Behavioral Health Medical Director
Delaware Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance
Media, Pennsylvania
Sherry Nykiel, MD, DFAPA, FASAM, is an addiction psychiatrist and the Chief Behavioral Health Officer for the Delaware Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance, with extensive experience in clinical care, healthcare administration, and behavioral health system design. She completed the MGH–McLean Adult Psychiatry Residency Program and the MGH Brigham Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship. In her current role, Dr. Nykiel works closely with managed care organizations, pharmacies, legislators, and policymakers to ensure access to high-quality, evidence-based, and fiscally responsible behavioral health services for Delaware Medicaid members.
Previously, Dr. Nykiel served as Medical Director and Chief of Addiction Psychiatry for the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services. In that role, she partnered with state leadership, clinicians, and administrators to expand and strengthen addiction and mental health services statewide.
Her leadership experience includes serving as Director of the McLean Center at Fernside, Medical Director of Outpatient Psychiatric Services at Boston Medical Center, and Medical Director of First Steps Treatment Center. Across these roles, she led multidisciplinary teams providing care for individuals with substance use and co-occurring psychiatric disorders in inpatient, residential, and outpatient settings, with responsibilities spanning clinical operations, quality improvement, and program development.
Dr. Nykiel’s academic interests focus on integrated, evidence-based treatments for co-occurring disorders. As a McLean Hospital Maria Lorenz Pope Research Fellow, she developed a novel treatment integrating motivational interviewing and mentalization-based therapy. She is also an experienced educator, having developed addiction psychiatry curricula, supervised trainees, edited The Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital Residency Handbook of Psychiatry (2010), and lectured nationally.
In addition to her public sector work, Dr. Nykiel is the founder and Chief Medical Officer of Justus Mental Health, a psychiatric services organization based in Media, Pennsylvania.
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How Medicaid Powers Addiction Treatment: Care, Coverage and Consequences
Friday, April 24, 2026
3:15 PM - 4:30 PM PT
