School of Medicine
Showing 1-100 of 1,109 Results
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Alexandria C Aarrestad
Clinical Research Coordinator, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences - Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Child Development
Current Role at StanfordClinical Research Coordinator in the Stanford Autism and Developmental Disorders Research Program
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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.
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Aysha Abraibesh
Clinical Research Coordinator Associate, Psych/General Psychiatry and Psychology (Adult)
BioAysha Abraibesh, MPA is a clinical research coordinator in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She works primarily on the Stanford Apnea and Insomnia Study (AIR) Study, led by Dr. Rachel Manber (more info can be found at airstudy.stanford.edu)
Aysha earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology (2012) and Master’s in Public Administration (2013) both from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. She has since held multiple positions supporting research studies related to social and behavioral health issues, most recently as a Lead Behavioral Health Interviewer at Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon. -
Daniel A. Abrams
Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsAutism spectrum disorders (ASD) are among the most pervasive neurodevelopmental disorders and are characterized by significant deficits in social communication. A common observation in children with ASD is that affected individuals often “tune out” from social interactions, which likely impacts the development of social, communication, and language skills. My primary research goals are to understand why children with ASD often tune out from the social world and how this impacts social skill and brain development, and to identify remediation strategies that motivate children with ASD to engage in social interactions. The theoretical framework that guides my work is that social impairments in ASD stem from a primary deficit in identifying social stimuli, such as human voices and faces, as rewarding and salient stimuli, thereby precluding children with ASD from engaging with these stimuli.
My program of research has provided important information regarding the brain circuits underlying social deficits in ASD. Importantly, these findings have consistently implicated key structures of the brain’s reward and salience processing systems, and support the hypothesis that impaired reward attribution to social stimuli is a critical aspect of social difficulties in ASD. The first study produced by this program of research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and showed that children with ASD have weak brain connectivity between voice processing regions of cortex and the distributed reward circuit and amygdala. Moreover, the strength of these speech-reward brain connections predicted social communication abilities in these children. A second study, which was recently published in eLife, examined neural processing of mother’s voice, a biologically salient and implicitly rewarding sound which is associated with cognitive and social development, in children with ASD. Results from this study identified a relationship between social communication abilities in children with ASD and brain activation in reward and salience processing regions during mother’s voice processing. A third study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that mother’s voice activates an extended voice processing network, including reward and salience processing regions, in typically developing children. Moreover, the strength of brain connectivity between voice-selective and reward and salience processing regions predicted social communication abilities in these neurotypical children. Together, results provide novel support for the hypothesis that deficits in representing the reward value of social stimuli, including the human voice, impede children with ASD from actively engaging with these stimuli and consequently impair social skill development.
My future research will leverage these findings by examining several important questions related to social information processing in children with ASD. First, we aim to study longitudinal development of social brain circuitry in minimally verbal children with ASD, a severely affected subpopulation that has been vastly underrepresented in the ASD literature. Second, we aim to examine the efficacy of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions, such as Pivotal Response Treatment, for children with ASD and their relation to changes in social brain and reward circuitry. Third, we aim to examine distinct neural profiles in female children with ASD who, on average, have better social communication abilities compared to their male counterparts. -
Connor Adams
Clinical Assistant 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.
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Ehsan Adeli
Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research lies in the intersection of Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Healthcare, and Computational Neuroscience.
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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.
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Sarah Adler
Clinical Associate 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.
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W. Stewart Agras
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research is focused on disorders of human feeding including the eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. Ongoing or recently completed studies include: A controlled trial of the implementation of interpersonal psychotherapy for eating disorders and depression on college campuses across the U.S. A multisite controlled study of two types of family therapy for the treatment of adolescent anorexia nervosa. Early prevemtion of overweight and obesity.
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Raag Airan
Assistant Professor of Radiology (Neuroimaging and Neurointervention) and, by courtesy, of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and of Materials Science and Engineering
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.
