Department Kudos

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Faculty Development Seminar

The next Faculty Development Seminar is scheduled for Wednesday December 2 from 9:00-10:30am via Zoom. It is the second in the two part series on Professionalism. 

Upcoming Writing Groups

The Faculty Writing Group is the first Wednesday of every month from 8:00-9:00am. These meetings are on Zoom. This group is for faculty including adjunct faculty.

SPOTLIGHTS

ADJUNCT FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: Laura Marie, PhD

Laura Marie, PhD, is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Atlanta. She earned her PhD in clinical and counseling psychology from the University of South Alabama in 2020.

Trained as a generalist, Laura has worked across community mental health, university counseling, primary and specialty care and VA settings. Her clinical and research interests include complex interpersonal, childhood and sexual trauma and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Her therapeutic approach is humanistic and integrative, drawing particularly from trauma-informed, interpersonal, emotion-focused and dialectical behavior therapy.

Laura has served as an adjunct assistant professor since completing her post-doctoral training in 2023. Through Grady Nia Project, she co-led a therapeutic group for survivors of interpersonal trauma, and supervised psychology practicum students on the Psychiatry Consultation/Liaison service at Grady. She also served as an expert consultant to the Nia Project/Georgia Tech Relief Link partnership project developing a suicide prevention app. She provides ongoing supervision for graduate and post-doctoral trainees.

As a former Nia trainee, Laura most values the opportunity to give back to the program instrumental in her professional development while working with a population she is passionate about and mentoring the next generation of helping professionals.  

Born and raised in England, Laura emigrating to the U.S. in 2009 to pursue her graduate education. Outside of work, she is raising three young daughters while building her career.

If you are or have a client who may be interested in working with Laura, you can contact her directly through her practice Edwards Psychological Associates.

TRAINEE SPOTLIGHT: Reanne Mathai, MD

Reanne Mathai is a PGY-3 general psychiatry resident. She also currently serves as residency class president and co-president of the psychiatry residency book club. Her primary clinical site this year is Grady, where she cares for patients in the outpatient setting at 10 Park Place. Outside of Emory, she serves as a Crisis Text Line texter, helping support individuals experiencing acute mental health crises. 

What Reanne most enjoys about her work is getting to know her patients as individuals, supporting them during vulnerable times and helping them work toward their goals to the lives they actually want to lead.

Career highlights for Reanne include being inducted into the AOA and Gold Humanism honor societies. She also matched into her first choice for residency at Emory, where she is able to help care for the underserved population through her work at Grady. Reanne also received the Medical Student Teaching Award for her work in helping conduct review sessions for third-year medical students prior to their psychiatry shelf exams.

Looking to the future, Reanne hopes to pursue a career as an outpatient psychiatrist to continue building long-term relationships with a wide variety of patients. She also hopes to continue working in the psychiatric emergency setting in some capacity, as well as continue supporting the underserved population by regularly volunteering her time as an attending in free clinics.

Outside of work, Reanne enjoys volunteering with the Atlanta Community Food Bank on the weekends. In her free time, she also enjoys crocheting, reading, running and spending time with her friends, family and fiancé.

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT: Emory Addiction Center’s Intensive Outpatient Program (written by Santosh Patel, MD, and Samantha Patton, PhD)

The Addiction Alliance of Georgia’s Substance Use Disorders Intensive Outpatient Program and Partial Hospitalization Program focus on helping patients over the age of 18 that struggle with substance addiction obtain and maintain sobriety. The IOP consists of three days of treatment per week, and the PHP is five days per week. Each treatment day consists of four hours of groups per day along with individual appointments with a therapist and a psychiatrist. The program uses MI, CBT, 12 step/mutual aid group facilitation and DBT as the primary therapeutic modalities in group. 

The program was developed to meet a community need. It wanted to provide intensive, evidence-based care for dual diagnosis patients. It collaborated with the Addiction Alliance of Georgia partner, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, to create the initial curriculum. With its knowledge about substance use treatment programming and Emory’s knowledge about evidence-based dual diagnosis treatment, it officially opened the substance use disorders IOP in 2022 and added on the PHP in 2024. 

