Yale Department of Psychiatry welcomes new faculty

Emily Ansell, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Emily Ansell came to Yale as a postdoctoral associate in Psychiatry where she worked with Dr. Thomas McGlashan and Dr. Carlos Grilo on the NIMH funded Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Study. She has been funded by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and is the recent recipient of a career award from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) to examine the role of social process and personality in stress responsivity and addictive behaviors using ecological momentary assessment. She will carry out this work in collaboration with Dr. Rajita Sinha at the Yale Stress Center.

Alan Anticevic, PhD
Associate Research Scientist
Dr. Alan Anticevic trained in Clinical Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis where he worked with Drs. Deanna Barch and David Van Essen. Following his graduate training, Dr. Anticevic completed his internship in Clinical Neuropsychology at Yale University. Following internship, he joined the Yale University Department of Psychiatry as research faculty working closely with Dr. John Krystal. Broadly, his research interests are centered on cognitive neuroscience of psychiatric illness as well as functional neuroimaging analysis methodology. Specifically, Dr. Anticevic is interested in characterizing brain circuits involved in processing affective stimuli and their interaction with neural systems involved in active cognitive operations such as working memory, with the focus of understanding how these interactions may go awry in the context of different neuropsychiatric illness (e.g. schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and substance abuse). Methodologically, his research harnesses the combination of task-based, resting-state, pharmacological functional neuroimaging, as well as computational modeling approaches to mechanistically understand neural circuit dysfunction in disorders such as schizophrenia.

Albert Arias, MD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Albert Arias came to Yale from University of Connecticut, where he completed his residency and was on the faculty as an Assistant Professor for five years. He is the recent recipient of a career award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), which was awarded to study the anticonvulsant zonisamide as a treatment for alcohol use disorders and translational genomics. Dr. Arias will continue that work here under the mentorship of Dr. Ismene Petrakis and will also serve as a staff psychiatrist in the Veterans Affairs Hospital Psychiatric Emergency Department.

Romain Branch, MD
Clinician
Dr. Romain Branch hails from the island of Barbados, completed medical school at the University of the West Indies (Jamaica) followed by Basic Specialist Training in General Psychiatry on the Guys, King's, St. Thomas' Senior House Officer (SHO) Rotational Training Scheme in London, UK. He worked as a Staff Grade Addiction Psychiatrist in London, emigrated to New York where he completed his Psychiatry Residency at Mount Sinai School of Medicine then came to Yale as an Addiction Psychiatry Fellow. Dr. Branch has joined YNHPH as an Attending Psychiatrist on the Dual Diagnosis Inpatient Unit and will also provide psychiatric consultation service in Addiction Psychiatry to the Sickle Cell Program at YNHH.

Philip Corlett, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Philip Robert Corlett trained in Experimental Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychiatry with Professors Trevor Robbins and Paul Fletcher at the University of Cambridge. He won a Wellcome Trust Prize Studentship and completed his PhD on the brain bases of delusion formation in the Brain Mapping Unit, Department of Psychiatry. After a short postdoc, he was awarded the University of Cambridge Parke- Davis Exchange Fellowship in Biomedical Sciences which brought him to the Yale University Department of Psychiatry to explore the maintenance of delusions with Professors Jane Taylor and John Krystal. He was named a Rising Star and Future Opinion Leader by Pharmaceutical Marketing Magazine and joined the Yale faculty in 2011 where he will continue to explore the cognitive and biological mechanisms of delusional beliefs as well as predictive learning, habit formation and addiction.

Carrol D'Sa, PhD
Associate Research Scientist
Dr. Carrol D’Sa completed her postdoctoral training in basic research, molecular psychiatry with Dr. Ronald Duman here at Yale and worked as an Associate Research Scientist until 2005, using genetic molecular, cellular, biochemical and behavioral techniques to generate and characterize PDE4A null mutant mice in animal depression models. In 2009, recognizing a need to translate basic scientific discoveries into clinical advances, and to bridge her basic research background with clinical experience, she began training with Dr. Rajita Sinha, gaining exposure to the clinical aspects of studying addictive behaviors and corresponding dysregulation in stress and immune systems. A recipient of the CPDD-NIDA & APA travel awards in 2010, Dr. D'Sa will continue working as a translational scientist on the mechanisms underlying stress, immune function and addictive behaviors in humans, under the mentorship of Dr. Rajita Sinha, and in collaborative research with Dr. Ralph DiLeone.

