Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Resources: 2022

Dr. Jada Hamilton is an Associate Member at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, as well as an Associate Attending Psychologist in the Behavioral Sciences Service, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and in the Clinical Genetics Service, Department of Medicine at Memorial Hospital in New York, New York. She co-leads the MSK Genomics, Risk, and Health Decision-Making Laboratory. Prior to joining the faculty of Memorial Sloan Kettering, Dr. Hamilton received a BA in Genetics and Psychology from Ohio Wesleyan University (2004), an MA and PhD in Social and Health Psychology from Stony Brook University (2006, 2009), and an MPH from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University (2010). Dr. Hamilton also completed a postdoctoral fellowship as part of the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program. Dr. Hamilton’s program of research addresses the intersection of behavioral science, cancer prevention, and genomics, with the goal of translating advances in genetic and genomic medicine into improved cancer care that is of high quality, aligned with patient preferences, and ultimately improves public health.

Felicia Marie Knaul has dedicated more than three decades to academic, advocacy, and policy work in global health and social development to reduce inequities focusing on low- and middle income countries, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean. She currently serves as the director of the Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas and Hemispheric and Global Affairs and is a professor at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami. She is Co-Chair of the Lancet Commission on Gender-based Violence and Maltreatment of Young People and the Lancet Commission on Cancer And Health Systems. She previously chaired the Lancet Commission on Global Access to Palliative Care and Pain Relief and was the lead author of the Commission’s final report, “Alleviating the access abyss in palliative care and pain relief – an imperative of universal health coverage.” As a health and social sector economist, she dedicates herself to closing the global cancer and pain divides and promoting access to palliative care, promoting gender equity and eliminating gender-based violence, reducing the impact of child maltreatment, and strengthening health systems around Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals. To address these complex global challenges, Knaul maintains a synergistic program of research and advocacy, including as founding President of Tómatelo a Pecho, a Mexican NGO dedicated to issues around women’s health and leading a research group based at the Mexican Health Foundation. She has also held senior federal government positions in Colombia and Mexico.

Krishna Moorthy (MS MD FRCS) is a senior lecturer and honorary consultant surgeon. His areas of clinical expertise are oesophago-gastric and abdominal wall surgery. His research focus is on systems safety and quality improvement in surgery. He was on the WHO working group for the development of the WHO surgical safety checklist. He has led the development of a novel prehabilitation programme, PREPARE for surgery. This programme has won numerous awards including the BMJ Surgical team of the year 2017. His research interests include the study of information transfer in surgery; multi-disciplinary handover; safety and teamwork in the operating theatre and safety and quality of care of patients undergoing elective and emergency surgery. He has also published widely on surgical education, principally the role of simulations in surgical training. Having previously been the director of the Masters in Surgical Technology, he now contributes to the Masters in Surgical Innovation by leading on the oesophageal-gastric modules.

John Rolland, MD, MPH is Professor of Psychiatry at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Co-Founder and Executive Co-Director, Chicago Center for Family Health, where he directs its internationally distinguished Families, Illness, and Collaborative Healthcare Program. Widely recognized for his conceptual model and clinical work with couples and families facing serious health conditions, his recent book is Helping Couples and Families Navigate Illness and Disability: An Integrated Approach. Other professional books include his landmark volume, Families, Illness, & Disability: An Integrative Treatment Model; and (co-author) Individuals, Families and the New Era of Genetics. A past-president of the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA), he is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a former Fellow of the Institute for Social and Policy Studies at Yale University; and a Senior Fellow of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP), serving on its Family Committee. He is a Founding member of the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association. A recipient of a number of awards, Dr. Rolland is a frequent speaker and international consultant on family-oriented approaches to major health conditions.

