Diana Simeonova Dipl-Psych, PhD
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Assistant Professor
- (404) 727-5835
- dsimeon@emory.edu
Overview
Diana I. Simeonova, Dipl-Psych, PhD, a licensed clinical and industrial/organizational psychologist, brings a global perspective and a diverse integrative approach to her professional roles. Dr. Simeonova holds joint appointments as a faculty member at the Emory University School of Medicine and at Goizueta Business School. Originally from Bulgaria, she completed her graduate and post-doctoral studies first in Germany and then at Emory University. She worked in NIMH-funded clinical research settings at Stanford University School of Medicine and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Child and Adolescent Mood Program at Emory. Prior to joining the faculty at Emory, Dr. Simeonova was a founding partner and business proprietor of a center for comprehensive mental health care and clinical research for children, adults and families, and her team received funding and conducted randomized controlled trials to evaluate the efficacy and safety of new medications as well as new indications for FDA-approved medications.
Dr. Simeonova's rich experiences as a clinician-scientist, executive coach, leadership consultant, entrepreneur and creative innovator inform all aspects of her professional identity and activities. She is the recipient of a T32 NIMH predoctoral research fellowship in translational clinical science, a New Investigator Award from the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology ASCP/NCDEU, and travel awards from the Society of Biological Psychiatry and other professional organizations. Her research lab has been funded by a K23 Career Development Award from the National Institute of Mental Health, NARSAD Young Investigator Award from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, a multisite R01 grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and private foundations. Dr. Simeonova collaborates on a number of research projects as a task group member of the National Network of Depression Centers (NNDC), a non-profit system of 26 leading clinical and academic Centers of Excellence in the U.S. Clinically, her current focus is on psychotherapy centered on women's mental health, specifically during the preconception, pregnancy and postpartum reproductive periods. In the past, Dr. Simeonova's clinical, evaluation, and psychological assessment work was focused on children, adolescents, adults, and families.
As faculty member at Goizueta Business School, Dr. Simeonova collaborates with colleagues on leadership development and executive coaching projects, provides consulting and coaching to executives and leaders, and teaches and coaches in the MBA and Executive MBA programs, the Delta Leadership Development Coaching Fellows Program, the IMPACT Coaching Fellows Program, and Emory Executive Education. She is a co-founder and faculty member, and has served in several leadership capacities in the Executive Coaching Diploma Program, an International Coaching Federation (ICF)-accredited coaching training program. This innovative multi-disciplinary program is designed for business leaders and executives and is focused on: 1) teaching the fundamentals of leadership coaching (Executive Coaching Foundations Certificate) and, 2) enhancing leader's agility to coach and accelerate the transformation of their teams, clients, organizations and companies through the challenges and opportunities of a fast-paced ever-changing world (Advanced Executive Coaching Certificate).
Academic Appointment
- Senior Lecturer in Organization, Management & Leadership Development, Emory University Goizueta Business School
- Assistant Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine
Education
Degrees
- Diploma from College for International Students, University of Hamburg
- Diploma from University of Hamburg
- Dipl.-Psych. from University of Hamburg
- Diploma from San Francisco State University
- MA from Emory University
- PhD from Emory University
Research
Focus
-
Primary research areas:
1) Womens mental health, specifically during the preconception, pregnancy and postpartum reproductive periods; 2) Identification of resilience, risk, and social-emotional neurodevelopmental factors in high-risk offspring of parents with mood and anxiety disorders; 3) Early development, intervention, and prevention of psychopathology in children and adolescents; and 4) Leadership and organizational development, change management, and innovation.
Publications
-
Unique Characteristics of Women and Infants Moderate the Association between Depression and Mother-Infant Interaction.
J Clin Med Volume: 12
08/24/2023 Authors: Weiss SJ; Goodman SH; Kidd SA; Owen MT; Simeonova DI; Kim CY; Cooper B; Rosenblum KL; Muzik M -
The role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in depression across the female reproductive lifecycle: current knowledge and future directions.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) Volume: 14 Page(s): 1295261
01/01/2023 Authors: Hantsoo L; Jagodnik KM; Novick AM; Baweja R; di Scalea TL; Ozerdem A; McGlade EC; Simeonova DI; Dekel S; Kornfield SL -
Potential paths to suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among high-risk women.
J Psychiatr Res Volume: 155 Page(s): 493 - 500
11/01/2022 Authors: Weiss SJ; Simeonova DI; Koleva H; Muzik M; Clark KD; Ozerdem A; Cooper B; Ammerman RT -
Maternal Interaction With Infants Among Women at Elevated Risk for Postpartum Depression.
Front Psychol Volume: 13 Page(s): 737513
01/01/2022 Authors: Goodman SH; Muzik M; Simeonova DI; Kidd SA; Owen MT; Cooper B; Kim CY; Rosenblum KL; Weiss SJ -
Symptom profiles of women at risk of mood disorders: A latent class analysis.
J Affect Disord Volume: 295 Page(s): 139 - 147
12/01/2021 Authors: Weiss SJ; Flynn H; Christian L; Hantsoo L; di Scalea TL; Kornfield SL; Muzik M; Simeonova DI; Cooper BA; Strahm A -
Effects of Patient Preferences on Outcomes in the Predictors of Remission in Depression to Individual and Combined Treatments (PReDICT) Study.
Am J Psychiatry Volume: 174 Page(s): 546 - 556
06/01/2017 Authors: Dunlop BW; Kelley ME; Aponte-Rivera V; Mletzko-Crowe T; Kinkead B; Ritchie JC; Nemeroff CB; Craighead WE; Mayberg HS; PReDICT Team -
Anxiety and physical health problems increase the odds of women having more severe symptoms of depression.
Arch Womens Ment Health Volume: 19 Page(s): 491 - 499
06/01/2016 Authors: Weiss SJ; Simeonova DI; Kimmel MC; Battle CL; Maki PM; Flynn HA -
Longitudinal investigation of the relationship between family history of psychosis and affective disorders and Child Behavior Checklist ratings in clinical high-risk adolescents.
Schizophr Res Volume: 166 Page(s): 24 - 30
08/01/2015 Authors: Simeonova DI; Lee FJ; Walker EF -
Temperament and behavior in toddlers of mothers with bipolar disorder: a preliminary investigation of a population at high familial risk for psychopathology.
J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol Volume: 24 Page(s): 543 - 550
12/01/2014 Authors: Simeonova DI; Attalla AM; Nguyen T; Stagnaro E; Knight BT; Craighead WE; Stowe ZN; Newport DJ -
Psychosis risk screening in clinical high-risk adolescents: a longitudinal investigation using the Child Behavior Checklist.
Schizophr Res Volume: 159 Page(s): 7 - 13
10/01/2014 Authors: Simeonova DI; Nguyen T; Walker EF