I am a Board-certified Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at Seattle Children’s Hospital, a faculty member of the University of Washington School of Medicine since 2020, a board member of the ARC Trust of Washington. Clinically, I am an inpatient attending psychiatrist on the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Unit at SCH, and I also see children and families on an outpatient basis at the SCH Autism Center. In each of these roles I am involved in the teaching and supervision of medical students, residents, and fellows. Academically, I am the Director of Career Advising in Psychiatry, helping guide graduating medical students towards residency and careers in Psychiatry. In the CAP fellowship, I am the course director for the Genetics component of the didactics series, and also presenter for the Child Psychiatry portion of the Mind, Brain, and Body course. My professional interests include autism spectrum disorder, neurodevelopmental and genetic disorders, catatonia, bullying, trauma-informed care, and anxiety in children of immigrant families. In all facets of my work I utilize evidence-based practices, and aim to to create strong partnerships with patients and families to achieve positive outcomes.
I am a seasoned clinical psychologist who has worked with children and adults in a wide variety of settings. Currently, I provide evidenced based psychotherapies in the Adult Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic at the University of Washington Medical Center. This includes Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Cognitive Processing Therapy for trauma, Trauma informed care, CBT for anxiety and depression, and CBT for Adult ADHD.
I am particularly interested in providing care to health care professionals who have met many challenges over the last few years. I also provide treatment to adults experiencing psychosis and bipolar disorder.
Personal Statement
I am a board certified psychiatrist at Harborview and a UW assistant professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
I help patients make sense of troubling situations that interfere with their ability to move forward. I also promote mindfulness and safety from drug interactions. I appreciate the opportunity to be with patients and their families during defining crises and opportunities for change, learn from patients and staff, and mentor the next generation of healthcare professionals.
My clinical interests include bipolar and related disorders, anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, obsessive compulsive and related disorders, personality disorders, schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders and substance-related and addictive disorders.
Personal Statement
My research is focused on (1) developing innovative mHealth assessments and interventions for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and cross-diagnostic persecutory ideation, as well as (2) “engagement mHealth,” or the development of mobile health interventions that increase the likelihood that underserved populations present to and receive evidence-based treatment, with a particular focus on young adults at risk for psychosis and their families. My research is supported by a NARSAD Young Investigator Award from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation and multiple grants from NIMH including a K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award.
Prior to my faculty position at UW, I was an Advanced Fellow in VA Health Services Research and Development and the Department of Health Services at UW. I completed my clinical psychology internship at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, where I was awarded the APA Division 18 Outstanding VA Trainee Award. Prior to internship, I completed my undergraduate and doctoral training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Throughout my training, I have been dedicated to services for individual with serious mental illness, with experience in an inpatient state hospital, VA psychosocial rehabilitation, intensive outpatient and dual-diagnosis clinics, and in coordinated specialty care for young people with early psychosis.
In addition to my program of research and clinical work, I am committed to clinical supervision and training. I currently lead the development of one of the first clinical training sequences designed for frontline clinicians integrating mHealth into community mental health. I was the first-ever graduate student to win UNC’s David Galinsky Award, an honor recognizing excellence in clinical supervision that had previously only ever been won by faculty. I am currently active in providing supervision in CBT to third-year psychiatry residents at UW.
My career is dedicated to the field of Emergency Psychiatry and providing excellent clinical care for patients with acute presentations as part of a stellar team of coworkers. I am also active in developing guidelines for competent mental health care in the Emergency setting, including ensuring adequate medical clearance and detailing processes and procedures for a complete mental health evaluation. I am committed to the education our next generations of psychiatrists as they develop into capable, competent, compassionate providers who advocate for their patients and have an eye to equitable utilization of resources.
Personal Statement
I am the Psychiatry Chief of Service for both campuses of the University of Washington Medical Center. I also direct our Psychiatric Consultation and Telepsychiatry Program. My clinical focus is on patients who are hospitalized with simultaneous psychiatric and medical issues. Academically, I most often teach psychiatry trainees about psychopharmacology for refractory mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders.
Personal Statement
I am a board certified psychiatrist and work at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. I am a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. I obtained a fellowship in consultation-liaison psychiatry, a specialty that focuses on providing psychiatric care for people with complex medical conditions. My primary clinical focus is people with cancer.
I love my work. Being ill is a vulnerable time and my goal is to ease suffering and provide a sense of connection and understanding for all I work with. I believe in working collaboratively with patients and families. We work together to identify what the goals of treatment are. I have expertise in diagnosis, psychopharmacology and psychotherapy and adapt my recommendations to best serve the goals of the person before me.
I am also passionate about education. I am the site director at Fred Hutch Cancer Center for our Psycho-oncology Fellowship Program. I supervise Cl fellows, addiction fellows, psychiatry residents and provide education to social workers and psychology trainees.
Personal Statement
I am a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. I received my MD from New York University and completed my adult residency at the Harvard Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Hospital program where I was chief resident. I then went on to complete a fellowship in psychosomatic medicine at the University of Washington. I am currently on faculty at Harborview Medical Center on the inpatient psychiatry consult service.
I have a longstanding interest in the intersection between medicine and psychiatry, and am the author of numerous published articles on topics ranging from the neuropsychiatric effects of steroids to managing borderline personality disorder in the primary care setting. I have a particular interest in the use of electroconvulsive therapy, including in the treatment of catatonia. I am currently involved in research projects in conjunction with the division of nephrology and the neurosurgery department. In addition to my clinical and research interests, I am also an associate program director for the UW Adult Psychiatry Residency at Harborview Medical Center.
Personal Statement
My research interests cover two main areas:
1) development and use of novel radioligands for positron emission tomography (PET) in CNS disorders
2) cannabinoid pharmacology, and cannabis use disorder and comorbid neuropsychiatric disorders
My VA Career Development Award (VA equivalent of an NIH K-award) focuses on the translational development of imaging neuroinflammation with PET following repetitive blast mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). In collaboration with David Cook’s lab, imaging neuroinflammation in a mouse model of repetitive mTBI provides an opportunity to compare imaging outcomes directly with histopathology in brain tissue, which is not possible in humans. In collaboration with Elaine Peskind, imaging neuroinflammation in Veterans with mTBI and persistent post-concussive symptoms provides neuroanatomical specificity to ongoing neuroinflammation, which to date has been informed using cerebrospinal fluid and serum biomarkers. To accomplish this, my laboratory evaluates and develops established and novel PET radioligands for biomarkers of neuroinflammation. Additionally, I am interested in developing novel radioligands for druggable targets for which there are no current, suitable radioligands available. I have several ongoing collaborations with other investigators at UW and VA in which I provide support with PET imaging.
As a clinician and researcher, I am interested in how patients use cannabis for perceived therapeutic effect, and the risks and adverse outcomes resulting from substantial or chronic cannabis use. These clinical patterns can now be placed into context with a better understanding of the endocannabinoid system (ECS), which provide opportunity for more selective and safer therapeutic drug development. Due in part to the recentness of discovery of the ECS, one of my goals is to educate clinical providers on the preclinical and evidenced based research conducted to date on cannabis use and the ECS so they are better informed when discussing cannabis use with patients, and better prepared for understanding mechanisms of anticipated ECS-based medications currently under development. A second goal is to conduct research on cannabis use disorder and comorbid conditions, and identification of therapies that might better address a patient’s desired outcome from cannabis use, thereby reducing the likelihood of its associated risks.