Elise DeVito, PhD
Associate Research Scientist
Dr. Elise DeVito completed a T32 National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) post-doctoral fellowship at Yale, where she worked with Dr. Marc Potenza and Dr. Godfrey Pearlson on neuroimaging of impulsivity in addiction. She has joined the Yale Department of Psychiatry faculty as an Associate Research Scientist through the K12 BIRCWH Scholar Program where, under the mentorship of Dr. Kathleen Carroll and Dr. Mehmet Sofuoglu, she will study the impact of sex and gonadal hormones on impulsivity and addiction.

Ellen Edens, MD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Ellen Edens completed her Psychiatry Residency and a T32 Fellowship at Washington University. She came to Yale as an Addiction Psychiatry Fellow. Following her Addiction Fellowship she completed a Mental Illness Research, Education & Clinical Center (MIRECC) post-doctoral fellowship, where she worked with Dr. Robert Rosenheck on studies of homelessness. She has joined the VA as a staff psychiatrist in the Substance Abuse Treatment Program and has been appointed the Associate Director of the Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship.

Helen Fox, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Helen Fox came to Yale from the University of East London as a post doctoral fellow, where she worked with Dr Rajita Sinha establishing the nature of stress system arousal mechanisms underlying drug craving and drug use in cocaine dependent and alcohol dependent individuals. She obtained a K-01 career development award in May 2010 to study the effects of guanfacine on cognitive processes and relapse factors in cocaine abusers, and an R01 beginning August 2011 assessing the role of immune system cytokines in addiction. Following her appointment, Dr. Fox continues her work at the Yale Stress Center investigating pharmacotherapy interventions for cognition and immune system changes in addiction.

Lisa Fucito, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Lisa Fucito came to Yale as a pre-doctoral fellow in psychology and then completed a T32 National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) post-doctoral fellowship, where she worked with Dr. Stephanie O'Malley on treatments for smoking and alcohol use disorders. She is the recent recipient of a career award from NIAAA, which has been approved for funding and will be awarded in August to study integrated behavioral treatments for smoking and heavy drinking. Dr. Fucito will conduct this research under the mentorship of Dr. O'Malley and will continue to serve as a staff psychologist at the Substance Abuse Treatment Unit of the Connecticut Mental Health Center.

Joseph Goulet, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Joseph Goulet received a PhD in epidemiology from the Yale School of Public Health. He is director of biostatistics and methodology for the VHA funded Pain Research, Informatics, Medical comorbidities, and Education (PRIME) Center, which promotes access, continuity, and sustainability of safe and effective interventions for pain among Veterans. He also serves on: the Veterans Aging Cohort Study, a multi-site prospective cohort study examining the role of alcohol use and abuse on outcomes among Veterans with HIV; the Women Veterans Cohort Study, which examines gender-associated differences in health care utilization and outcomes among OEF/OIF Veterans, and; the Northeast Program Evaluation Center, which has responsibility for evaluating VA's Office of Mental Health Services programs. His research examines the effects of psychiatric disorders and treatment on processes of care and outcomes for HIV, pain, and palliative care. His statistical interests are in latent class modeling and longitudinal methods.

Alicia Heapy, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Alicia Heapy received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Purdue University and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Health Psychology at VA Connecticut. She is the Associate Director of the Pain Research, Informatics, Medical comorbidities, and Education (PRIME) Center. The center's mission is to improve our understanding of the complex interactions between pain and associated chronic disease and to develop efficacious interventions that can reduce unnecessary pain and suffering and overall disease burden. Her research interests focus on empirically validated self-management treatments for chronic pain and increasing the availability of those treatments through technology.

Jolomi Ikomi, MD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Jolomi Ikomi came to Yale as a Fellow in Addictions after completing a residency in Psychiatry at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Prior to his arrival in the United States, Dr. Ikomi practiced in the United Kingdom and in Nigeria where he received his medical degree. He has a wide range of academic interests and he will serve as the Medical Director of the Substance Abuse Treatment Unit at CMHC.

Patricia Rosenberger, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Patricia Rosenberger came to Yale as an Associate Research Scientist in the School of Public Health where she worked with Jeannette Ickovics on psychosocial factors influencing surgical outcomes and Carlos Grilo on bariatric surgery outcomes. She joined VA as a research psychologist five years ago where she has conducted research on pain and obesity. She is currently Implementation Coordinator for the Pain, Research, Informatics, Medical comorbidities, and Education (PRIME) Center.

Carolyn Sartor, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Carolyn Sartor came to Yale from Washington University, where she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in behavior genetics and was on faculty for 3 years. She is the recent recipient of a career development award from NIAAA to study gene-environment interplay in the development of alcohol use disorders in women. She is conducting her K-award study under the mentorship of Stephanie O’Malley and Joel Gelernter and serving as a staff psychologist at the VA in the National Center for PTSD.

Melanie Scott, PsyD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Melanie Scott came to Yale as a pre-doctoral fellow in psychology and then completed a T32 National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) post-doctoral fellowship, where she worked with Dr. Samuel Ball and Dr. Caroline Easton on interventions for individuals with substance use disorders and domestic violence. She has joined the VA as the Admissions Coordinator of the Substance Abuse Treatment Program and has been appointed as a co-Director of the MIRECC post-doctoral fellowship.

Dongju Seo, PhD
Associate Research Scientist
Dr. Dongju Seo came to Yale as a postdoctoral associate in psychiatry and completed her training with Dr. Rajita Sinha. She has been working on research projects examining neurobiological mechanisms underlying stress, addiction and cognitive control utilizing brain imaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). She is also interested in conducting interdisciplinary research to help facilitate relapse prevention and the development of treatment strategies in clinical populations. She has joined the Department of Psychiatry as an associate research scientist and will continue her work at Yale Stress Center.

Keri Tuit, PsyD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Keri Tuit came to Yale University in 2002, completing a practicum in the Department of Psychiatry. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at Yale in 2005, followed by post-doctoral and associate research scientist appointments with Dr. Rajita Sinha. Dr. Tuit is a licensed clinical psychologist with extensive experience in the delivery of a wide range of clinical interventions with various populations. She currently facilitates and studies mindfulness based and healthy lifestyle interventions at the Yale Stress Center, while also directing the clinical and research activities of the Center. Her appointment as assistant professor will allow her to continue to expand this work.

Maria Veldhuizen, PhD
Associate Research Scientist
Dr. Maria Veldhuizen came to Yale after completing her PhD at Utrecht University in The Netherlands as a post-doctoral associate to work with Dr. Dana Small and Dr. Larry Marks on the psychophysics and neuroimaging of taste, odor, flavor and food. She will continue that work here in the Psychiatry department of the Yale School of Medicine and The John B Pierce Laboratory as an associate research scientist.

Kirsten M. Wilkins, MD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Kirsten Wilkins graduated from medical school and completed her psychiatry residency at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. In 2006, she completed a fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Wilkins worked at Yale and the VA CT Healthcare System before returning to the University of Oklahoma in 2008 to serve as a clinician-educator. Areas of clinical and research interest include cognitive disorders, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, mood disorders in late life, nursing home psychiatry, and the education of medical students and psychiatry residents. A member of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, she has spoken nationally on the evaluation and treatment of cognitive and behavioral symptoms of dementia and has co-authored several peer-reviewed publications on topics related to geriatric psychiatry. She will work at the VA in outpatient mood disorders and geriatric psychiatry.

Ke Xu, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Ke Xu was originally trained as a psychiatrist in Guangzhou Psychiatric Hospital in China and then came to the US to work in the Laboratory of Neurogenetics in National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, where she completed her post-doc and research fellow training in addiction genetics. She recently completed her psychiatric residency at Yale, where she was honored as the recipient of the Lustman Award for her research conducted during the residency, under the mentorship of Dr. Rajita Sinha at Yale Stress Center, on a genetic study of stress and addiction. She is joining the faculty as a recent recipient of a NIDA K12 career grant and will be located at the VA, where she is also working as a staff psychiatrist. She plans to continue her work in psychiatric genetics.