Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Resources: 2024

Dr. Fawn Cothran is the Hunt Research Director at the National Alliance for Caregiving. Dr. Cothran is a nurse scientist, and a board-certified gerontological clinical nurse specialist with 15+ years of experience in family caregiving research. As research director she helps elevate national family caregiving research by strategically developing and guiding NAC research initiatives, including the landmark Caregiving in the US report. Dr. Cothran is also PI of an Administration for Community Living (ACL) cooperative agreement grant supporting GOAL 5 of the National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers. Dr. Cothran earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Howard University in Washington, D.C. She completed a Master of Science in Nursing with an emphasis in Gerontological Nursing and a Doctor of Philosophy, both from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She also completed a Claire M. Fagin Post-Doctoral Fellowship with the National Hartford Centers of Gerontological Nursing Excellence. She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, a Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing Education, and a lifetime member of the National Black Nurses Association.

Madeline Li MD PhD is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Head of Psychosocial Oncology at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. In addition to clinical practice in cancer psychiatry, she conducts collaborative research in the areas of psychoneuroimmunology and psychosocial oncology. She has expertise in end-of-life care, distress screening and treatment of mood disorders in cancer.

Dr. Mao is the chief of the Integrative Medicine Service and the Laurance S. Rockefeller Chair in Integrative Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Professor of Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College. He is a board-certified family physician with added qualifications in hospice and palliative care. He is also an experienced and licensed acupuncturist who combines western and eastern approaches to manage pain and symptoms in cancer patients. Dr. Mao’s program of research focuses on investigating the effects, mechanisms, and integration of Complementary and Integrative Medicine (CIM) for symptom management in cancer. He has advanced research training in clinical epidemiology and extensive experience conducting acupuncture, pain, and symptom science clinical trials, as well as health services research among cancer patients. Dr. Mao has received research support from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and the American Cancer Society. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed research manuscripts. He is the immediate past president of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) and Co-President of the Society for Acupuncture Research. His research findings have been included in American Society of Clinical Oncology, National Comprehensive Cancer Network, and SIO clinical guidelines for developing evidence-informed integrative oncology practices for standard cancer care.

Brenda Marmol, MD, MSC is currently serving as a PGY-5 Consultation-Liaison (C-L) fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
"I was born and raised in Long Island, New York. I am first generation here after my father came from the Dominican Republic and my mother from El Salvador. Prior to fellowship, I completed my psychiatric residency at St. John's Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway, Queens where I served as co-chief, and I had developed my skills under the guidance of seasoned mentors and gained invaluable experience in providing compassionate care to diverse patient populations. My first year as an intern was spent mainly caring for COVID patients and the New York Times deemed our location “One of the deadliest zip codes” (in regard to COVID). This pandemic forever sparked my interest in CL psychiatry and left a lasting imprint. Outside of my professional endeavors, I find solace and rejuvenation in enjoying the outdoors. Whether it's hiking in the trails, shredding down snow covered mountains or simply soaking in the sun at the beach, I try to embrace any opportunity to be outdoors."

Harsimar Kaur was born and raised in Punjab, India. She graduated from Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana Punjab. Before starting her residency, she worked as a junior doctor at NHS Trust, United Kingdom. A two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University followed this where she was involved in clinical trials that included treatment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia with CBD and other investigational drugs, use of ketamine in veterans with PTSD and Psilocybin use in treatment resistant depression. She completed her psychiatry residency at Penn State Health, Hershey, PA. She served as the president of Resident Quality Council and Chief Resident and worked on resident wellness and ways to improve consult culture. Some of her hobbies are reading, music, cross-stitching and cooking.

Dr. Steinglass is President Emeritus of the Ackerman Institute for the Family in New York City, and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Weill/Cornell University Medical College. Prior to coming to Ackerman, he was Director of the Center for Family Research and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the George Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Steinglass' work has included extensive programmatic research into medical and psychiatric illness as it affects families, and studies of family adaptation to traumatic stress. He has served as Editor of the journal, Family Process, as well as on numerous editorial boards. His publications include multiple journal articles and book chapters about family issues, as well as his landmark book, The Alcoholic Family. Dr. Steinglass has served as a consultant to the Psychiatry Department here at MSKCC since 1990 during which time he has collaborated with Dr. Jamie Ostroff on a series of studies applying his multiple family discussion group protocol to various populations of cancer patients and their families, and more recently to the Family Therapy program directly by Dr. Talia Zaider.

