School of Medicine


Showing 1-50 of 325 Results

  • Elias Aboujaoude, MD, MA

    Elias Aboujaoude, MD, MA

    Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioDr. Aboujaoude is a Clinical Professor, researcher and writer at Stanford University's Department of Psychiatry, where he is Chief of the Anxiety Disorders Section and Director of the OCD Clinic and the Impulse Control Disorders Clinic. Besides the compulsivity-impulsivity spectrum, his work has focused on the intersection of technology and psychology, with an emphasis on the problematic use of Internet-related technologies, mental health in a post-privacy world, and the potential for telemedicine interventions such as virtual reality and video-based therapy to increase access to care and advance global health. His books include "Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the e-Personality" and "Mental Heath in the Digital Age: Grave Dangers, Great Promise". Dr. Aboujaoude also teaches psychology on the main Stanford campus and at UC Berkeley. Scholarly and media platforms that have featured his work include The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Congressional Quarterly, The Harvard Business Review, The Chronicle of Higher Education, BBC, PBS, and CNN.

  • Connor Adams

    Connor Adams

    Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioDr. Connor Adams (she/they) is a Clinical Assistant Professor who received her doctorate in psychology from the George Washington University and completed her internship training at Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Health Alliance. Her clinical and research interests center on therapeutic interventions that support recovery for individuals living with serious mental illness. Dr. Adams grounds her work in a psychodynamic perspective, assisting individuals in understanding why they think, feel, and behave the way they do, in order to increase agency and choice. Dr. Adams has specialized training in comprehensive Dialectical Behavior Therapy and provides treatment for individuals with emotion regulation difficulties. She also has specialized training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp). Additionally, Dr. Adams provides individual and group psychotherapy within the psychiatric inpatient treatment setting. She is broadly interested in increasing access to person-centered and recovery-oriented care.

  • Sarah Adler

    Sarah Adler

    Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsI am interested in the design and delivery of clinical care using, data and technology. I have focused on disordered eating behaviors and obesity.

  • Raag Airan

    Raag Airan

    Associate Professor of Radiology (Neuroimaging and Neurointervention) and, by courtesy, of Materials Science & Engineering and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur goal is to develop and clinically implement new technologies for high-precision and noninvasive intervention upon the nervous system. Every few millimeters of the brain is functionally distinct, and different parts of the brain may have counteracting responses to therapy. To better match our therapies to neuroscience, we develop techniques that allow intervention upon only the right part of the nervous system at the right time, using technologies like focused ultrasound and nanotechnology.

  • Amy Alexander

    Amy Alexander

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsCollege Mental Health, Emotional Support Animals & Service Animals, Women's Health, Mental Health & Well-being in Veterinarians

  • Olivia Altamirano, PhD

    Olivia Altamirano, PhD

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsCulturally Sensitive Therapy is a group psychotherapy for people with early psychosis and their families. Study aims are to understand if this treatment is compatible with this population, to assess improvements in family functioning and mental health symptoms, to assess mediating factors (e.g., increased usage of adaptive religious and other cultural beliefs/values), and to assess longevity of improvements. Last, we aim to qualitatively understand participants’ experiences with this treatment.

  • James Armontrout

    James Armontrout

    Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioDr. Armontrout is the Program Director of the Stanford Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship. He completed residency training at the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Training Program, followed by forensic psychiatry fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. He is board certified in Psychiatry, Forensic Psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine.

    Before coming to Stanford Dr. Armontrout worked as a staff psychiatrist for the Palo Alto VA Healthcare System at the Trauma Recovery Program, a residential treatment program focusing on PTSD, other trauma-related disorders, and substance use disorders. For a portion of Dr. Armontrout's time with the VA he served as the Medical Director for the Trauma Recovery Program.

    In addition to his forensic fellowship activities, Dr. Armontrout currently serves as an attending in the Stanford PTSD clinic and the dual diagnosis clinic.

