UW Department of Psychiatry
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Virginia Medinilla, MD, PhD

Position title: Assistant Professor (CHS Track)

Phone: Contemplative approaches to the understanding and treatment of psychiatric illness, with a focus on substance use and other addictive disorders

Virginia Medinilla, MD, PhD, is an Addiction Psychiatrist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

Dr. Medinilla received her undergraduate degree in Biotechnology and Molecular Genetics from Universidad Nacional de Quilmes in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She then moved to the United States to attend graduate school at LSU in New Orleans, where she earned her PhD in Neuroscience followed by her MD and Adult Psychiatry Residency training.

During her time in New Orleans, Dr. Medinilla spent significant time training at a Level I Trauma Center as well as at the largest substance abuse treatment center in the state of Louisiana, where she experienced first-hand the devastating effects that addictions can have on individuals and their communities.

In 2022, Dr. Medinilla moved to Madison, WI, to pursue an Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before joining the Department of Psychiatry as faculty in 2023.

Dr. Medinilla is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) and is an active member of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP), as well as the Wisconsin state chapters of the American Society for Addiction Medicine (ASAM/WISAM) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA/WPA).

Dr. Medinilla enjoys working with individuals at different stages of their recovery journeys. She takes an individualized approach to treatment and is experienced in the use of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods, often in combination. As a bilingual provider, Dr. Medinilla is proud to serve the local Spanish- as well as English-speaking community.

Dr. Medinilla’s current research, conducted in collaboration with researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Healthy Minds, focuses on the use of meditation and other contemplative approaches for the understanding and treatment of psychiatric illnesses, particularly substance use and other addictive disorders. Dr. Medinilla is also passionate about the integration of substance use disorder treatment within general psychiatry practice and during her fellowship was the recipient of an award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to disseminate evidence-based information related to the treatment of co-occurring disorders.

Clinical Specialties: