Dr. Kari Wolf oversees state’s new behavioral health training center Kari Wolf, MD , has never been afraid of making waves. The chair of SIU Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry was born in Evanston, Illinois, and raised in Iowa where she experienced her first opportunity to challenge the status quo and make a meaningful impact. At 12-years-old, Wolf fearlessly stood up for what she believed in when she chose to represent the Des Moines school district in a federal lawsuit. She was joined by another student from rural Iowa to take legal action against the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union