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Teddy J. Akiki
Psychiatry And Behavioral Sciences, Dean's Office Operations - Dean Other
Resident in Psychiatry and Behavioral SciencesCurrent Research and Scholarly InterestsDepression, PTSD, Glutamatergic Antidepressants (e.g., ketamine), Psychedelics, Multimodal Neuroimaging, Network Neuroscience, Machine Learning/Predictive Modeling, Morphometry
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Ron Albucher, M.D.
Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
BioDr. Ronald Albucher is the former Director of Counseling and Psychological Services at Vaden Health Center. His undergraduate training was at University of Pennsylvania and he attended University of Michigan for medical school and residency. Dr. Albucher subsequently joined the faculty at the University of Michigan Medical School’s Department of Psychiatry, where he specialized in Anxiety Disorders, Mental Health treatment of university residents and medical students, and also ran the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center’s Mental Health Clinic. Dr. Albucher was the Associate Training Director, University of Michigan, Department of Psychiatry for approximately 10 years. Ron has been very involved in organized psychiatry, holding numerous positions with the American Psychiatric Association, Michigan Psychiatric Society, and the Northern California Psychiatric Society.
Ron joined Stanford University in September 2008, when he became Director of Counseling and Psychological Services, and a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Medical School’ s Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Albucher has presented at a variety of conferences, published two books on Board Review, and has published scientific research in peer reviewed journals. He continues to serve on the review boards of several journals and publications and is working on two projects currently: eBridge to Wellness (a multisite study of online based outreach to at risk college students), and investigating the implementation of a short-term psychotherapy model in college counseling centers. He stepped down from the Director position in September 2018. -
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
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Neal Amin
Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
BioNeal D. Amin, MD, PhD is a practicing Stanford psychiatrist and neurobiologist who studies human cellular neurodevelopment - the process by which genetic and molecular pathways give rise to immense cellular diversity in the human brain during embryonic development. A more complete understanding of human cellular neurodevelopment will lead to the next generation of targeted therapeutics for wide ranging neuropsychiatric conditions.
Dr. Amin completed his graduate work with Professor Samuel Pfaff (Salk Institute) where he investigated the regulatory dynamics of a miRNA associated with neurodegeneration using mouse genetic models, single cell RNA sequencing, in vivo CRISPR/Cas9, and linear and non-linear models of the impact of gene dose variation on neurodevelopment and mammalian survival (see: Amin, N.D., et al., Science, 2015; Amin, N.D.*, et al., Neuron 2021, Amin, N.D.*, et al. STAR Protocols; *co-corresponding author). At Stanford, Dr. Amin worked with Stanford Professor Sergiu Pasca, MD to use stem-cell derived human brain organoids as model of neurodevelopment and pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders such as 22q11 deletion syndrome and motor neuron diseases. Human brain organoids are three dimensional cellular models of the human nervous system that recapitulate complex macrostructural and cellular features of the human brain. He published a highly cited review on the utility of human brain organoid technology for studying psychiatric disorders (Amin, N.D., and Pasca, S.P. Neuron, 2018). Dr. Amin is principal investigator on awards from the NIH/NINDS (K08 Career Development Award) and the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD Young Investigator Award). He has particular interest in leveraging cutting-edge biological technologies and bioinformatics to advance the investigation of neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Dr. Amin completed the Stanford Psychiatry Research Track Residency Program and completed the Palo Alto Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training Program Fellowship Year. He was recognized with the Outstanding Resident Award from the NIMH/NIH for his academic contributions. He recognizes the critical importance of advancing human neuroscience for the countless patients and families suffering from neuropsychiatric disorders that lack effective treatments. He is a practicing therapist and psychiatrist in Stanford's Evaluation Clinic. -
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.
