Core Faculty

Howard Liu, MD, Chair

Dr. Liu is a nationally recognized educator, behavioral health workforce expert, and practicing child psychiatrist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). He serves as Chair of the UNMC Department of Psychiatry. Previously, he served as the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Faculty Development. Clinically, Dr. Liu maintains an active child psychiatry practice as a Professor of Psychiatry.

Daniel Gih, MD, Program Director

Dr. Gih is Professor and Director of Education in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Gih came to UNMC in June 2016 after serving on the faculty of the University of Michigan. He is the founding director of the UNMC psychiatry residency program, which opened in 2020.

Jeana Benton, MD, Associate Program Director

Dr. Benton is a dedicated medical educator who practices adult psychiatry at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). Dr. Benton has a longstanding interest in medical student and resident education. She provides both didactic instruction and clinical supervision for trainees, and she has been actively involved in curriculum design and implementation at both the medical student and the resident level. Dr. Benton is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.

Steven Wengel, MD, Professor

Dr. Wengel is a native of Omaha and has spent his academic career within the University of Nebraska system. His clinical interests include treatment of older adults with depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and dementia, and he initiated the UNMC Geriatric Psychiatry Nursing Home Consultation Service over 20 years ago. He has actively participated in numerous clinical trials of pharmacologic agents in the treatment of dementia syndromes and has initiated independent clinical research trials.

VaKara Meyer Karre, MD, Associate Professor

Dr. Meyer Karre is a board-certified general adult psychiatrist who is also fellowship-trained in the area of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. She received her medical degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) before completing a residency in Adult Psychiatry and fellowship in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Dr. Meyer Karre specializes in the treatment of psychiatric disorders in the medically ill.

Lauren Edwards MD, Assistant Professor

Dr. Edwards is an outpatient board-certified psychiatrist trained to treat all mental health concerns who specializes in anxiety and stress-related disorders. Her clinical interests include the effective management of anxiety disorders, psychotherapy, and the effects of diet/nutrition on mental illness and treatment.

A Nebraska native, she earned her undergraduate degrees at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before obtaining her medical degree at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine. She completed her psychiatric residency at the University of Michigan, where she also served as the outpatient chief resident. Dr. Edwards is a University of Michigan scholar in Integrative Medicine, a member of the American Psychiatric Association, and a Professional Education committee member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

Riley Machal, MD, Assistant Professor

Dr. Machal joined the department of psychiatry at the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine in July 2020 as Co-Director of the Active Support for Psychosis in Recovery (ASPIRE) Clinic – a multi-disciplinary clinic providing wrap-around physical and mental health care to those in the Omaha area living with SPMI. She recently took on the role of Associate Director for Medical Education with the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN) to expand the number of rotations exposing psychiatry residents to work within urban and rural underserved communities as well as supplying psychiatry focused CME opportunities to primary care providers in rural Nebraska.