FACULTY
Yuval Neria, PhD is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Departments of Psychiatry and Epidemiology at Columbia University, a Research Scientist and the Director of Trauma and PTSD Program at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He received his doctorate in psychology from Haifa University, Israel, in 1994, and subsequently served on the faculty of Tel Aviv University until his recruitment to Columbia University after the attacks of 9/11, 2001.
Dr. Neria’s research has been focused on the mental health consequences of exposure to extreme traumatic events, with a particular focus on war veterans and survivors of disasters and terrorism. He is also involved in the development of novel treatment modalities for traumatized populations with PTSD and the identification of biological markers of PTSD.
Dr. Neria’s scientific work has been inspired by his experience in combat. He was injured in the Yom Kippur 1973 War and was awarded the Medal of Valor, equivalent to the Congressional Medal of Honor. He has authored or co-authored more than 85 publications in the area of trauma related disorders including PTSD, depression, and bipolar illness. He is the lead editor of two books: “9/11: mental health in the wake of terrorist attacks” (Cambridge University Press, 2006) and “Mental Health And Disasters” (Cambridge University Press, 2009). His research projects have been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and NARSAD. He is the 2007 recipient of the Klerman NARSAD Award for outstanding Clinical Research, Honorable Mention.
John Markowitz, MD is a Research Psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York City. Dr. Markowitz received his medical degree from Columbia in 1982 and completed psychiatric residency training at the New York Hospital-Payne Whitney Clinic in 1986. He received training in cognitive behavioral therapy at the Center for Cognitive Therapy in Philadelphia and in interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) from the late Gerald L. Klerman, M.D. at Cornell.
Since residency Dr. Markowitz has conducted clinical research involving mood, anxiety, and personality disorders, psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy. He has collaborated with James Kocsis, M.D. on chronic depression research and with the late Drs. Klerman and Samuel Perry on HIV-related research at Cornell. Since moving to Columbia and New York State Psychiatric Institute in 2001, he has also focused on personality disorders, working with Andrew Skodol, M.D., and posttraumatic stress disorder. In April 2008 he received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health for a five year grant to study the efficacy of psychotherapies for chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dr. Markowitz has received grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, NARSAD, and other foundations. He has lectured widely on IPT and other topics. Dr. Markowitz is the author or co-author of 15 books and more than two hundred peer-reviewed articles and chapters.
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Franklin Schneier, MDAssociate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Research Psychiatrist, Anxiety Disorders Clinic New York State Psychiatric Institute Office: 212-543-5368 frs1@columbia.edu
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Franklin Schneier, MD is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Research Scientist in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at New York State Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Schneier is a graduate of Yale College and Cornell University Medical College, and he completed his residency in psychiatry at Mt. Sinai Medical Center. He came to the Anxiety Disorders Clinic in 1987 as a research fellow, later serving as associate director of the clinic and currently as a research psychiatrist. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America.
Dr. Schneier’s research has focused on the diagnosis and treatment of social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. He has conducted clinical trials establishing the efficacy of medication treatments and combined treatments with cognitive-behavioral therapy, and he has studied using brain imaging techniques of SPECT, PET, and fMRI to evaluate brain function in anxiety disorders. He is currently principal investigator of grants funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and NARSAD. He is author of more than 100 scholarly publications and a book for the general public, The Hidden Face of Shyness.
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Larry Amsel, MD Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology Department of Psychiatry Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Research Psychiatrist, Anxiety Disorders Clinic New York State Psychiatric Institute Office: 212-543-5367
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Larry Amsel, MD graduated Columbia University in 1978, where he studied mathematics. He then attended graduate school and taught mathematics before completing medical training at Yale University School of Medicine in 1988. He received residency training in psychiatry at Mt. Sinai Medical Center and Cornell University, and a Masters in Public Health in Bio-Statistics at Columbia University, as well as completing a Research Fellowship in Child Psychiatry at Columbia University. Subsequently, he joined the faculty of Columbia University doing research in suicide prevention and applications of Decision Science and Game Theory to psychiatry. In 2003 Dr. Amsel organized the first ever American Psychiatric Association symposium on applications of Game Theory to psychiatry, and he has published articles and given posters on Game Theory modeling of suicide, OCD, and PTSD.
After 9/11, Dr. Amsel joined the Trauma Studies and Services division at the New York Psychiatric Institute, and has been involved in treating victims of 9/11 and their families, in training community clinicians in cutting edge treatments for PTSD and Complicated (Traumatic) Grief, as well as in doing research on optimal methods of disseminating this training. He was recently involved in preparing the training materials for the National VA PTSD CBT training program in conjunction with Edna Foa’s group at University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Amsel has extensive clinical expertise within psychiatric practice and research related to PTSD, as well as expertise in applying decision science tasks in psychiatric research settings.