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Ryan T. Ash
Clinical Scholar, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Postdoctoral Medical Fellow, PsychiatryBioI am a T32 research fellow and research track resident in the Stanford Adult Psychiatry Residency program. During my MD-PhD (Baylor College of Medicine) and postdoc (Harvard Medical School) I studied learning-associated synaptic plasticity and sensory processing in a model of syndromic autism with in vivo 2-photon imaging. I am currently developing methods to study the regulation of synaptic plasticity by attention, affective state and mindful presence, using neuronavigated transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial ultrasound stimulation, and EEG steady-state visual-evoked potentials. I won the 2022 Brain Behavior Research Foundation Young Investigator Award to develop in-human applications of ultrasound stimulation in the fear regulation circuit. I am also co-leading the Wellcome LEAP multisite rTMS clinical trial for anhedonic depression in the Stanford Brain Stimulation Lab. I work closely with mentors Anthony Norcia, Kim Butts Pauly, and Nolan Williams on these projects. My clinical interests include integrated psychodynamic- and mindfulness-based approaches, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, and neuromodulation-assisted psychotherapy. I am an experienced mindfulness meditation practitioner with more than a year of silent retreat experience.
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Rania Awaad, MD
Clinical Associate 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.
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Janet J. Baek, M.D.
Affiliate, Dean's Office Operations - Dean Other
Fellow in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Resident in Psychiatry and Behavioral SciencesBioJanet Baek, MD, (she/her) is a board-certified psychiatrist and licensed physician in California. She is pursuing sub-specialization in child and adolescent psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Baek’s interests include neurodiversity, psychotherapy (including play therapy and parent-based modalities), and trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness practices. She has presented nationally and regionally on mind body interventions and cultural issues in psychiatry.
Dr. Baek is actively involved in addressing diversity, inclusion, and health inequities in the medical field. She was a 2021-22 Stanford Medicine LEAD Scholar and a 2021-22 fellow member of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP), a think tank. She was awarded the American Psychiatric Association/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (APA/SAMHSA) Minority Fellowship and Robert Cabaj, MD Health Equity Award for her community-based efforts. -
Sepideh Bajestan, MD, PhD
Clinical Associate 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
Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
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 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 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 active projects investigating the metabolic implications of schizophrenia and of psychiatric medication including the association of antipsychotic medication with weight gain and insulin resistance. He also is an active investigator in clinical trials of new medications for the treatment of schizophrenia and the associated side effects of antipsychotic mediations.
In understanding the whole-body impact of psychiatric illness, Dr. Ballon also has an active interest in the role that exercise can play in psychiatric treatment. He is the site-principal investigator of an NIMH-funded clinical trial looking at the use of aerobic exercise to improve cognition in people with schizophrenia.
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. -
Michele Barry, MD, FACP
Drs. Ben & A. Jess Shenson Professor, Senior Associate Dean, Global Health, Director, Center for Innovation in Global Health, Professor of Medicine, Senior Fellow at Woods and Professor, by courtesy, of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsAreas of research
Ethical Aspects of research conducted overseas
Clinical Tropical Diseases
Globalization's Impact upon Health Disparities
Hemorrhagic Viruses -
Fiona Barwick, PhD, DBSM
Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences - Sleep Medicine
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch interests focus on expanding sleep education, improving sleep health, optimizing treatment for circadian rhythm disorders, and adapting treatment for insomnia in populations where developmental, medical, psychiatric and cultural factors intersect.
