Dani Dahyeon Kang

Dr. Dahyeon Kang is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She earned her doctoral degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where her work focused on the etiology of alcohol and substance use disorders through multimodal research methods, including alcohol administration, neuroimaging, transdermal biosensors, and ecological momentary assessments. At the University of Washington’s Department of Psychiatry, Dr. Kang investigates how individual and social factors interact to influence alcohol and cannabis use behaviors.

Adam Kuczynski

Dr. Adam Kuczynski is a clinical psychologist and Acting Assistant Professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He received his PhD from the University of Washington in 2023 after completing his pre-doctoral internship at the same institution, training in serious mental illness and inpatient care at Harborview Medical Center and psycho-oncology Fred Hutch Cancer Center. Dr. Kuczynski currently works at the UW’s long-term civil commitment program and studies strategies to improve inpatient care for individuals with serious mental illness

Chris Nguyen

I am a psychiatrist at the UW. I primarily work at the Long-Term Civil Commitment Unit at Northwest and the consult service at University of Washington Montlake. I see patients with severe mental illness and chronic mental health problems. I also help with the treatment of patients with delirium and medical comorbidities that impact their mental health. I also help plan and give didactics for the Psychiatry residency at UW. My areas of interests are resident education, consult-liason, global mental health, perinatal psychiatry, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Jay Augsburger

Hello!  I’m the medical director for the Long Term Civil Commitment Units at the Center for Behavioral Health and Learning.  This is a new program as of July 2024 and I am excited to help get it off the ground.  I completed my medical school training at the University of Cincinnati, then residency at Oregon Health & Science University, then addiction psychiatry fellowship at UW, then worked at the Puget Sound VA for five years and Providence Swedish for six years prior to starting at UW.  I’m thrilled to be part of the team here and looking forward to this next chapter in my career.

Randall Espinoza

I am currently the Medical Director at the Garvey Institute Center for Neuromodulation and am providing leadership to help grow our portfolio in the area of Neuromodulation and Interventional Psychiatry. Before coming to the UW, I was the Muriel Harris Chair of Geriatric Psychiatry and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at UCLA. While at UCLA, I held many administrative, clinical and teaching leadership positions including serving as Medical Director of Inpatient Geriatric Psychiatry, Chief of Staff of the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Founding Faculty of the UCLA Neuromodulation Division, Medical Director of the ECT and Interventional Psychiatry Program, among others.

I recently became Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of ECT and Related Therapies, the official publication of the International Society of ECT and Neurostimulation. My research projects have included investigating various neuromodulation and interventional therapies and developing novel educational programs and curricula. I have an abiding interest in mentoring and helping faculty at the start of their careers and a commitment to fostering the advancement of women and underrepresented minority (URM) faculty in academic medicine.

Sheena Friesen

Sheena Friesen, PhD (she/her), is the attending psychologist for the Child Program on the inpatient Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Unit at Seattle Children’s Hospital and Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. She has clinical expertise in disruptive behavior disorders, comprehensive assessment, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Exposure Therapies, Parent Training, and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Dr. Friesen’s research interests broadly focus on advancing knowledge of least restrictive interventions in acute and complex care contexts, trauma-informed care, and interventions designed to address children’s disruptive behavior problems. She has collaborated on and co-led efforts to design and implement a multi-tiered, Modified Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (M-PBIS) model of care aimed at increasing positive behavior interventions, reducing restraint and PRN use, and ameliorating racial gaps in care delivery. 

Dr. Friesen received her Ph.D. in School Psychology from the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. She completed her pre-doctoral internship training at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Kennedy Krieger Institute and went on to complete her postdoctoral fellowship in acute care and clinical psychology at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Connor Gallik

Dr. Connor Gallik, PhD, is the attending psychologist for the Adolescent Program on the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Unit at Seattle Children’s Hospital and Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at University of Washington.

Prior to joining the staff and faculty at Seattle Children’s/UW, Dr. Gallik completed his graduate education at the University of Connecticut with an emphasis in child and adolescent clinical psychology. He completed his clinical internship at Pacific University’s Psychology and Comprehensive Health Clinic and went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical psychology at Seattle Children’s Hospital with an emphasis in DBT and inpatient care.

His research focuses on understanding factors related to the mental health and wellbeing of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) TGD youth and evidence-based practice on inpatient units. Clinically, he is interested in working with children, adolescents, and their families, with a focus on TGD youth. Dr. Gallik also provides training in TGD affirming care for mental health and medical professionals and speaks to community audiences about supporting transgender youth.

Michelle Wiese

I am an Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. I received my MD, MPH from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and completed my adult residency at the University of Washington where I was chief resident. I then went on to complete a fellowship in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at the University of Washington. I am currently on faculty at Harborview Medical Center on the inpatient psychiatry unit and inpatient psychiatry consult service. I have a longstanding interest in the intersection between medicine and psychiatry and in working with people who suffer from serious mental illness and treatment-resistant conditions. I have clinical interests in ECT, psychopharmacology, co-morbid medical conditions, and adjunctive psychotherapies. I value caring for the whole person through thorough and accurate diagnosis, treating co-morbid medical conditions, and minimizing medications when possible. I have teaching interests in reducing stigma surrounding serious mental illness and educating residents and medical students about psychiatric care.

Koriann Cox

Koriann Cox, Ph.D. graduated from Northeastern University and is licensed in the state of Washington. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in co-occurring addiction and mental health and has a range of clinical experience with a variety of concerns including depression, anxiety, trauma, reproductive mental health, and substance and behavioral addictions.  Dr. Cox’s strengths-focused approach emphasizes the mutual development of goals for therapy and ongoing collaboration between herself, the patient, and the care team. Dr. Cox uses a number of therapeutic modalities including but not limited to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Cognitive Processing Therapy.

Nicholas Meinhardt

I completed my adult psychiatry residency at the University of California, Davis and went on to complete my child & adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Seattle Children’s. My clinical work is focused on inpatient psychiatry and psychopharmacology. I have a particular interest in working with families and children in management of disruptive behavior disorders.