Anna Sunshine completed her medical school, graduate school and psychiatry training at the University of Washington. Her graduate training was completed in the Department of Genome Sciences where she used high-throughput sequencing approaches to study the biological effects of complex genetic changes in the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Connecting her background in genomics with psychiatry, Dr. Sunshine’s research now focuses on identifying genetic risk factors for schizophrenia and characterizing the biological effects of these risk alleles using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) systems. Dr. Sunshine engages individuals living with schizophrenia and their families in research to further our current understanding of schizophrenia biology and help lay groundwork for future treatment development.
I have always been interested in the thoughts and feelings that drive us. This led me to major in Psychological and Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University and to later enroll in the psychiatry residency training program at Washington University in St. Louis. Since completing training, I have had an excellent experience working at UW/Harborview’s emergency and inpatient psychiatry services. My teaching interests include the psychiatric interview, documentation, and fundamentals of clinical decision-making. Clinically, I enjoy taking a holistic approach to care, utilizing interventions across behavioral changes, pharmacology, and psychotherapy.
I am an adult psychiatrist and palliative medicine physician within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. I am dual board certified within the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and American Board of Internal Medicine. I practice at Harborview Medical Center (HMC) on both palliative care consult and inpatient psychiatry teams. I chair HMC Psychiatry Quality Improvement (QI) committee. My main areas of interest and expertise are in: the care and treatment of patients facing serious mental illness (SMI), particularly those with co-occurring chronic medical illness; complex communication skills with patients and families; the use of person-centered language in medicine; interprofessional teamwork. I provide clinical teaching and QI mentorship to medical trainees such as residents and medical students. I am the former co-director of the interprofessional health-sciences elective “The Healer’s Art.” I am a member of the Northwest Narrative Medicine Collaborative.
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.
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.