Dr. Mark Wiener is a clinical fellow in the psycho-oncology department at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Prior to starting his fellowship, he received psychiatric training at SUNY Upstate Medical University, where he published in the fields of psychopharmacology and non-pharmacological approaches to agitation. He was awarded the “Patient-Oriented Care and Epidemiology” poster award at the APA annual meeting for his presentation on the use of music in the treatment of agitation on an inpatient psychiatric unit. He is particularly interested in the role of therapeutic relationships in treatment outcomes and the psychiatric care of the medical ill.

Dr. Rashdi Ahmed is a clinical fellow in Psycho-Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. His interest in psycho-oncology was strengthened after taking part in research in Palliative Medicine at the NIH. He had started his residency in Internal Medicine, completing an internship year in Internal Medicine at Summa Health in Ohio before transferring to the Department of Psychiatry at Cleveland Clinic Akron/Summa Health. He is passionate about teaching and took an active role in medical student education as Chief Resident. He has a strong personal motivation to learn more about psycho-oncology especially in breast cancer patients and currently serves as the breast fellow for MSK Psychiatry.

Dr. Mahati Chittem is an Associate Professor of Health and Medical Psychology in the Department of Liberal Arts at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India. Her areas of work and expertise are in cancer, endocrinology, and safe sex behaviors, with a focus on communication skills, illness representations, adherence, and decision-making. Often using qualitative methods, Dr. Chittem explores these topics through a variety of lenses such as family and individual factors, socio-political frameworks and, frequently, culture.

Dr. Stapleton is a prevention scientist with expertise and research interests that include: (1) conducting qualitative and quantitative etiological studies to better understand health behavior through the lens of a variety of behavioral and decision-making theories; (2) applying advanced statistical methods to gain new insights into patterns and development of cancer risk and protective behaviors; and (3) applying etiological insights and prevention science principles to the design and evaluation of behavioral interventions. Dr. Stapleton is a recognized leader in the field of skin cancer and melanoma prevention with a focus on reducing the use of cancer-causing indoor tanning beds. Dr. Stapleton has received multiple grants from the National Cancer Institute to support his research. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization have cited his research as supportive evidence of the dangers of tanning beds in multiple reports and in their proposals to increase indoor tanning regulations. His behavioral intervention research has been cited by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in support of their evidence-based recommendations and in the 2014 Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent Skin Cancer.

Dr T. Peter Kingham obtained his undergraduate degree at Yale University and MD from SUNY Stony Brook Medical School. His general surgery residency was at New York University. He undertook a research fellowship in hepatic immunology in the DeMatteo Laboratory at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. After finishing residency, he completed a two-year fellowship in surgical oncology at MSK prior to being appointed on the Hepatopancreatobiliary Service. He is Director of the International Surgical Oncology Fellowship and the Global Oncology Fellowship. In 2015 he was appointed as Director of Global Cancer Disparity Initiatives. In 2016 he was promoted to Associate Professor. His primary research interest is determining how to improve cancer care for patients in low- and middle-income countries and colorectal cancer liver metastasis management. Dr. Kingham is co-PI on multiple prospective studies in Nigeria, cofounded the African Research Group for Oncology (ARGO), and is President of Surgeons OverSeaS (SOS). He is PI of a UG3/UH3 and R01 NIH grants focused on colorectal cancer in Nigeria. He has completed numerous prospective research protocols at MSK, with current prospective protocols including an examination of electroporation to treat hilar cholangiocarcinoma. He has over 220 publications in peer-reviewed journals and authored 18 chapters.

Dr. Jess P. Shatkin, MD, MPH, leads the educational efforts of the Child Study Center at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone Health, where he is Vice Chair for Education and Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Shatkin is the founder and director of nation's largest undergraduate mental health studies program, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies (CAMS) at NYU, a program that has been emulated at numerous universities nationwide. His major clinical interests are mood and anxiety disorders, disruptive behavior disorders, and sleep. His primary research focus is in medical education, adolescent risk and resilience, mental illness prevention, and sleep. Dr. Shatkin is a clinician/educator with expertise in program development. He sees patients each day, presents and consults widely, and has written two books: (1) Born To Be Wild: Why Teens Take Risks and How We Can Help Keep Them Safe (Penguin, 2017); and (2) Child and Adolescent Mental Health: A Practical, All-in-One Guide (W.W. Norton, 2009, Second Edition 2015). He frequently speaks to media and for the past 15 years, Dr. Shatkin has hosted "About Our Kids," a two-hour call-in radio show broadcast live every Friday morning from 8 – 10 AM on Sirius/XM's Doctor Radio, Channel 110.