The program utilizes evidence-based treatment modalities to focus on holistic care of patients. Prior to starting groups, every patient completes an assessment that evaluates not only substance use but also comorbid mental health problems. After their intake assessment, patients are matched with a therapist who continues to develop an individualized treatment plan. Unlike many other SUD programs, the programs encompass medication management and individualized therapy that can target mental health problems contributing to a patient’s addiction. Through the Emory Addiction Center, it also has the unique opportunity to offer long-term psychiatry and therapy aftercare to patients that complete the IOP/PHP. AAG’s programs also offer broader financial aid options with full coverage scholarships that address the major financial barrier to treatment. As the program grows, it also hopes to offer more problem-focused treatment tracks that will continue to set it apart.  

The core team is comprised of a patient care coordinator, nurses, counselors, psychologist and two psychiatrists. The success of the programs is also dependent on the support of the administrative staff at the Emory Addiction Center. 

The program has also collaborated with the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program to engage counselors in Prolonged Exposure training. The program has received patient referrals from providers across Emory Healthcare, including general psychiatry, primary care and transplant center. It frequently servse patients with alcohol-induced liver disease undergoing evaluation for a liver transplant. 

The program has a very effective stepped levels of care model between IOP/PHP and outpatient treatment with patients transitioning between the levels as needed. The ability to transition to outpatient treatment allows for longitudinal care and responsiveness to episodes of return to substance use. Also, it has a robust alumni group led by peers. This group is very well attended and valued as a recovery meeting not wholly focused on 12-step treatment. It has also been able to successfully incorporate the alumni as returning speakers, who provide motivation and share about their recovery journey to patients actively going through IOP/PHP treatment. 

To learn more, please visit the program’s website or email Santosh Patel, MD, or Samantha Patton, PhD, ABPP. Patients interested in treatment can get started by calling 1-800-434-7495 to complete the initial phone assessment.

NEW FACULTY

Kyunti James-Thorpe, MD | Kyunti is originally from Brooklyn, NY, but raised most of her life in Gainesville, GA. As far as her undergraduate education, she completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Brenau University. She obtained her medical degree from Morehouse School of Medicine. Kyunti continued residency there and completed postgraduate training in general psychiatry. She served as the clinical chief resident during her fourth year. She has now joined the Emory team as an inpatient attending psychiatrist at Emory Decatur Hospital and assistant professor at Emory University School of Medicine. She has special interests in mentorship, acute/emergency psychiatry and serious mental illnesses.

Todd Jones, MD | Todd is joining Emory as an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and working as a full-time outpatient clinician.

Todd was born and raised in Atlanta, near Sandy Springs, and attended Holy Spirit Preparatory School from preschool through 12th grade. He then went to Harvard University for college, where he studied classics—Ancient Greek and Roman history, language and literature—and mathematics. Outside of classes, Todd founded a political philosophy debate society and participated in the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club as an actor and director in various theatrical productions.  

Following his undergraduate studies, Todd completed a postbaccalaureate program at Harvard and subsequently matriculated at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. At Columbia, Todd won the Friedman Research Award and the Steven Z. Miller Prize in Medical Education for research exploring the efficacy of 360º video exposure therapy for patients with post-intensive care syndrome. He also participated in the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE) as a 2021 medical fellow.

Todd returned to Boston for his psychiatry training and graduated from the Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School residency this past June. During his final year of training, Todd served as Brigham’s outpatient chief resident, with a special focus on psychotherapy education. He ran a weekly lunchtime psychotherapy skills didactic series, served as an individual ACT supervisor and obtained certification in the Benson-Henry Institute’s SMART program through leading a group of co-residents in its stress management curriculum. Finally, Todd performed informal research for OptimalWork—a Cambridge-based company focused on developing and applying behavioral therapy principles to professional life—and gave multiple talks on its corresponding theory and praxis.  