  • Bruce Arnow, Ph.D.

    Bruce Arnow, Ph.D.

    Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (General Psychiatry and Psychology - Adult)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsCurrent research interests include treatment outcome for major depression, particularly treatment refractory and chronic forms of major depression, as well as mediators and moderators of outcome; the epidemiology of chronic pain and depression; relationships between child maltreatment and adult sequelae, including psychiatric, medical and health care utilization.

  • Aparna Atluru, MD, MBA

    Aparna Atluru, MD, MBA

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsPhysician Mental Health, Resident Mental Health

  • Sepideh Bajestan, MD, PhD

    Sepideh Bajestan, MD, PhD

    Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsNeuropsychiatry
    Functional Neurological Symptom Disorders, Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures
    Group and Individual Psychotherapy
    Impulse Control Disorders

  • Jacob S. Ballon

    Jacob S. Ballon

    Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (General Psychiatry and Psychology)

    BioJacob S. Ballon, M.D., M.P.H. specializes in the treatment of people with psychotic disorders including schizophrenia. He is the Co-Director of the INSPIRE Clinic at Stanford which provides interdisciplinary care for people experiencing psychosis. He is also the Associate Chair for Patient Services and co-Division Chief for General Adult Psychiatry and Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Ballon completed his residency at Stanford in 2009 and a Schizophrenia Research Fellowship at Columbia University in 2011.

    Dr. Ballon's research focuses primarily in clinical trials of new medications for the treatment of schizophrenia. He further maintains an interest in understanding the connections between the brain and the rest of the body as relates to the manifestation and treatment of people who experience psychosis. He works closely with a diverse group of researchers throughout the university and technology community to investigate these connections. He has participated in numerous projects investigating the metabolic implications of schizophrenia and of psychiatric medication including the association of antipsychotic medication with weight gain and insulin resistance.

    INSPIRE is an innovative interdisciplinary client-centered resource providing respectful evidence-based care to support people to achieve meaningful recovery from psychosis through collaborative partnership with individuals and their families while advancing knowledge and training for a new generation of providers. With a recovery-oriented philosophy, the clinic provides an array of services including psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, and psychosocial evaluations. As a research clinic, they are focused on collaborating with multiple disciplines throughout the university to conduct clinical and basic science research including functional imaging, clinical trials, basic pathophysiology, and genetics.

  • Nataly Beck, MD

    Nataly Beck, MD

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioAs co-founder and co-director of ALMA Clinic, Dr. Nataly Beck is a psychiatrist who is passionate about providing compassionate, evidence-based, culturally sensitive, and language-concordant care to patients, especially including those from the Hispanic or Latin-American community. Originally from Lima, Peru, she immigrated to the US with her family at a young age. After attending the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, she attended Yale School of Medicine and then completed her psychiatry residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. As a Clinical Assistant Professor at Stanford, she co-founded ALMA Clinic (formerly known as La Clínica Latina) in 2021 and has been inspired to see the impact that the clinic has had on many Hispanic and Latin-American patients. Dr. Beck is honored to have the opportunity to co-lead the team of providers, graduate and undergraduate students, and others at Stanford Medicine that have the united goal of providing excellent care to patients as well as to advance mental health care in the Hispanic and Latin-American community.


    Como cofundadora y codirectora de la Clínica ALMA, la Dra. Nataly Beck es una psiquiatra apasionada por brindar atención compasiva, basada en la evidencia, culturalmente sensible y en el idioma del paciente, especialmente a aquellos de la comunidad hispana o latinoamericana. Originaria de Lima, Perú, emigró a Estados Unidos con su familia a una edad temprana. Tras estudiar en la Universidad de Tennessee-Knoxville, cursó sus estudios de medicina en la Facultad de Medicina de Yale y completó su residencia en psiquiatría en el Centro Médico de la Universidad de Vanderbilt. Como profesora clínica adjunta en Stanford, cofundó la Clínica ALMA (anteriormente conocida como La Clínica Latina) en 2021 y se siente inspirada al ver el impacto que la clínica ha tenido en muchos pacientes hispanos y latinoamericanos. La Dra. Beck se siente honrada de tener la oportunidad de codirigir el equipo de profesionales, estudiantes de posgrado y pregrado, y demás personal de Stanford Medicine, quienes comparten el objetivo de brindar una atención excelente a los pacientes y de promover la salud mental en la comunidad hispana y latinoamericana.

