as the assistant commissioner for forensic services and from 2012 to 2014 was the interim state medical director at the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. Her clinical career spans community mental health, forensic correctional facilities, and emergency care settings, where she has taught medical professionals, attorneys, judges, and law enforcement officials. A key figure in developing police-mental health partnerships, Pinals has worked on enhancing treatment court services and addressing the reentry processes for individuals with serious mental illness. She has also been actively involved in various behavioral health federal grants aimed at reducing recidivism among justice-involved individuals. An expert witness in criminal and civil forensic evaluations, Pinals has overseen the certification of evaluators for court-ordered forensic assessments in Massachusetts. She has held leadership roles in several organizations, including serving as the past president of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law and as the current chair of the American Psychiatric Association Council on Psychiatry and Law.

Research Interests