After a B.A. at Laval University and an M.A. at the University of Victoria, Jocelyn Maclure earned a DPhil from the University of Southampton. Before joining the Department of Philosophy at McGill University in 2021, he taught for 17 years in the Faculty of Philosophy at Laval University. He held visiting appointments in several universities. Jocelyn’s research is primarily in ethics and political philosophy. His book Secularism and Freedom of Conscience (Harvard University Press, 2011), co-authored with Charles Taylor, appeared in 9 languages. His recent work on artificial intelligence and on end-of-life issues led him to explore different metaphysical questions ranging from the mind-body problem to the enigma of personal identity.
As a public philosopher, he served as an expert-analyst for the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on cultural and religious accommodations, co-chaired the group of experts on medical assistance in dying, advanced medical directives and neurodegenerative diseases, and participated in numerous public debates. He is the current president of the Quebec Ethics in Science and Technology Commission. (Biography from:https://www.mcgill.ca/philosophy/jocelyn-maclure)

Dr. Karademir completed her residency at Montefiore Medical Center. Before residency, she worked on clinical trials focused on cognitive dysfunctions in schizophrenia, buprenorphine's effect on maternal caregiver neurocircuit on pregnant women with opioid use disorder; and at ACGME on resident well-being. She is interested in neuropsychiatry, C-L psychiatry and psychotherapy modalities.

Dr. Daniel Vener is the ethics fellow for psychiatry at Memorial Sloan Kettering and completed his residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. As a part of his residency training, he also spent six months working as a medical officer at Middlemore Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. Professionally he has interests in psycho-oncology, emergency psychiatry, and psychiatric epistemology.

Dannell Boatman, EdD, MS is a health communication researcher with the West Virginia University Cancer Institute (WVUCI), Cancer Prevention & Control, where she focuses on cancer communication. Dr. Boatman has worked in public health since 2015, primarily within the field of cancer prevention and control. In addition to her communication-focused research, she has experience in programmatic evaluation, implementation and dissemination of evidence-based practices, and practice facilitation in primary care. Along with playing key roles in federally funded programmatic grants, Dr. Boatman has secured independent funding to advance her cancer communication research. In 2022, Dr. Boatman launched the Communicating for Health in Appalachia by Translating Science (CHATS) Lab at the WVUCI with the mission to improve health outcomes in West Virginia and beyond through original research and by fostering the adoption of research in practice by using dissemination and communication science frameworks. (Biography from: https://directory.hsc.wvu.edu/Profile/53949#biography)

Dr. Liou is an integrative medicine specialist, licensed acupuncturist, and assistant attending physician at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He obtained his undergraduate and medical degrees from Brown University. He completed his internal medicine residency at Weill Cornell Medical College, followed by an integrative oncology research fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. His research is supported by a K08 career development award from the National Cancer Institute and is focused on understanding the effects and mechanisms of integrative therapies for cancer symptom management. He currently serves as the principal investigator and co-investigator on several clinical trials investigating acupuncture and music therapy. He is the program director of the Integrative Medicine Fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Dr. Kelly Posner Gerstenhaber is a Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University, and her work on disseminating the Columbia suicide risk detection method across all public health is saving lives all over the globe. The former President of the American Psychiatric Association noted her work with the Columbia Protocol could be “like the introduction of antibiotics.” The U.S. Department of Defense said her work is “nothing short of a miracle” and that "her effective model of improving the world will help propel us closer to a world without suicide,” and The White House recently highlighted the Columbia Protocol app as helping to achieve the President’s mental health and suicide prevention initiatives. Through her advocacy she has helped change local, national, and international policy, which in turn has contributed to reductions in suicide across all sectors of society. Dr. Posner was awarded The Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service for her work leading to suicide reduction across the nation. Dr. Posner’s work has been noted in a keynote speech at the White House and in Congressional hearings, and she gave the lead presentation in a U.S. Senate forum on school safety. Jim Shelton, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education under President Obama, says her work “has the potential to keep the 64 million children in our schools safe physically and mentally by helping prevent school violence.” Stand with Parkland parents said, “We found another big piece of the school shooting puzzle – an antibiotic for suicide. This … could fundamentally change the game for early identification and intervention. We found the first thing to interrupt the pathway to violence.” Her work is policy across all 50 states, national agencies, and most countries. Dr. Posner has recently been appointed Chair of the Governor’s Veterans’ Suicide Prevention Task Force in New York. Her scholarly work has been included in the compendium of the most important research in the history of the study of suicide, she was recognized as one of top 20 most influential scientists from Columbia University across all areas of medicine over the past 10 years, and Dr. Posner was honored to be included on the 2024 Forbes 50 over 50 list.