  • Wendy J. Bernstein

    Wendy J. Bernstein

    Adjunct Clinical Instructor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioSenior Community Psychiatrist, Wellness Equity Alliance, Medical Director, Project ECHO and Telemedicine for Severe Mental Illness Track to support the Mental Health of SGBV survivors in Democratic Republic of Congo project. Past Associate Medical Director at Casa del Sol, specialty mental health clinic of La Clinica de la Raza in Oakland California from 2013 to July 2021. Previously at Kaiser Permanente, Northern California, from 2000 to 2013, and Contra Costa County Older Adults Clinics from 1995-2000. Graduate of McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Montreal, Canada, and Boston University Psychiatry Residency. Interests include global health, community mental health, Latinx and underserved populations, women's health, and elder care.

  • Mahendra T. Bhati

    Mahendra T. Bhati

    Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
    Clinical Professor, Neurosurgery

    BioDr. Bhati is an interventional psychiatrist with expertise in psychiatric diagnosis, psychopharmacology, and neuromodulation. He completed postdoctoral research studying language abnormalities and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) evoked potentials in schizophrenia. He was a principal investigator for the DSM-5 academic field trials, and his research experiences included roles in the first controlled clinical trials of TMS and deep brain stimulation (DBS) for treatment of depression. He was the founding Chief of Interventional Psychiatry at Stanford where he performs consultations and provides pharmacological and neuromodulatory treatments. His current research interests include studying magnetic resonance imaging and augmented reality to target TMS, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for treatment-resistant depression, DBS for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and depression, responsive neurostimulation (RNS) for treatment of impulse and fear-related disorders, and focused ultrasound (FUS) for treatment-resistant OCD and depression. Dr. Bhati seeks to train more providers in mental healthcare and founded a clinical fellowship in Interventional Psychiatry at Stanford.

  • Richa Bhatia, MD

    Richa Bhatia, MD

    Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioDr. Bhatia is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine. She is a dual Board-certified child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist, specializing in treating anxiety disorders. Her work has been cited in Time magazine and Scientific American, and her professional opinions have been quoted in media such as CNBC, The Guardian, U.S. News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal, CBS News Bay Area, WUCF-TV (PBS), and others. Dr. Bhatia served as President-Elect of Northern California Psychiatric Society. She is an avid advocate of improving mental health awareness and reducing the stigma surrounding psychiatric conditions and treatments. For her work in this arena, she was awarded the 2021 Jerilyn Ross Clinician Advocate Award by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America and the Marian Butterfield award in 2018. Her other roles include serving as Section Editor for Current Opinion in Psychiatry, a Wolters Kluwer journal, for the last 7 years. She also served as Associate Editor of Current Psychiatry for 6 years. She is often invited to give talks at national, regional and local conferences and organizations.

    She values the academic as well as the humanistic aspects of psychiatry. During her psychiatry residency training from 2007 to 2010, she scored between 94th and 98th percentile among US psychiatry resident physicians. She takes a whole-person approach, utilizing active, empathic listening and aimed at understanding the biological, psychological, social, and other factors affecting an individual’s mental health. She integrates medication management (where needed) with psychotherapy. Her psychotherapy approach is informed by various evidence-based psychotherapies such as psychodynamic therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and mindfulness-based, compassion-focused interventions. Dr. Bhatia’s other professional interests include ruling out medical conditions mimicking psychiatric disorders, diagnostic errors, mindfulness, bullying prevention, and compassion and empathy cultivation.