Dr. Cynthia Bell is an Associate Professor in the College of Nursing at Wayne State University (Detroit, MI). Her program of research focuses on engaging adolescents and young adults (AYA) living with advanced cancer in end-of-life and palliative care conversations within clinical settings. Dr. Bell has increased theoretical understanding of AYA readiness to talk about difficult topics through her qualitative and case study research. Her conceptual model of the process of readiness to engage in difficult conversations as disease progresses and her ready to talk measure (R-T-M) were both developed from AYA experiences of living with advanced and terminal cancer. The R-T-M has been validated by both pediatric palliative care and oncology research experts, and AYAs living with advanced cancer. Dr. Bell has presented her research at 24 international or national conferences and 22 regional or local conferences, including an interview on Stateside: Michigan’s NPR radio station to discuss how medical providers talk about death with teenagers facing life-threatening illness (aired June 11, 2019 on michiganradio.org). This interview also includes an AYA living with advanced cancer. Dr. Bell loves collaborating with interdisciplinary teams to better support AYA living with advanced cancer. A recently published National Academy of Medicine perspective piece entitled, The Road to Readiness: Guiding Families of Children and Adolescents with Serious Illness Toward Meaningful Advance Care Planning Discussions (https://doi.org/10.31478/202108a), provides evidence-based strategies for navigating these difficult conversations.

Billy Rosa, PhD, MBE, NP,(he/him) is an Assistant Attending Behavioral Scientist, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center. He received his PhD and Master of Bioethics as an RWJF Future of Nursing Scholar from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Rosa completed MSK’s Hospice & Palliative Medicine Interdisciplinary Clinical Fellowship and served as Co-Chief Fellow of MSK’s NIH/NCI T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Psychosocial, Palliative, and Community Research in Cancer. His streams of research focus on cancer pain disparities, global palliative care inequities, LGBTQ+ inclusive palliative care communication, and psychedelic-assisted therapy in the context of cancer-related distress. He is the editor of four books and has contributed more than 150 academic publications in journals and texts. He was lead researcher for the 2021 Nurses for Health Equity: Guidelines for Tackling the Social Determinants of Health policy report endorsed by the World Health Organization, among others. Dr. Rosa was most recently named to the Crain’s New York Business Notable in Health Care 2021 list and is a Scientific Advisory Group Member for the Lancet Commission on Cancer and Health Systems. Dr. Rosa serves as Associate Editor for Palliative & Supportive Care and a board/committee member for multiple journals and global health and palliative care organizations. He is Course Director for MSK’s annual U.S. Celebration of World Hospice & Palliative Care Day scientific conference and The Global Palliative Care and Pain Relief Webinar Series. Dr. Rosa is a 2021 Cambia Health Foundation Sojourns Scholar, International Council of Nurses Global Nursing Leadership Institute Scholar, an American Psychosocial Oncology Society Health Equity Scholar, and Visiting Research Scholar at the University of Miami. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and the New York Academy of Medicine. You can find more information at: https://linktr.ee/billyrosa.

