School of Medicine


Showing 1-10 of 43 Results

  • Steven Adelsheim

    Steven Adelsheim

    Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioSteven Adelsheim, MD is a child/adolescent and adult psychiatrist who works to support community behavioral health partnerships locally, regionally, at the state level and nationally. He is the Director of the Stanford Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Adelsheim has partnered in developing statewide mental health policy and systems, including those focused on school mental health, telebehavioral health, tribal behavioral health programs, and suicide prevention. For many years Dr. Adelsheim has been developing and implementing early detection/intervention programs for young people in school-based and primary care settings, including programs for depression, anxiety, prodromal symptoms of psychosis, and first episodes of psychosis. Dr. Adelsheim is also involved in the implementation of integrated behavioral health care models in primary care settings as well as the use of media to decrease stigma surrounding mental health issues. He is currently leading the US effort to implement the headspace model of mental health early intervention for young people ages 12-25 based in Australia. Dr. Adelsheim also leads the national clinical network for early psychosis programs called PEPPNET.

  • Rania Awaad, MD

    Rania Awaad, MD

    Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsAs the Director of the Muslims and Mental Health Lab, Dr. Awaad is dedicated to creating an academic home for the study of mental health as it relates to the Islamic faith and Muslim populations. The lab aims to provide the intellectual resources to clinicians, researchers, trainees, educators, community and religious leaders working with or studying Muslims.

  • Rebecca A. Bernert, PhD, ABPP, FT

    Rebecca A. Bernert, PhD, ABPP, FT

    Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Public Mental Health and Population Sciences)

    BioI am an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and a licensed clinical psychologist in the Stanford University School of Medicine. I am a suicidologist, with subspecialty expertise in clinical trials, epidemiology, and suicide prevention best practices. I have joint specialty in behavioral sleep medicine, treatment development, and thanatology. I am Founding Director of The Stanford Suicide Prevention Research Laboratory, and Co-Chair a number of initiatives to support multidisciplinary efforts in suicide prevention. Our program utilizes cognitive, biological (e.g., fMRI), and behavioral testing paradigms, with an emphasis on translational therapeutics across the lifespan. Our mission is to identify novel therapeutics, including seminal work to establish the subfield of sleep and suicide prevention. A special focus is the development of rapid-action, low-risk interventions for the prevention of suicide. Our mission is to evaluate transdiagnostic risk factors and biomarkers underlying treatment response that may inform etiology, reduce stigma, and advance innovation. Advocating for its utility as a visible, yet non-stigmatizing warning sign of suicide—our earliest work delineated sleep as a risk factor for suicidal behaviors. Funded by NIH and DOD, we subsequently conducted the first suicide prevention clinical trials, testing efficacy of a rapid-action (6 h) insomnia treatment for suicidal behaviors. These use a mechanisms focus to identify central disease processes (eg, underlying neural circuitry, behavioral factors) for anti-suicidal response. An overarching aim is to harness new technologies to aid risk prediction, precision medicine, and intervention opportunity. We are committed to improving national training practices (e.g., national needs-assessment of medical training parameters; AI for suicide prevention), and lead hospital best practices for safety in screening, triage, and postvention.

    Regarding translation to policy, I have served as a content expert for nationally-directed health initiatives with NIH, VA, DOD, DARPA, SAMHSA, CDC, and The White House. I recently led development of the CA 2020-25 Statewide Strategy for Suicide Prevention, following invited testimony (CA State Assembly) and a commissioned Policy Brief on suicide prevention best practices. Advisory and advocacy work centers on how research guides public health policy and implementation. I am especially committed to initiatives promising impact to suicide prevention on a broad scale, including universal strategies for lethal means restriction and real-time surveillance of suicidal behaviors. To this end, I have been honored to serve as a content expert to The White House Office of Science and Technology for initiatives focused on technology innovation and led advisory work promoting suicide deterrent systems for private organizations and public sites, such as the Golden Gate Bridge. I have consulted for technology companies, as well as private industry and healthcare partners.

    Inspired by maternity leaves coinciding with the above work, I have a separate research line examining organizational development, inclusive practices, sleep and employee wellness. This addresses disparate impact of institutional and federal medical leave practices on recruitment and retention of women. Our program focuses on cost-effective policy for diversity training and reduced attrition of women in medicine, law, STEM and technology fields. As such, I am dedicated to spearheading development of a Stanford Center for Policy, Inclusive Practices, and Equity Education.

    To donate or partner with us, please contact Deborah Stinchfield (Stanford Medical Center Development) medicalgiving@stanford.edu or please contact us directly.

  • Christiane Brems, PhD, ABPP, ERYT500, C-IAYT

    Christiane Brems, PhD, ABPP, ERYT500, C-IAYT

    Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioChristiane Brems, PhD, ABPP, RYT-500, C-IAYT, is the Founding Director of YogaX, a Special Initiative in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Oklahoma State University in 1987. Dr. Brems is licensed as a psychologist in several US states and board-certified as a clinical psychologist by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). She is a registered yoga teacher (E-RYT500) and certified C-IAYT yoga therapist. She is also certified in Interactive Guided Imagery.

