Patrick Sylvers

Personal Statement

Dr. Sylvers serves as the Director of Psychology Training at the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, American Lake Division. His primary research interests include personality and its relation to treatment outcomes, treatment outcomes related to trauma and anxiety related disorders, and the etiology and treatment of aggressive behavior. Dr. Sylvers also serves as a consultant for the Department of Veterans Affairs Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Depression training initiative.

Mark Sullivan

Personal Statement

My clinical service and research focuses on the interaction of mental and physical illness, especially in patients with chronic pain. Much of my research in recent decades has focused on the risks of treating chronic pain with opioids. I have developed educational programs and outcome tracking tools to assist with opioid treatment of chronic pain. I have published a book about patient empowerment in chronic disease care, The Patient as Agent of Health and Health Care (Oxford, 2017). I have another book written with Jane Ballantyne forthcoming, The Right to Pain Relief and other deep roots of the opioid epidemic (Oxford, 2022).

Brian Coleman

Personal Statement

I completed my Residency in Psychiatry with the UW in 1982 and since then have worked at Harborview Medical Center in the Psychiatry Department.  I am a Clinical Associate Professor and provide weekend and on-call coverage for 5MB on the Intensive Psychiatric Unit.

Jason Veitengruber

Personal Statement

I am a board-certified Psychiatrist at Harborview and UW Medicine and a UW Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. I enjoy acting as a consultant to my patients in helping them achieve their healthcare and life goals. My clinical interests include medical student and resident education, medical co-morbidities of psychiatric patients and evidenced-based medicine.  I practice, teach, and supervise in Harborview’s acute inpatient psychiatric units as an Attending Physician and Medical Director of Inpatient Psychiatry.

Christopher Varley

Personal Statement

My primary  interest is Graduate Medical Education and Faculty Development in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. I was the program  director for the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry residency at the UWSOM for 32  years. I am now the Director of Education and Faculty  Development in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. My clinical interests are in pediatric psychopharmacology, particularly  re ADHD. 

Eileen Twohy

I am a clinical psychologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital and UW Medicine, where my work primarily consists of clinical care and teaching. My two areas of focus are the provision of effective, trauma-informed treatment for youth and families in suicidal crises and the promotion of equitable access to behavioral healthcare.

Eric Turner

Personal Statement

​My research program focuses on understanding brain circuitry involved in mood regulation, including models of depression and anxiety, and also circuits related to substance abuse. Our experiments are conducted in mice that have been genetically engineered to disrupt the function of certain brain regions, or to allow the manipulation of brain activity with pulses of light, a method called “optogenetics.” Our studies uses neuroanatomical methods, electrophysiology, and behavioral assays to understand the the outcome of these genetic and optogenetic manipulations. Of current interest in the lab is the function of a poorly understood brain region called the habenula. Historically my laboratory has also focused on brain development and the role of regulatory molecules called transcription factors in determining the identity of specific kinds of neurons. We are continuing to study developmental gene regulation in the context of craniofacial development and birth defects. Our research is funded by grants from the NIH institutes NIMH and NIDA.

Myra Parker

Personal Statement

​Myra Parker, JD, PhD is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral  Sciences, and Director of Seven Directions: A Center for Indigenous Public Health, based within the Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behaviors, University of Washington. She received her doctorate in Health Services at UW School of Public Health, and has been a member of the faculty since 2014.

Dr. Parker’s research and clinical interests include: (1) cultural adaptation of alcohol and drug interventions among American Indians and Alaska Natives (with a particular focus on  tribal college drinking harm reduction), (2) development and testing of parenting interventions to support early childhood development in American Indian and Alaska Native communities, (3) co-morbidity of substance use with depression, suicide, trauma, and PTSD, (4) research capacity development, including ethical aspects of research, for tribal and urban Indian communities; and, (5) dissemination and translation of evidence-based prevention and intervention approaches at the individual, institutional, and community level, including policy development. She has worked with tribal and urban Indian communities across the United States on these topics.

Shannon Simmons

Personal Statement

I am Medical Director of Inpatient and Acute Mental Health Services at Seattle Children’s Hospital, ​where I provide clinical leadership and clinical care to patients with a broad range of diagnoses and presenting concerns in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Unit, Partial Hospitalization Program, and Emergency Department Mental Health program. I aim to provide high quality, family-focused, evidence-based care as part of a multidisciplinary team. I am highly involved in educating residents, fellows, and medical students, and serve as Associate Training Director for Inpatient Psychiatry for the child psychiatry fellowship program.

Amritha Bhat

Personal Statement

I am a perinatal psychiatrist and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. I earned my medical degree from Bangalore Medical College, India, and completed a psychiatry residency in St. John’s Medical College, India. I completed a second residency in Psychiatry with a focus on women’s mental health and integrated care from the University of Washington, and a fellowship in Primary Care in Psychiatry. I also earned a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Washington School of Public Health. I am board certified with the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.