  • Apurva Bhatt

    Apurva Bhatt

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioApurva Bhatt, M.D., is a child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist and Clinical Assistant Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. Her role spans the General Adult Psychiatry Division, Child Psychiatry Division, and Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing.

    Dr. Bhatt specializes in early psychosis evaluation and treatment. She is the Director of the Child INSPIRE clinic and currently provides clinical care in both the Stanford Children’s Hospital Child INSPIRE early psychosis clinic and the Stanford Health Care INSPIRE clinic and INSPIRE360 Coordinated Specialty Care/Wraparound program. She contributes to early psychosis program development in California (through EPI-CAL as the Psychiatric Provider Team Lead) and nationally (through PEPPNET). She is also co-chair of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Adolescent Psychiatry Committee and Early Psychosis work group.

    Dr. Bhatt is also a school psychiatrist, providing school clinical consultations for the Redwood City School District through the Stanford Redwood City Sequoia School Mental Health Collaborative. She also provides clinical consultations to schools in the Los Altos School district, and supervises child and adolescent psychiatry fellows providing consultation to Los Altos, Redwood City, and Mountain View schools.

    Dr. Bhatt’s research interests include Asian American and South Asian youth mental health and prevention of youth suicide. She enjoys teaching and mentoring students and trainees, and currently is a mentor through the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

  • Brandon Birckhead MD

    Brandon Birckhead MD

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioDr. Brandon Birckhead is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He works in the Stanford University's Virtual Reality and Immersive Technology Clinic and Stanford Anxiety and Depression Adult Psychological Treatment (ADAPT) clinic.

    He was valedictorian for his graduating class of biological sciences at University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Followed by his medical degree at Mayo Clinic Medical School in Rochester Minnesota. He then received a master degree in healthcare delivery science at Cedars-Sinai. During this time he helped develop a set of recommendations for VR therapy clinical trials. He also helped design and implement some of the first remote CBT skills based VR therapy clinical trials for chronic pain. He was also the co-director of virtual medicine conference from 2019-2020. He then completed his psychiatry residency at Johns Hopkins. During his residency he was a consultant to Apple, providing guidance on the Apple Vision Pro. He then spent some time on the Apple Health team as a clinical project manager.

    Clinically Dr. Birckhead offers a comprehensive approach to care, integrating evidence-based therapies such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). When appropriate he also provides medication management. He is interested in working with adults with anxiety disorders, PTSD, mood disorders, and OCD. He is committed to a collaborative, personalized treatment process—working closely with each individual to understand their unique challenges and develop a tailored plan to support their mental health and well-being.

  • Celeste Birkhofer, PhD, PsyD

    Celeste Birkhofer, PhD, PsyD

    Adjunct Clinical Instructor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioDr. Celeste Birkhofer is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Adjunct Clinical Faculty member at Stanford School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Birkhofer teaches didactics and provides clinical supervision to the psychiatry residents, and she has a private practice in Portola Valley. Dr. Birkhofer's interests and special training include contemporary relational psychoanalysis, grief counseling, dialectic behavior therapy (DBT), life coaching, mindfulness, and couples counseling.

  • Mariya Borodyanskaya

    Mariya Borodyanskaya

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioDr. Mariya Borodyanskaya enjoys being part of the Stanford Team at Mills, an interdisciplinary team dedicated to supporting adolescents and their families in navigating the challenges of mental health crisis. She maintains a broad set of interests, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Psychotic Disorders and Juvenile Justice system reform. She also enjoys supervising and teaching the Stanford Child & Adolescent Psychiatry fellows.

  • Nicole Brooks

    Nicole Brooks

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioDr. Nicole Brooks is board certified in psychiatry and forensic psychiatry. She specializes in the treatment of mood disorders and serves as a forensic expert in criminal and civil cases. In her role as Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine, Dr. Brooks provides outpatient care in the depression and bipolar disorder clinics. She also serves as the Associate Program Director of the forensic psychiatry fellowship.