Will Whitlock, MSN, PMHNP-BC, NCTTS is an Advanced Practice Provider currently working with the Tobacco Treatment Program in the Dept of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center. He received his Masters in Nursing from Columbia University and is nearing two decades of service with MSK. He is currently serving his 5th term as a member of MSK’s LGBTQ Clinical Advisory Council and is on the Dept of Psych/BS’s inaugural Diversity, Equity & Inclusion committee. Will is a contributing author of several peer reviewed journal articles, most recently published in JAMA and Cancer. He was on the inaugural author panel for the NCCN’s Smoking Cessation Guidelines (first published 2016) and continues to contribute to its annual revision. He has a passion for mentorship & professional development, having recently served a two-year term as chair of the NCARE Review Board, the MSK Dept of Nursing’s hallmark professional development program. In partnership with MSK CME, he is a faculty instructor for both the Tobacco Treatment Training in Oncology and the Tobacco Treatment Specialist Certification Training programs. In recognition of his significant internal and external contributions as an oncologic clinician, Will has received the Dept of Nursing’s annual Advanced Degree Nursing Award every year since 2015.

Scout (he/they) is the Executive Director of the National LGBT Cancer Network and the principal investigator of the CDC-funded LGBTQ tobacco-related cancer disparity network. In this capacity he spends much of his time providing technical assistance for governmental tobacco and cancer focusing agencies expanding their reach and engagement with LGBTQ populations. He leads a team of specialists who focus on building tools and sharing strategies across state departments of health.

Tony Christon-Walker (he/him) is an HIV advocate and activist living with HIV for more than 20 years. Diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2014, Tony credits the early detection of his cancer to having a better interaction with his doctors due to being in HIV care. In February 2015, Tony had a curative surgery that left him with a permanent ostomy. Since then, he has made a full recovery and advocates for cancer patients. Tony is a father, grandfather, podcaster, and author of “Walking in Truth: Fatherhood,” a fictionalized memoir of his life as a gay father.

Gleneara E. Bates-Pappas, LMSW, MPhil, PhD (c) (she/her), is a Predoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She received her master’s from Columbia University School of Social Work and is currently a doctoral candidate at City University of New York Graduate Center. Her research focuses on two main areas. 1) examining patterns and drivers of tobacco treatment engagement among Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino cancer patients. 2) Exploring the multi-level barriers for tobacco treatment delivery by examining the unintended and perceived barriers to accessing tobacco treatment. Within these topics, she is dedicated to cultivating expertise in the application of mixed methods and implementation science to developing and training providers, and treatment teams on culturally sensitive strategies for engagement of Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino patients in evidence-based, tobacco treatment. She is currently a member of two Cancer Center Cessation Initiative (C3i) working groups: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion working group, and Telehealth working group.

Dr. Costas-Muñiz is a psycho-oncologist and researcher in psycho-oncology and ethnic disparities at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and professor of psychology in the Weill Cornell School of Medicine. Dr. Costas-Muñiz obtained her doctoral degree in psychology from the University of Puerto Rico and a completed a postdoctoral fellowship in psycho-oncology and cancer disparities at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Costas-Muñiz treats predominantly Latino cancer patients in the counseling center of Memorial. For the last decade, she has lead research projects focused on cancer-related psychosocial adjustment and family adjustment, impact of socioeconomic factors in the adjustment after a cancer diagnosis in ethnic and racial minority groups, psycho-spiritual functioning of cancer patients, access to psychosocial services for Latino patients with cancer, colorectal cancer prevention, and the cultural adaptation of psychosocial interventions for cancer patients. Dr. Costas-Muñiz has published several research articles and has presented her work in 14 countries. The research program of Dr. Costas-Muñiz focuses primarily on cultural adaptation, evaluation, implementation, and dissemination of interventions for Latino patients with cancer. She has received federal funding to adapt and collaborate on adaptations of six interventions for cancer patients and family members. Lastly, Dr. Costas-Muñiz is very committed with the development of psycho-oncology in Spanish and in Latin American countries, she leads, FIPOL, a network of professionals interested in psychosocial oncology in Latin America with a steering committee of 11 members from seven countries and an audience of more than 1000 individuals interested in psycho-oncology, from 20 Latin American countries, Spain, and USA.

