Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Resources: 2025

Dr. Neil Iyengar is a board-certified Medical Oncologist and clinical-translational researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) where he specializes in the care of patients with breast cancer. He also holds joint research appointments at the Rockefeller University Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. Dr. Iyengar received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago accelerated degree program where he graduated with the College’s highest honors (University Scholar). He completed residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center followed by fellowship in medical oncology and hematology at MSK. He now holds a faculty position as an Associate Attending on the Breast Medicine Service at MSK. Dr. Iyengar’s research program investigates interventions to improve metabolic health as a strategy to reduce breast cancer risk and mortality. His group is testing the anti-cancer effects of structured exercise and nutritional interventions in people at high risk or diagnosed with breast cancer. Dr. Iyengar’s research is also investigating the use of drugs that treat metabolic disorders, such as diabetes and obesity, to improve the effectiveness of cancer therapies. In an effort to rapidly translate this work, Dr. Iyengar also leads the MSK Healthy Living Program, a novel cancer care model that aims to translate research findings from lifestyle intervention trials into clinical practice during and after cancer therapy. His work has been recognized and awarded by several organizations, including research grants from the National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Conquer Cancer the ASCO Foundation, and others. He has published numerous original research articles and has been an invited speaker at several international conferences.

Chris Laurie completed his psychiatry residency at Mount Sinai Morningside-West Hospitals. He previously completed medical school at New York Medical College, undergraduate studies in biology at Brown University, and worked in pharmaceutical consulting in Boston before moving into medicine. His professional interests include end of life care, as well as a growing interest in psychoanalysis and meaning-centered therapies. In his spare time, he enjoys experimenting with new recipes and rock climbing in the outdoors.

Eric Garrels is from Brockton, Massachusetts. He went to college at Michigan State University, followed by Medical School at American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine. He did his Psychiatry residency at BronxCare Health System. Eric’s professional interests include neuropsychiatry and autoimmune encephalitis. His hobbies include watching baseball and reading fantasy novels.

Dr. Guan is a board-certified genetic counselor and social behavioral scientist. She holds a Masters of Science in Genetic Counseling and a PhD in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Guan's research work has focused on promoting population health and eliminating health inequities through effective translation of evidence-based genomic-informed programs and policies. She has led or served as a co-investigator on projects related to: effective communication of genetic risk, implementation and dissemination of evidence-based genomic applications, and community engagement to expand the reach of genomic services to racial/ethnic minorities and rural communities. Dr. Guan is the Co-director of the Emory Precision Public Health Research Program. She currently holds leadership positions on the American Public Health Association (APHA) Genomic Forum Leadership Team, the Board of Directors for the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC), and the Chair of Equity Action Group of NCI Consortium for Cancer Implementation Science (CCIS).

Dr. Maija Reblin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine in the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont and the Cancer Population Sciences Program Co-Leader at the University of Vermont Cancer Center. Trained as a social and health psychologist, her research focuses on understanding the social context of family caregivers of those with serious illness and using this knowledge to develop strengths-based interventions. Dr. Reblin has over 140 peer-reviewed publications and her research has been funded by the American Cancer Society, the National Institutes of Health, and the State of Vermont.

Jonathan Avery, M.D. is the Vice Chair for Addiction Psychiatry, the Stephen P. Tobin and Dr. Arnold M. Cooper Associate Professor in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, and the Program Director for the Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship. Dr. Avery’s primary academic focus has been to examine and help develop interventions to improve clinicians’ attitudes towards patients with substance use disorders. He is also focused on educating all physicians on how to treat individuals with co-occurring substance use disorders and mental illness. See https://weillcornell.org/javery for expanded bio.

Dr. Bruera obtained his medical degree from the University of Rosario, in Argentina. He trained in Medical Oncology and in 1984 he relocated to the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada where he directed the clinical and academic palliative care programs until 1999. In 1999 Dr. Bruera joined The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center where he currently holds the F.T. McGraw Chair in the Treatment of Cancer and is the Chair of the Department of Palliative Rehabilitation and Integrative Medicine. He was medical director of the outpatient Supportive Care center for 15 years until 2018. Dr. Bruera’s main clinical interest is the care of the physical and psychosocial distress of patients with advanced cancer and the support of their families. He established and led, for the first five years of operations, the Edmonton Regional and Palliative Care program. He later established and currently leads the Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation and Integrative Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center since 1999. Dr. Bruera has trained hundreds of physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals in the different aspects of the clinical delivery of palliative care. He established the first academic fellowship program in palliative care at the University of Alberta in Canada and one of the first academic palliative care fellowships in the United States at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Mohamed Elmarasi, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist currently completing a Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He previously trained in psychiatry at Nassau University Medical Center and conducted research at Yale University, focusing on PTSD and community mental health. His interests include psychopharmacology, medical education, and the ethical aspects of medicine.

Azadeh Zamiri, MD, attended Shahed University, Faculty of Medicine in Iran, and completed her Psychiatry residency at BronxCare Health System. Azadeh's professional interests include Psycho Oncology and Reproductive Psychiatry.

Dr. Shail Maingi, MD, FASCO is a board-certified hematologist, medical oncologist, and palliative care physician at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) South Shore regional campus. She completed her oncology training at Montefiore and her pain and palliative care training at MSKCC where she gave her first grand rounds as ever as a fellow. She is currently the inaugural DFCI Network Health Equity and Inclusion Liaison and faculty of the DFCI Cancer Care Equity Program. Dr. Maingi has served on numerous ASCO volunteer groups including the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Health Policy Committee, Practice Health Task Force, Scientific Program Committee, and as Co-Chair of the Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) Task Force. She is also currently the Vice Chair of the LGBTQ+ Section of the American Medical Association. Much of Dr Maingi’s research and advocacy work over the last 20 years has focused on the health care disparities in oncology and end-of-life settings with a focus on intersectionality, women, trauma-informed care and LGBTQ+/ sexual and gender minority (SGM) people.

Dr. Lisa Diamond is a board-certified internist and a research faculty member in the Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). She has served as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on studies focusing on understanding how clinician non-English language proficiency affects the quality of care delivered to patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). Dr. Diamond aims to use her study results to identify process and outcome measures that capture the quality of cancer care being delivered to LEP patients, and ultimately establish appropriate standards and make programmatic changes. Dr. Diamond completed medical school at the George Washington University School of Medicine. She received a Master of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a Master of Health Science from the Yale University School of Medicine while she was in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program. In addition to her research position, Dr. Diamond is a Hospitalist in the Department of Medicine at MSK. She is also a co-Director of the Patient-Reported Outcomes -Community Engagement, and Language Core, which supports MSK investigators in engaging socioeconomically, linguistically, and culturally diverse patients and community members.