    She began her career in academia at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. She then served on faculty at the University of Alaska Anchorage for 23 years, where she held a variety of leadership positions, including as (Co-Founding) Director of the Center for Behavioral Health Research and Services, (Co-Founding) Director of the PhD Program in Clinical-Community Psychology, and Interim Vice Provost for Research and Dean of the Graduate School. Most recently, she served for nearly six years as Dean and Professor of the School of Graduate Psychology (SGP) at Pacific University Oregon.

    Dr. Brems has worked for decades as an applied researcher and clinical practitioner with particular interests in health promotion, rural healthcare delivery, and all things yoga. Her work has been funded by grants and contracts from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, and local and State of Alaska funding sources. She has shared her work extensively in over 120 peer-reviewed journal articles, 100s of technical reports, and several books, including the Comprehensive Guide to Child Psychotherapy (now in its 4th edition), Dealing with Challenges in Psychotherapy and Counseling, Basic Skills in Counseling and Psychotherapy, and others. Dr. Brems is committed to excellence in and integration of clinical services, teaching, consultation, and research.

    Dr. Brems has integrated yoga, mindfulness, complementary interventions, and self-care strategies in her work as a consultant, author, dean, teacher, researcher, mentor, supervisor, colleague, and service provider. She values these practices as crucial aspects of day-to-day professional and personal life and seeks to enhance access to them for all who can benefit.

  • Eve Carlson

    Eve Carlson

    Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioEve Carlson is a Clinical Professor who focuses on fostering mental health after traumatic stress. She is a clinical psychologist and a researcher with the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder’s Dissemination and Training Division. Her primary interests are in measurement development and recovery after traumatic stress. She collaborates with faculty in Surgery (David Spain) and Medicine (Lisa Shieh) to study mental health of patients hospitalized after sudden, severe illness or injury, racial/ethnic disparities in traumatic stress risks and responses, screening for risk of mental health problems, and preventive mental health care. As PIs of a multi-center study funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Dr. Carlson and Dr. Spain and their collaborators have developed and validated a mental health risk screen for hospital patients admitted after sudden, severe illness or injury. Data from patients who identify as Asian American/Pacific Islander, Black, Latinx, Multiracial, and White were analyzed to select screen items, and the screen accurately predicts later mental health outcomes within these ethnic/racial groups. Our research has also found disparities across ethnic/racial groups in several traumatic stress risk factors and mental health responses. Dr. Carlson is Co-PI with Dr. Shieh of a study funded by Stanford RISE comparing mental health recovery in Latinx and non-Latinx COVID-19 patients to recovery in patients hospitalized with other sudden, severe illness.

  • Timothy Durazzo

    Timothy Durazzo

    Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Public Mental Health and Population Sciences)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe mission of the Durazzo BRASS lab is to better understand how the interplay between biomedical, psychological and social factors influence treatment outcome in Veterans and civilians seeking treatment for alcohol and substance use disorders. To accomplish this mission, our multidisciplinary team integrates information from advanced neuroimaging, neurocognitive assessment, psychodiagnostic and genotyping methods to identify the biopsychosocial factors associated with relapse and sustained sobriety. Veteran's Administration and Stanford funded Clinical trials are currently being conducted by the BRASS lab that evaluate repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation techniques as novel complementary treatments to reduce the high rate of relapse experienced by individuals with alcohol and substance abuse disorders. The ultimate goal of our multidisciplinary research program is to promote the development of more effective biomedical and behavioral treatments for alcohol and substance use disorders through consideration of the brain biology, psychology and social circumstances of each individual.

  • Cheryl Gore-Felton, Ph.D.

    Cheryl Gore-Felton, Ph.D.

    Walter E. Nichols, MD Professor in the School of Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy clinical focus is the treatment of anxiety disorders, including post traumatic stress disorder. My research focuses on developing effective psychotherapy interventions to reduce chronic stress as well as enhance positive health behaviors to reduce morbidity and mortality among patients coping with chronic, medical illnesses which are often life threatening.

  • Heather Gotham

    Heather Gotham

    Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Gotham’s research focuses on implementation science, including factors affecting implementation, and training and education of health care providers, across a range of evidence-based practices for adolescent and adult substance use and mental health disorders, co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, and screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT).

  • Laura Michele Hack

    Laura Michele Hack

    Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Public Mental Health and Population Sciences)

    BioDr. Laura Hack is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Director of Novel & Precision Neurotherapeutics at the Stanford Center for Precision Mental Health and Wellness, Director of the Stanford Translational Precision Mental Health Clinic, and Deputy Director of the Precision Neuromodulation Clinic (PNC) within the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. Dr. Hack's translational research program focuses on identifying bioclinical subtypes of depression and testing mechanistically-guided treatments for these subtypes. Dr. Hack studies treatments spanning repurposed medications, such as pramipexole and guanfacine, neuromodulation techniques, ketamine, MDMA, and psilocybin. Clinically, she specializes in delivering novel treatments, including repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and ketamine, to patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression and comorbid trauma-related disorders.