Todd’s clinical interests primarily lie in the short-term psychotherapies, mainly ACT and CBT, but with elements of other modalities as needed. He especially looks forward to treating patients with anxiety, anxiety-mediated and depressive disorders, approaching these cases with an eye toward their therapeutic as well as their psychopharmacological needs. He hopes to contribute to the growing conversation within our profession about the types of therapy that will eventually succeed the “third wave.”

Outside of work, Todd is married to Maggie Jones, an incoming neonatal hospitalist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Todd and Maggie have two children.   

Thomas Kirschen, DO | Thomas Kirschen earned double Bachelor of Science degrees in Neuroscience and Behavioral Psychology at Rutgers University before completing his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree at the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine. He then completed his General Psychiatry residency training at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, ID, where his clinical focus transitioned toward neuromodulation and procedural interventions. Driven by a commitment to academic rigor and advanced clinical training in Interventional Psychiatry, he pursued subspecialty fellowship training at the Emory University School of Medicine. 

COMMUNITY AND BELONGING INITIATIVES

ARTS (Arts in Research, Therapy, and Service) Committee

Opal Ousley, Phd – Attending to creativity in therapy taps into emotions, memories and new experiences words alone cannot always access. Opal’s clients often live lives requiring day-to-day or moment-to-moment regulation of emotion and attention, given their histories of autism, anxiety, depression, trauma, pain, somatization and/or executive dysfunction. Although Opal relies on CBT and client-centered therapy approaches, listening, understanding and skill building are not always adequate to extract deeper feelings or meaning. Attention to creativity and art can fill this gap. Sometimes the art focus emerges spontaneously, and she intentionally expand this focus. One such example comes from her client who drew a picture depicting tele-therapy. This led to discussions of symbolism and their first in-person meeting. The client has since made a reprint and sold her first work of art, with other requests pending. At times, art and creative pursuits are used to build a daily schedule to balance mundane or difficult tasks, or enhance or repair social connections by giving small gifts of homemade art. Some of the most powerful interventions have been to jointly listen to music together – Opal has witnessed a client with failing health being transported to a time and place from the past, with core memories of positive engagement and belonging. Art or music can also tap into painful client memories, such as never reaching the pinnacle of one’s music career. Opal is not formally trained in art therapy, but finds discussions of creativity and artistic pursuits bring forth comfort, depth, meaning and emotions that might not otherwise be realized. They recently gave a talk on autism and creativity at the Southeast Adult Autism Symposium, and one of the featured artists encouraged others to “to play and to realize that all artistic expression is valid and legitimate.”

FACULTY KUDOS 

Leadership Appointments, Achievements, Honors and Awards

Negar Fani was promoted to the rank of professor with tenure. 

Erin Jones completed her year-long certification in Family Based Treatment for Adolescent Anorexia, and is now the only certified FBT provider in Georgia.

Mike Martin finished his year serving as Chair of the American Psychological Association’s Division 18 Convention Programming and Meghna Patel just finished as Co-Chair. She will be Chair for 2027 Convention. 

Vas Michopoulos was promoted to the rank of professor with tenure.

Andrew Miller received the Colvin Prize for outstanding achievement in mood disorders research from the Brian and Behavior Research Foundation.

Andrew Sherrill won the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Outstanding Clinical Supervisor Award for 2026.

Publications and Grants

Costa VD, Hogeveen J. Translating macaque frontopolar cortex discoveries into psychiatric treatments. Neuropsychopharmacol. (2026). 

Deanna Kaplan K07 awardee DFPM@SOM, ECPS and Dir. of Health Technologies at Emory Spiritual Health.

Kitay BM, Mohr DC, Schueller SM. Integrating digital therapeutics for patients with mental illness into clinical practice: perspectives for US healthcare professionals. Front Public Health. 2026 September 2; 14:1817617. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2026.

Matta SE, Raffoul JJ, Boone L, DeSimone AC, Babilonia MB, Schwartz AC, Stern TA. Practicing in resource-limited and siloed settings: The impact of isolation on morale, clinical care and lifelong learning. Prim Care Companion CNS Disord 2026;28(5):26f04247.