Current research projects include developing and piloting integrated protocols for treating sleep problems that co-occur with medical conditions such as chronic pain or POTS. Ongoing collaborations include delivery of a CBTI protocol in Mandarin via telehealth to patients at Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in China. Past projects include investigation of the link between RLS and the gut microbiome and a survey of student sleep health. -
Nicholas Bassano
Adm Svcs Admstr 1, Psych/Major Laboratories and Clinical & Translational Neurosciences Incubator
Current Role at StanfordClinical Research Coordinator-2
Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science
Brain Stimulation Lab -
Elizabeth Beam
Affiliate, Dean's Office Operations - Dean Other
Resident in Psychiatry and Behavioral SciencesBioAs an MD/PhD candidate at Stanford, Ellie Beam was awarded F30 grant funding by the NIMH to undertake specialized training in computational psychiatry, and she defended a PhD thesis in the Neurosciences within three years. Her thesis synthesized the texts and data of nearly 20,000 neuroimaging articles into a data-driven ontology of human brain function, forming the basis for a US patent and a first-author article in Nature Neuroscience. The idea of mapping brain function from the neuroimaging literature had been sparked a decade earlier when working directly with Professor Scott Huettel as an undergraduate at Duke to map the semantic structure of cognitive neuroscience through network analyses of article texts. Her undergraduate thesis was published as a first-author article in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience and merited Graduation with Distinction in Neuroscience. She then dedicated two post-undergraduate years to full-time research in the lab of Professor Randy Buckner at Harvard and MGH, leading a project that related executive functioning deficits to frontoparietal network disruption in young adults at risk for depression. Her predoctoral work in neuroscience and psychiatry was recognized by the Leah J. Dickstein Medical Student Award, Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholarship and Research Fellowship, and Cleveland Technical Societies Scholarship.
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Sherry Ann Beaudreau
Clinical Professor (Affiliated), Psych/General Psychiatry and Psychology (Adult)
Staff, Psychiatry and Behavioral SciencesBioDr. Beaudreau is a licensed clinical psychologist with board certification in geropsychology. As PI of the Mental Health, Neurocognition, and Treatment in Older Adults lab, she conducts late life clinical research and mentors trainees in the Sierra Pacific Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center at VA Palo Alto. Nationally, she directs the 28-site VA Advanced Fellowship Program in Mental Illness Research and Treatment. She holds appointments as Clinical Professor (Affiliated) in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine and as an Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. In her capacity as a VA Subject Matter Expert in Problem Solving Training, she is actively involved in clinician trainings, consultation, and development of program materials for the national roll-out of Problem Solving Therapy for Suicide Prevention.
Her overarching research aims to leverage knowledge about the cognitive profiles of older adults with psychiatric disorders or at risk for suicide to inform the development and optimization of psychiatric behavioral interventions, including Problem Solving Therapy. She is the PI of a 5-year, multi-site randomized control trial to determine the efficacy of Problem Solving Therapy for reducing suicidal ideation over and above usual care. She is a Fellow of the Behavioral and Social Sciences section for Gerontological Society of America and the division of Adult Aging and Development for American Psychological Association. Additionally, she serves on several journal editorial boards including American Psychologist, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, and Clinical Gerontologist. In the department, she co-chairs the Stanford/VA Palo Alto interdepartmental Geriatric Psychiatry and Neuroscience Grand Rounds, an interdisciplinary forum featuring national and international experts in geriatrics (http://med.stanford.edu/psychiatry/education/gpngrandrounds.html) and is a member of the departmental Nominations and Awards committee. -
Nataly Beck
Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Beck's clinical research includes the relationship between catatonia and substance use. In addition, she works on first-episode psychosis, with a focus on treatments in the young adult population.
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Benjamin Belai
Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
BioBenjamin Belai is a psychiatrist at Stanford Health Care and works specifically in the Centerspace and Evaluation clinics. His focus within these clinics include cultural psychiatry, Black and immigrant mental health, student mental health, and integrated behavioral health. He also works at Roots Community Health Center 2 days a week providing psychiatric consulting services.
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Catherine Benedict
Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences - Medical Psychiatry
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research focuses on improving cancer survivorship through better understanding of long-term health outcomes and through the development of theoretically driven, evidence-based behavioral interventions to improve adjustment, risk management, and quality of life. To this end, I lead studies aimed to guide and support patient decision-making and self-management after cancer. Much of my work focuses on the experiences of young adults affected by cancer.