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Greg Sullivan, MD
Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Research Psychiatrist New York State Psychiatric Institute Office: 212-543-6760
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Gregory M. Sullivan, MD is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University. His areas of expertise include the diagnosis, treatment, and neurobiology of anxiety and mood disorders.
Dr. Sullivan received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and in 1992 he received his medical doctorate from the College of Physicians & Surgeons at Columbia University. He remained at Columbia for residency training in psychiatry, completed a two-year NIH-sponsored research fellowship in anxiety and affective disorders, and, in 1999 he joined the faculty in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Sullivan has a particular interest in translational studies of anxiety and depressive disorders, incorporating the knowledge base of brain functioning identified through basic neuroscience research. His studies focus on the use of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging for determination of key circuitry and neurochemistry underlying anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and comorbid depression and anxiety. Dr. Sullivan has authored or co-authored over 25 articles and chapters. He is a recipient of faculty research grants from the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, and the Dana Foundation; and he was awarded K08 career award from the National Institute of Mental Health to pursue PET studies in panic disorder.
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J. Arturo Sanchez-Lacay, MDAssistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry Department of Psychiatry College of Physicians and Surgeons Research Psychiatrist, Anxiety Disorders Clinic New York State Psychiatric Institute Office: 212-543-6521 arturo@nyspi.cpmc.columbia.edu
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J. Arturo Sanchez-Lacay, MD is a Research Psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New YorkCity. Dr. Sanchez-Lacay completed General Psychiatric residency and a Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of
Puerto Rico and Affiliated Hospitals. He also completed a Master degree in Psychiatric Epidemiology from the School of Public Health at Columbia University.
Dr. Sanchez-Lacay joined the Anxiety Disorders Clinic in 1992 and has worked extensively in all research protocols and clinical projects, including trauma, depression and anxiety disorders.
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Eun Jung Suh, PhD Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology Department of Psychiatry Research Scientist, Anxiety Disorders Clinic New York State Psychiatric Institute Office: 212-543-5376
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Eun Jung Suh, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physician and Surgeons and a Research Scientist in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at New York State Psychiatric Institute.
Dr. Suh received her Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology at McGill University in 2000 and completed NIMH Postdoctoral Fellowship in Psychiatric Epidemiology at Columbia University in 2002. She was a research fellow at the Asch Center for Ethnopolitical Conflict at University of Pennsylvania and received formal training in cognitive behavioral therapy at the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research.
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Leo Sher, MD Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry College of Physicians and Surgeons Research Psychiatrist, Anxiety Disorders Clinic Division of Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology New York State Psychiatric Institute Office: 212-543-6240
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Leo Sher, MD is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University, and a Research Psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Division of Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology. His areas of expertise include the diagnosis, treatment and neurobiology of depression, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder. Dr. Sher is interested in the psychobiology of suicidal behavior and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dr. Sher graduated summa cum laude from the Ukrainian National Medical University in Kiev, Ukraine. He did his residency in Psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Glen Oaks, New York, and the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Sher also completed a Research Fellowship in psychobiology of mood disorders at the National Institute of Mental Health. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
Dr. Sher is the principal investigator on a study of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function in depressed patients with or without a history of suicidal behavior, and healthy volunteers. He is also the principal investigator on a study of the effects of acute tryptophan depletion on impulsivity in suicide attempters and non-attempters with alcohol dependence. Dr. Sher was the first researcher in North America who introduced the use of the combined dexamethasone suppression - corticotropin-releasing hormone stimulation test for psychiatric purposes. Dr. Sher has proposed the concept of posttraumatic mood disorder that was met with significant interest by experts in the field.
Dr. Sher is involved in a high-risk study of suicide attempters with bipolar disorder; a treatment study of suicidal and self-injurious behavior in borderline personality disorder; and a number of other research studies examining the neurobiology of mood disorders and suicidal behavior.
