Biography

Bill D. Geis, Ph.D., is the director of Behavioral Health Research at the UMKC School of Medicine and practices at the Center for Behavioral Medicine (CBM) and his clinic, The West Plaza Clinic, in Kansas City. Geis is also a founding member and vice president of training for the Kansas City Suicide Awareness and Prevention Program (KCSAPP). With nearly 30 years of experience in research, teaching and practicing clinical psychology, Geis continues to be a supervising faculty member at CBM, an adjunct professor of psychology at the University of Kansas and adjunct professor of occupational therapy at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.

He received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, history and classics from KU. He went on to receive a master’s degree and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University. Geis completed a one-year internship at the Indiana University School of Medicine and a two-year, post-doctoral fellowship in clinical psychology at the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kan.

Research Summary
Dr. Geis has generated and participated in more than $10 million dollars in research and demonstration project funding involving substance abuse, psychiatric disability, cancer support, homelessness interventions, domestic violence, and in recent years, suicide prevention and suicide assessment utilizing thought patterns to enhance risk assessment. He has received funding and support from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Centers for Disease Control, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City. His current funding in suicide research enjoys support from SAMHSA (involving a state-wide suicide prevention plan) and the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City (enhanced suicide risk triage).