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Anne L Benham
Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences - Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Child Development
BioI specialize in the assessment and treatment of young children and their families from ages 1-7 years. I focus on understanding of their problems and symptoms from a developmentally informed, family centered , biological and experiential lens that takes into account the child's emotional, behavioral , sociocultural, biological and relationship history. I use attachment theory to understand the psychosocial aspects of the child and his/her history. I provide therapy to children individually and in family dyads or groups as appropriate and always include work with the parents as my collaborators and clients. I have had this focus to my clinical work and teaching of clinicians in training for my career over the past 40 years. I am interested in integrating multiple perspectives to understand and treat families.I use my medical training to work with children who are experiencing medical disorders , trauma, and conditions in the child or in other family members as it impacts the child's sense of self, safety, anxiety and body. I use play to connect with children and to help them communicate their fears, wishes and experiences to augment verbal communication and to process frightening experiences.
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Ori-Michael Johanan Benhamou
Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral SciencesBioDr. Benhamou received his Bachelor's degree at Duke University and went on to complete medical school at Ben-Gurion University. He completed his residency in Psychiatry at Westchester Medical Center and fellowship in Addiction Medicine at Stanford. He has published works in the areas of suicide, autoimmune encephalitis and addiction. His current interests include substance abuse, the role of transcranial magnetic stimulation on addiction and the intersection of suicide and substance abuse.
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Michele Berk
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavior Sciences (Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Child Development)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe focus of my research is on adolescent suicidal and self-harm behavior. I am currently one of four Principal Investigators of a multisite NIMH-sponsored RCT of DBT for adolescents at high risk for suicide (NCT01528020: Collaborative Adolescent Research on Emotions and Suicide [CARES], PI: Linehan, McCauley, Berk, & Asarnow) aimed at evaluating the efficacy of DBT with adolescents compared to a combined individual and group supportive therapy control condition (IGST).
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Rebecca Bernert
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 and treatment development. I am founding Director of The Suicide Prevention Research Laboratory, and Co-Chair an initiative to establish a Stanford Center for Suicide Prevention. Our research 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 therapeutic targets for suicide prevention, including seminal work in establishing the subfield of sleep and suicide prevention. A special focus of our work 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 an evidence-based 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) in the pathogenesis of risk for anti-suicidal response. An overarching aim is to harness new technologies to aid risk prediction, precision medicine, and intervention opportunity. We are also committed to improving national training practices and high risk monitoring of suicidal behaviors (e.g., national needs-assessment of medical training parameters; use of AI for suicide prevention; study of sleep as an ER target to enhance acute intervention).
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 Statewide Strategy for Suicide Prevention, following invited testimony (CA State Assembly) and a commissioned Policy Brief on suicide prevention best practices. Additional advisory and advocacy work centers on how research guides public health policy and implementation. I am especially committed to initiatives that promise 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. Last, inspired by maternity leaves coinciding with the above work, I have a separate research line examining organizational development, inclusive practices, 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 center for policy and inclusive practices, diversity, and equity education.
To donate to our work or partner with us, please contact Stanford Medical Center Development at medicalgiving@stanford.edu to connect with us directly or to learn more about supporting our programs. -
Mahendra T. Bhati
Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Clinical Professor, NeurosurgeryBioDr. 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 as an investigator in the first controlled clinical trials of deep brain stimulation (DBS) and low-field synchronized TMS for treatment of depression. His current interests include studying magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and augmented reality to target TMS, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for treatment-resistant depression, responsive neurostimulation (RNS) for treatment of impulse and fear-related disorders, and focused ultrasound (FUS) for treatment-resistant obsessive compulsive disorder and depression. Dr. Bhati is also interested in better understanding consciousness and its role in mental illness.
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Britney Blair, PsyD, DBSM, CST
Adjunct Clinical Instructor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences - Sleep Medicine
BioDr. Blair is a licensed clinical psychologist and is board certified in behavioral sleep medicine. Her clinical and research expertise are in behavioral medicine with specializations in sleep and sexual health. She has made numerous presentations, developed workshops, written chapters and published articles in the area of sleep and sexual medicine. Dr. Blair is a Stanford sleep consultant and is on the adjunct faculty at The Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine. She is also the Clinical Director of The Clinic.
Dr. Blair completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University Medical School and her pre-doctoral internship at the VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System. Dr. Blair received her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Dr. Blair founded a successful business consulting firm.