Mufford MS, van der Meer D, Baird CL, Sun D, LaBar KS, Ramesar R, Hussain A, Abdallah CG, Andrew E, Averill CL, Baker JT, Baugh LA, Blackford JU, Bomyea J, Bryant RA, Ching CRK, Choi K, Cotton AS, Daniels JK, Davenport ND, Davidson RJ, De Bellis MD, Dennis EL, Densmore M, deRoon-Cassini TA, Disner SG, du Plessis S, Etkin A, Fani N, Fercho KA, Fitzgerald J, Geuze E, Gordon EM, Grupe DW, Harpaz-Rotem I, Russel CC, Herzog JI, Hofmann D, Hudson AR, Ipser J, Jahanshad N, Jovanovic T, Kaufman ML, Koch SBJ, Koerte IK, Korgaonkar MS, Krystal JH, Lanius R, Larson C, Lebois LAM, Levy I, Li G, Liberzon I, Logue MW, Magnotta VA, Manthey A, Maron-Katz A, May G, McLaughlin KA, Mueller SC, Nawijn L, Nelson SM, Neria Y, Neufeld RWJ, Nitschke JB, O'Leary EN, Olatunji BO, Olff M, Olson EA, Peverill M, Phan KL, Pineda E, Ressler KJ, Rosso IM, Salminen LE, Meltzer K, Schmahl C, Seedat S, Sharp CA, Shenton ME, Sierk A, Simons RM, Simons JS, Sponheim SR, Stein MB, Stevens JS, Straube T, Suarez-Jimenez B, Théberge J, Thomopolous SI, van der Wee NJA, van der Werff SJA, van Erp TGM, van Rooij SJH, van Zuiden M, Veltman DJ, Vermeiren RRJM, Walter H, Wang X, Wang L, Xie H, Zhu X, Zhu Y, Thompson PM, Andreassen OA, Stein DJ, Morey RA, Dalvie S. Shared and specific associations of amygdala nuclei volumes with PTSD symptom domains and childhood trauma: An ENIGMA-PGC PTSD mega-analysis. Mol Psychiatry. 2026 Jul 2. doi: 10.1038/s41380-026-03718-w. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 42393252.

Najeah Okashah received the Notice of Intent to Fund for her two year CDA-1 VA career development award.

Roman Palitsky K07 awardee DPBS@SOM, ECPS and Dir. of Research Projects at Emory Spiritual Health.

Phillips NL, Berman EC, Hyatt CS, Rose L, Olino TM, Lynam DR, & Miller JD. (in press). Mapping United States federal funding for mental health difficulties from 2020-2024 to the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology: A registered report. Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science.  

Robbins-Welty G, Noufi P, Nakatani M, Brown M, Zarrabi AJ, Schwartz AC. Palliative Electroconvulsive Therapy in Serious Illness: A Narrative Review and Conceptual Framework. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 9 Sept 2026.

Schwartz AC, Smith A, Stiles C, et al. Recurrent rectal foreign body insertion associated with cocaine-induced compulsive sexual behavior resulting in permanent colostomy. Prim Care Companion CNS Disord 2026;28(4):26cr04212.

R01AG095529 (Wingo, Contact PI; Wen, MPI), NIH/NIA, Harnessing large-scale human omics data to decode novel risk genes for AD and its neuropsychiatric symptoms; $3,301,547; 09/2026 – 05/2031.

Xu X, Hyatt CS, Ghosh A, & Miller, J. D. (in press). Narcissism and prosociality: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality.

Yasinski C, Ma T, Thase ME, Kocsis JH, Arnow BA, Keller MB, Klein D, Manber R, Markowitz JC, Rothbaum BO, Trivedi MH, Dunlop BW. (in press) Remission Status in Persistent Depressive Disorder Following Acute Treatment with Psychotherapy plus Medication or Medication Alone: A 2-Year Naturalistic Follow-Up. Journal of Affective Disorders.

Zhexing Wen R01AG095529 (Wingo, Contact PI; Wen, MPI), NIH/NIA, Harnessing large-scale human omics data to decode novel risk genes for AD and its neuropsychiatric symptoms; $3,301,547; 09/2026 –05/2031.