Dr. Sher has authored or co-authored over 350 scientific publications and is a peer reviewer for a number of medical journals. He is an editor of the book, "Adolescence and Alcohol: An International Perspective" published in 2006 and the book, “Alcohol and Suicide: Research and Clinical Perspectives” published in 2007. He is also the editor of the book "Research on the Neurobiology of Alcohol Use Disorders" published in 2008. Dr. Sher is the recipient of several Awards including the Charlotte Marker Zitrin, M.D. Award from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Long Island Jewish Medical Center for the Best Scientific Paper (1997) and the International Award for Excellence in Published Clinical Research in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (2004). Dr. Sher is also the recipient of two grants from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
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Maren Westphal, PhD Research Project Manager, Anxiety Disorders Clinic New York State Psychiatric Institute Office: 212-543-4279 westpha@nyspi.cpmc.columbia.edu
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Maren Westphal, PhD is a Research Project Manager and Licensed Clinical Psychologist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI). She received a BA (Honors) in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in Clinical Psychology (With Distinction) from Columbia University. Dr. Westphal completed an APA-approved Psychology Internship at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center (Academic Affiliate of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons) and a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York before joining Columbia University’s Trauma and PTSD program in January 2009.
Dr. Westphal has been trained in dialectical behavior therapy and cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic and structural family therapies, and has experience conducting psychological assessments and psychotherapy in English and Spanish with outpatient and inpatient populations. Dr. Westphal recently taught weekly labs in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy to PhD students in the Clinical Psychology program (Health Emphasis) at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology of Yeshiva University, where she currently serves as an adjunct clinical supervisor.
Dr. Westphal’s main research interests are biological markers and psychosocial correlates of risk and resilience to adversity, with focus on emotion regulation, personality, and fear extinction learning. Dr. Westphal continues to pursue her interest in translational research at NYSPI as member of a multidisciplinary research team led by Dr. Yuval Neria that is comprised of scientists from Columbia, Harvard and New York Universities with expertise in PTSD, prolonged exposure therapy, primary care mental health, and cognitive neuroscience. Dr. Westphal is also involved in several projects that aim to promote adjustment and reintegration of veterans returning from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Ali Doruk, MD Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Anxiety Disorders Clinic New York State Psychiatric Institute
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Ali Doruk, MD is a visiting Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Trauma and PTSD Program at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He is also an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at Gulhane Military Medical School (GMMS) in Ankara, Turkey.
He received his medical doctorate from GMMS in 1991. He completed his residency training in psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at the GMMS in 1998. He worked as a psychiatrist at various military hospitals from 1999 to 2004. He has worked as an academician in the Department of Psychiatry at the GMMS since 2004.
His clinical and research interests have focused on PTSD, anxiety disorders, adjustment disorders and psychopharmacology.
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Helena Rosenfeld, BA Project Manager Office: 212-543-6747 helena@pi.cpmc.columbia.edu
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Helena Rosenfeld, BA is the Project Manager for the Trauma and PTSD program in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. She joined the Anxiety Disorders Clinic in 2000 and has worked extensively coordinating research protocols and clinical projects aimed at providing treatment for a range of anxiety disorders with a focus on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Helena received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from San Francisco State University in California in 1999.
Within the Trauma and PTSD Program, she currently coordinates the Combination Treatment of PTSD Among 9/11 Victims protocol, the Psychotherapies for Chronic PTSD protocol and the Treatment of Chronic Insomnia Induced by Trauma protocol. Helena also provides editorial support for research publications and was the Editorial Coordinator in New York City for the recently published book titled "9/11: Mental Health in The Wake of Terrorist Attacks" (Cambridge U. Press, 2006). She is fluent in Spanish and provides medical interpreter services in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic as well as at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
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Donna Vermes, MS, NPP, BC Research Administrator Office: 212-543-6534 donna@nyspi.cpmc.columbia.edu |
Donna Vermes, MS, NPP, B.C. is the Administrator of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI), and Instructor in Clinical Nursing in the Department of Nursing at Columbia University School of Nursing. Donna graduated from Columbia University School of Nursing Graduate School in 2000. Donna has been working in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic since 1993. She was involved in conducting training workshops for clinicians in the treatment of PTSD. She is a therapist for Prolonged Exposure Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Cognitive Behavior Group Therapy (CBGT) groups for Social Phobia, Individual Psychotherapy, and Problem Gambling Behavior Therapy.
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Margarita Bravova, BS Research Assistant Office: 212-543-4279 mvb2118@columbia.edu |
Margarita Bravova, BS joined the Anxiety Disorders Clinic as a volunteer in October 2008 and is now a Research Assistant for the Trauma and PTSD Program at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. She is currently working with Dr. Yuval Neria on an fMRI project examining the neurological changes associated with successful exposure treatment for PTSD. She received her B.S. in Psychology with minors in Neuroscience and French at Loyola University, Chicago in May 2008 and is due to receive her M.A. in Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University in May 2010.