William Pirl, MD, MPH: Dr. Pirl is a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Vice Chair for Psychosocial Oncology in the Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), where he oversees one of the largest psychosocial oncology services in the US. Before starting this position in June 2018, he was Director of the Center for Psychiatric Oncology and Behavioral Sciences at the MGH Cancer Center (2009-2016) and an Associate Director of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Miami where he led Cancer Support Services (2016-2018). Dr. Pirl has experience implementing the mental health model of collaborative care at multiple sites and developed a supportive oncology collaborative care model, integrating palliative care and psychosocial services, at DFCI. He is a former President of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS), served as North American Associate Editor of the journal, Psycho-Oncology, leads the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s Survivorship Guidelines subcommittee on Depression, Anxiety, Trauma and Distress, and was on the latest American Society of Clinical Oncology guideline panel for the management of depression and anxiety. He is the PI of two NCI-funded training grants for early-career oncology researchers, the Harvard Workshop on Research Methods in Supportive Oncology (R25 CA181000) and the Advanced Workshop on Research Skills in Oncology (R25 CA246746).

Krista Nelson, LCSW OSW-C BCD FAOSW FAPOS FACCC is trained as an oncology social worker and works in clinical & research roles within the Providence Cancer Institute as the Manager of Oncology Social Work. In the national realm, Krista is the Immediate Past President of the Association of Cancer Care Centers and is also a past President of the board of directors of the Association of Oncology Social Work and past Director of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society, National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, & American Clinical Social Work Association. Krista was named as a finalist in the Schwartz Center Compassionate Caregiver of the Year award was awarded the American Cancer Society/Association of Oncology Social Work Leadership award in 2019 and Social Worker of the Year for Providence Health & Services in Oregon in 2021. Krista also has been a volunteer facilitator at retreats for women with breast cancer and annually at camps and programs that support grieving children. She also has volunteered over 5 months on medical relief teams to Haiti since 2009 and locally with Portland Street Medicine providing mental health support to the houseless in Portland, Oregon. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, biking, photography and cheering on her local soccer team, the Timbers!

Dr. Jesse Fann is Medical Director of the Department of Psychosocial Oncology at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Mark N. Tabbutt Endowed Professor and Director of the Clinician Scientist Training Program in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Adjunct Profession in the Departments of Rehabilitation Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of Washington. Dr. Fann received his BS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, his MD from Northwestern University School of Medicine, and his MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Washington School of Public Health. Dr. Fann’s research focuses on developing cost-effective strategies to identify and manage behavioral and psychosocial issues in people with cancer and other medical conditions. He is currently PI on an NCI-funded study to develop and test new technologies to optimize engagement in collaborative care for depression in the cancer setting.

Dr. Lewis Cohen is the author of Winter’s End, published by Oxford University Press. This is his 4th book, and he is an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine. Lewis is a palliative medicine researcher who is best known for his writing, and he is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Thomas and Eleanor Hackett Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. He has also received 4 writing residencies from the Rockefeller and Bogliasco Foundations and admits to being happiest when composing books in Italy.

J. Michael Bostwick, MD, MFA, is Professor of Psychiatry in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and recently completed 10 years as Senior Associate Dean for Admissions for the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. He has more than 130 publications in the areas of suicide epidemiology and prevention, medical marijuana, and numerous psychosomatic topics. He serves on editorial boards for two medical journals. He is an avid teacher at all levels of Mayo's medical school and psychiatry residency, and frequently collaborates with trainees and junior faculty on research and writing projects. He holds undergraduate degrees from Yale University and the University of Hawaii in Art History and Zoology respectively. He earned his MD from Brown University and did his residency and fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital, The Cambridge Hospital, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In the interim between college and medical school he was a newspaper reporter for the Cape Cod Times, and he recently earned a Masters of Fine Arts degree in creative non-fiction writing from Bennington College. He is currently working on a memoir of suicide, exploring how the deaths of family, friends, and patients have shaped the psychiatrist he has become.