Education

Ph.D., Rehabilitation
Southern Illinois University (Carbondale)

M.A., Rehabilitation Counseling
Wright State University

B.A., Psychology
Wright State University

Research Interests/Areas of Expertise

• Biomarkers of medical and allied health students’ performance under stress. 
• Transdiagnostic biomarkers of psychopathology.
• Continuous quality improvement.
• Motivational Interviewing.
• Clinical addictions counseling. 

Biography

Dr. Paul Toriello serves as the Assistant Dean for Clinical Graduate Programs and is also a clinical professor in the Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the School of Medicine Columbia.

Before joining the SOMC, Dr. Toriello served as the Chair of the Department of Addictions and Rehabilitation Studies at East Carolina University for 11 years. Other leadership roles at East Carolina University included five years as Director of the PhD in Rehabilitation Counseling and Administration Program and three years as Interim Assistant Dean for Research and Grant Administration in the College of Allied Health Sciences.

Dr. Toriello has led his team through accreditation by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. He also served as a founding member of his college’s Task Force for Interdisciplinary Education.

He has started two student-operated, faculty-directed counseling clinics, and has a long history of successful funding for research grants focused on innovative interventions for persons with co-occurring addictions and mental health issues. Dr. Toriello has taught broadly at the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels since 2001. He is a past president of the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association.

Dr. Toriello has been married to his wife Kathy since 1995; they have two sons, Atticus and Gabe. Dr. Toriello has a love-hate relationship with disc golf, enjoys mountain biking and spending time with his two dogs, Hazel and Luna.