Ali John Zarrabi K07 awardee DFPM@SOM, ECPS Dir. of Psychiatric Psychedelic Research and Physician Scientist at Emory Spiritual Health.

Presentations (Oral, Poster)

Vincent Costa was an invited speaker at the 2026 Gordon Research Conference on the Frontal Cortex in Function, Dysfunction and Therapies last month.

Ellis DM. (2026, September). Digital mental health beyond the hype: Evidence, equity, and implementation for diverse populations [Invited Grand Rounds presentation]. Augusta University Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA.

Gih D, Czelusta KT, Kleinschmit K, Schwartz AC. “Traversing the terrain of educational leadership in academic psychiatry.” Association for Academic Psychiatry Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, 2026 (workshop).

Erin Jones gave a five hour CE Workshop for CHOA providers on Enhanced Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT-E) for Treating Adolescents with Eating Disorders.

Lim, N (2026, August). Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health, OneKoreaUSA Conference and Peachtree Ridge High School, UpDream Bible Church , Suwanee, GA.

Miu AS and Wright V (2026, October). The Third Party in the Room: Ethical Considerations When Your Patients Use AI for Mental Health Support, American Board of Professional Psychology, Inc., Virtual.

Schwartz AC, Robbins-Welty G, Heinrich T, DeMoss D, Ruikar K. “Shaping tomorrow’s academic psychiatrists: Practical strategies for resident scholarship.” Association for Academic Psychiatry Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, 2026 (workshop).

Media

Abigail Powers Lott (1) Newsweek | 9/11 Responders’ Trauma May Have Affected Their Children, Study Finds. (2) Yahoo! News | 9/11 Responders’ Trauma May Have Affected Their Children

James Rilling (1) Parents | Yes, You Should Let Grandparents Spoil Their Grandkids, Here’s Why. (2) Washington Post | Taking Care of Grandchildren May Help Slow Cognitive Decline.

Barbara Rothbaum (1) WABE | 25 Years After 9/11, the Impact on Veterans Continues.

Sanne van Rooij (1) Brain & Behavior | Personalized Accelrated TMS Therapy Targeting Brain’s Threat Circuity Significantly Reduced PTSD Symptoms. (2) GPB | Magnetic Pulses Sent Through the Skull Can Calm the Fear Center of the Brain.

Liza Zwiebach (1) WABE | Georgia Women Veterans at Higher Risk for PTSD, Military Sexual Trauma.

ADJUNCT FACULTY KUDOS

Ray Kotwicki (1) is president of the Southern Psychiatric Association (2) has been elected to the board of directors of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. 

Paddock JR. (2026d). At the firing range with Joseph: Boundary complexity, aggression, and therapeutic action. Psychoanalysis, Self and Context. Published online 20 Jul 2026.

Paddock JR. (2026b). Lessons from Andy. Psychoanalytic Inquiry. Published online 27 Feb 2026. 

Paddock JR. (2026c). Listening backward. Psychoanalysis, Self and Context. Published online 21 Jul 2026. 

Paddock JR. (in press). Still trying to figure out what happened: Music as a selfobject experience in late adolescence and early adulthood. Psychoanalysis, Self and Context. 

STAFF KUDOS

Douglas Blair has been named the Senior Communications Manager for the School of Medicine, supporting the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. 

Kenya Taylor has been named the Grady Brian Health Division Administrator.

TRAINEE KUDOS

Kerney MA, Malone N, Vigil K, Peterson R, & Hargons CN. (2026). “That’s probably what euphoria feels like”: Nonbinary Black womxn’s gender expression in an antitrans (and anti-Black [womxn]) America. American Psychologist, 81(6), 951–968.

Liu-Lam S, Cohen C, Watson-Singleton N, Zhang S, Dunn SE, & Kaslow NJ. (2026). Childhood maltreatment, self-esteem, and intimate partner violence in a clinical sample of economically marginalized African American women. Violence and Victims. doi: 10.1891/VV-2024-0128