Daniel S. Carrero was officially installed as the inaugural Seymour and Ruth Perlin Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) during a ceremony Oct. 18 in the Jack Morton Auditorium at the George Washington University. The event celebrated not only Carrero’s appointment, but also the enduring legacy of the Perlin family within the GW academic community.
The endowment, established in 2022 by Jonathan B. Perlin and Donna J. Perlin, honors the family’s long-standing connection to GW and acknowledges the significant contributions of Ruth and Seymour Perlin, professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. It is uniquely geared toward supporting junior faculty members in psychiatry with a focus on residency training, reflecting the Perlin family’s commitment to education and mental health.
In his remarks, Jonathan Perlin emphasized that commitment. “It’s in the spirit of honoring family, honoring the importance of education, that Donna and I are so tremendously pleased to be able to do our little part,” he said.
“It’s also a privilege just to support the continuity of work and creating opportunities for young faculty to thrive; to relieve some of the brutal pressures that too greatly characterize today’s health care and to really cultivate individuals who are here because of a passion for wanting to improve the world around them.”
Carrero, who joined SMHS in October 2023 as an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral health, expressed his gratitude for the honor. “This is extraordinary. I would like to say thank you very much for the generosity of the Perlin family,” he said. “It’s an honor to be a recipient of this professorship and be able to work in that vein, with the passions I share for humanity, people and education.”
Carrero is a board-certified psychiatrist with an additional certification in electroconvulsive therapy. Previously he served as an associate program director for general adult psychiatry at Ocean University Medical Center and associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.
During his time at Hackensack Meridian Health, Carrero served as the psychiatry clerkship site director as well as the didactic curriculum director for general adult psychiatry residents at both Ocean University and Jersey Shore University Medical Centers.
Daniel Carrero (l), Ruth Perlin and Seymour Perlin, professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. (Photo: Abby Greenawalt)
Carrero’s clinical interests include neuromodulation, medical procedures that alter nerve activity to treat a wide range of conditions from headaches to tremors to spinal cord damage. Carrero is trained in providing treatment services in esketamine, nasal spray treatment for adults with treatment-resistant depression, and HeartMath Biofeedback, a digital technology that pairs with a mobile device to help users gain awareness of their stress levels.
Provost Christopher Alan Bracey said endowed professorships are a cornerstone of higher education, philanthropy and academic excellence. The earnings they generate enrich and sustain our work across the university, reaching all corners of campus," he said. "[These] positions are essential to advancing our mission and attracting and retaining outstanding scholars and leaders like Dr. Daniel Carrero and others who hold these endowed professorships on our faculty."
In her remarks, SMHS Dean Barbara Lee Bass, professor of surgery, Walter A. Bloedorn Chair of Administrative Medicine and GW vice president for health affairs, recognized the importance of endowed professorships in attracting top talent to the institution.
“Today, we honor a long-standing relationship between GW and the Perlin family,” she said. “It lets us really attract the brightest and best, those that serve our very special additional missions in medicine—be that in science and research, education or in clinical care.”
The Perlin family’s ties to GW span more than a century and include multiple alumni, a professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, a current third-year medical student, and a building named after Ruth Perlin’s cousin, Benjamin Rome. The installation of Carrero not only marks a significant milestone in his career but also reinforces the ongoing partnership between the university and the Perlin family in advancing the field of psychiatry.