  • Lisa Brown

    Lisa Brown

    Adjunct Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioLisa M. Brown, Ph.D., ABPP is an Adjunct Clinical Professor and member of the Human Rights in Trauma Mental Health program at Stanford University School of Medicine and Professor and Director of the Peace and Human Rights Lab at Palo Alto University. Her clinical and research focus is on trauma, resilience, human rights, refugees, and aging. As a researcher, she is actively involved in developing and evaluating health programs used nationally and internationally, drafting recommendations aimed at protecting vulnerable individuals and communities, facilitating the participation of key stakeholders, and improving access to resources and services.

    Dr. Brown has been appointed to and has served on numerous local, state, and national boards and commissions. From 2007 to 2014, she served as the Assistant Clinical Director of Disaster Behavioral Health Services, Florida Department of Health where she helped write the state disaster behavioral health response plan, develop regional disaster behavioral health teams, and conduct program evaluations of the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) crisis counseling programs. From 2008 to 2011, Dr. Brown was appointed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary to the Disaster Mental Health Subcommittee of the National Biodefense Science Board Federal Advisory Committee, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this role, she contributed to the development of a national behavioral health response to disasters, terrorism, and pandemics. In 2020, she was appointed to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Coronavirus Commission on Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes.

    Dr. Brown is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 20 and the Gerontological Society of America. She is the former President of the APA Division 20 Adult Development and Aging. She is the recipient of two Fulbright Specialist awards with the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica (2014) and with Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand (2015).

  • Kim Bullock, MD

    Kim Bullock, MD

    Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDirector of Virtual Reality & Immersive Techology (VR-IT) Clinic and Lab.
    Use of technology to understand the interaction of sensation, embodiment, and emotional/ behavioral regulation.
    Virtual reality treatments as a sensory modulating device to treat disorders involving body image, sensation, and control. Exploration of the use of mirrored visual feedback while inhabiting a virtual avatar to treat pain and somatic symptom related disorders.

  • Jonathan Burgess, MD, MPH

    Jonathan Burgess, MD, MPH

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioJonathan Burgess, MD, MPH is Clinical Assistant Professor in the Lifestyle Psychiatry Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is passionate about evidence-based lifestyle practices for psychiatric disorders. He has published three academic book chapters on diet and lifestyle interventions for psychiatric disorders, and is co-author of The Culinary Medicine Textbook: Psychiatry, Food & Mood. With over 30 publications and oral presentations, he is credited with nine Grand Rounds presentations, is a faculty presenter at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting and Harvard School of Public Health’s national conferences, as well as an invited speaker at major academic hospitals. Dr. Burgess is co-author of the Lifestyle Interventions for Depression module of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine certification course. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, received a Doctor of Medicine from Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and a Master of Public Health from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

  • N. Ruth Case, MD

    N. Ruth Case, MD

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

    BioDr. N. Ruth Case is a board-certified psychiatrist and lifestyle medicine physician with Stanford Health Care. She is also a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine.

    Dr. Case specializes in lifestyle psychiatry, which blends traditional psychiatric care with evidence-based lifestyle interventions. In addition to medication management, she offers her adult patients a range of lifestyle support services, including exercise therapy, nutritional counseling, stress management, and sleep optimization. She is dedicated to providing integrative care that supports patients in all aspects of their lives that impact their mental health.

    Dr. Case’s research interests include integrating lifestyle interventions into psychiatric practice. She has presented her work at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association and at the Society of Critical Care Medicine's Critical Care Congress. She has lectured on the importance of lifestyle psychiatrists following the same guidelines they share with their patients for optimizing physical and mental health. Dr. Case has also published articles in Stanford Medicine magazine and discussed her work on State of the Human, the Stanford Storytelling Project podcast.

    Dr. Case is a member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and the American Psychiatric Association.