Dr. Thombs completed his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Fordham University in 2004, including clinical internship training at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, then was a postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He began his career at McGill in 2006 and is currently a Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Thombs has published over 350 peer-reviewed articles and has been awarded almost $25 million in grant funding as Principal Investigator. He founded and directs the Scleroderma Patient-Intervention Network (SPIN), a collaboration of over 150 investigators, health care providers, patients, and patient advocates from 9 countries and 50 scleroderma expert centers. He also founded and directs the DEPRESion Screening Data (DEPRESSD) Project, which currently includes more than 350 investigators from > 50 countries, who have contributed > 300 primary datasets for use in a shared database to conduct individual participant data meta-analyses. Dr. Thombs is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and a member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada. He was Chair of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care from 2017 to 2021, the first non-physician ever in this role.

Alexandra Zaleta, PhD, is Vice President of Research at Cancer Support Community. In this role, she oversees numerous Research and Training Institute initiatives focusing on people living with cancer and caregivers. Dr. Zaleta is trained as a behavioral health researcher and a clinical psychologist. She received her undergraduate degree from Vassar College and a masters degree in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University. She completed her doctorate in Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis and clinical internship training at the VA Boston Healthcare System. She subsequently completed three years of postdoctoral training in Psychosocial Oncology, Palliative Care, and Women’s Behavioral Health at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Dr. Zaleta’s research focuses on the psychosocial impact of cancer on patients, survivors, and caregivers; cancer survivorship; distress screening, referral, and follow-up; and the development and validation of patient experience outcomes measures.

Kelly Hendershot is Vice President of Partner Relations at Cancer Support Community. In this role, she works across CSC to ensure that everyone’s interactions with our network partners go smoothly. This includes helping drive innovation and increasing the reach of the network. Kelly joined the CSC headquarters team in August 2020. As the lead liaison for patient and family programming across CSC’s growing network, Kelly ensures that programming is effectively implemented and meets the quality standards

Ramzi Salloum, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics at the University of Florida College of Medicine and the Director of the Learning Health System Program at the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute. He received a Ph.D. in economics from Wayne State University and completed NCI-supported postdoctoral training in public health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Salloum specializes in studying the implementation of evidence-based programs and policies in tobacco control and cancer prevention and control. Dr. Salloum’s research in tobacco control has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, Cancer Research UK, the International Research Development Centre, Florida Department of Health, and the Aetna Foundation. He is an author of over 150 peer-reviewed publications, the majority of which have been in tobacco control. Dr. Salloum’s work considers the economic implications of the dissemination and implementation of tobacco control and other cancer control interventions. Over the past decade, he has led an active research program in tobacco control in the US and internationally, with a special emphasis on the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Dr. Salloum currently serves as co-chair of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco’s Global Research Network. He is an expert panel member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Tobacco Consortium and a member of the State of Florida Cancer Control and Research Advisory Council.

Dr. Sharon J. Parish is a Professor of Medicine in Clinical Psychiatry and Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College and the Director of Medical Services at the New York Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division. She received her medical degree from Albany Medical College of Union University, completed her residency in Internal Medicine at George Washington University Hospital, and behavioral medicine fellowship at New York University/Bellevue Hospital Center. Dr. Parish is an internal medicine physician who is a fellow of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH) and a North American Menopause Society Certified Menopause Practitioner. For 22 years (1992-2014), she was a clinician educator on the faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the clinical staff of Montefiore Hospital, Bronx NY, where she had a large primary practice and an array of teaching and administrative responsibilities. Currently (2014-present), her internal medicine practice focuses on behavioral health, menopause, and sexual medicine for female and male patients at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. She is Past President of the ISSWSH (2014-2018), Chair of the ISSWSH Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee (2016-2023), member of the ISSWSH Board of Directors, and past Chair of the ISSWSH Education Committee (2002-2014). She is a member of the International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM) Board of Directors (2018-2022) and Consultation and Guidelines Committee. Dr. Parish is an Associate Editor for Sexual Medicine Reviews (2017-present) and previously Associate Editor for CME (2006-2014) and Assistant Editor for Female Medical/Surgical for the Journal of Sexual Medicine (2014-2016).