Clinical Care Working Group Members

Cayetana Navarro (pronouns: she/her) joined the Department of Medicine's Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in June of 2021 as the inaugural program manager.  In this role, she helps guide existing projects and support the development and implementation of new ones that foster a diverse and inclusive department.  In addition to this formal role within the School of Medicine, Cayetana is co-chair of the Yale LGBTQ Affinity Group, co-chair of the Trans Advocacy and Social Groups, co-lead of the Clinical Care Working Group in the Dean's Advisory Council on LGBTQI+ Affairs, a co-founder of the Indigenous Leaders at Yale group, and a member of the Yale Latino Networking Group. Cayetana originally joined Yale as the web project manager in the YSM Office of Communications in July 2011, in charge of the website editing and building service.  In that role, she first focused on standardizing and streamlining these services to better meet the needs of YSM departments, programs, and faculty labs.  She concluded their time as Operations Deputy Director, engaging with departments, programs, and centers on special projects.She lives in Cheshire with her spouse (who completed his Internal Medicine residency at Yale), one incredibly spoiled Rottweiler, and one overly affectionate pit bull.

My mission is to be able to serve the most diverse population possible. My passion is with HIV care and I have been involved with patients throughout my entire medical career. My goal is to find solutions to help control and possible eradicate HIV from the community.

Layne Gianakos (pronouns: he/him) joined the School of Medicine in April 2022 as the first program coordinator for the Office of Health Equity Research. In this role, he focuses on community involvement and engagement.Prior to his career at Yale, Layne worked in the nonprofit sector addressing social determinants of health, especially for LGBTQIA populations.Hailing from Greater New Haven, Layne has dedicated his efforts towards advancing positive health outcomes for the local community.

Allister Hirschman PA-C is a physician assistant (PA) and a member of the Yale New Haven Hospital Surgical Float team, where he provides care for patients across surgical subspecialties. Allister's full-time employment with YNHH started in 2008 in the Adult Emergency Department, where he was named Employee of the Month (two times). During the Covid19 response, he provided coverage for ED and Hospitalist colleagues and was recognized with APPlause and Great Catch awards.A member of the Management Team of the Dean's Advisory Council on LGBTQI+ Affairs at the Yale School of Medicine, Allister also serves on the DAC's Clinical Care Working Group. He is a core member of the Women's and Gender Health Resident Education Program at Yale Medicine and has provided LGBTQ health education to students, residents, faculty, and staff throughout YNHHS. His clinical interests include addressing healthcare disparities, gender-affirming surgery, considerations of the patient experience, and healthcare provider wellness.In his free time, Allister hangs out in Westville with his dog, Batman

Dr. Amanda N. Kallen is Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Yale School of Medicine and a member of the Reproductive Scientist Development Program (RSDP). She obtained her medical degree at the University of Connecticut and completed her Residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Yale-New Haven Hospital, followed by a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the Yale School of Medicine. During her fellowship, she was accepted into the RSDP scholar program, an NIH-funded physician-scientist training program committed to training young obstetrician-gynecologists in biomedical science. Upon completion of her fellowship, she was recruited to join the Yale Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility.Dr. Kallen has published in leading scientific journals, and her current research program is focused on the investigation of the regulation of gene expression in granulosa cells. Her clinical interests include pediatric and adolescent gynecology and endocrinology, infertility, and premature ovarian insufficiency. She is the recipient of multiple awards for teaching, clinical excellence, and research, including the Yale University "Resident of Excellence" award, the North American Menopause Society / Teva Medical Resident Excellence Award, the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) Resident Reporter award, the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics Resident Scholar award.Dr. Kallen is highly active with the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), currently serving on the Executive Board as the national Junior Fellow Congress Advisory Council Chair. She is also a graduate of ACOG's Robert Cefalo Leadership Institute. Additionally, she plays an active role in medical student and resident education and serves as a faculty mentor for the Yale medical student Ob/Gyn Interest Group. Lastly, she serves as an Interactive Associate for Fertility & Sterility and a reviewer for multiple journals, and is a member of the ASRM Women's Council.

I am the Director and co-founder of the Yale Pediatric Gender Program (YPGP), an interdisciplinary team that provides services for transgender and gender expansive (TGE) youth and families in Connecticut. The team includes professionals in the fields of psychology, endocrinology, psychiatry, gynecology, reproductive medicine, medical ethics and law. Our mission is to provide comprehensive, interdisciplinary, family-centered care for children, adolescents and young adults questioning their assigned gender and/or seeking gender-affirming consultation and treatment in a compassionate, respectful and supportive environment. This program is regionally well-regarded, serving clients from all 8 counties in the state, as well as 4 states outside of Connecticut. My contribution to the educational mission of Yale’s School of Medicine focuses on teaching trainees in clinical and research training programs about (a) trauma-informed care, (b) psychosexual development, and (c) gender development. Teaching occurs through the delivery of clinical services, mentoring of clinical and research trainees, clinical supervision, and lectures offered in graduate courses and topical seminars coordinated by other faculty members. I have been lucky to mentor and supervise many students in the departments of Psychiatry, the Child Study Center, the School of Public Health and the Divinity School during my tenure at Yale.

John Pachankis (he/him) is the Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Public Health and directs Yale’s LGBTQ Mental Health Initiative, which serves as a home for scholarship devoted to understanding and improving the mental health of LGBTQ populations in the US and around the world.  His NIH-funded research program examines the efficacy of LGBTQ-affirmative mental health interventions delivered via novel technologies, in diverse settings, and across the spectrum of the LGBTQ community.  These treatments have shown often-times strong and sustained reductions in depression, anxiety, suicidality, substance use, and HIV risk across several randomized controlled trials.  He has published 150+ scientific papers on LGBTQ mental health and stigma and co-edited the Handbook of Evidence-Based Mental Health Practice with Sexual and Gender Minorities published by Oxford University Press. You can learn more about his research at https://medicine.yale.edu/lgbtqmentalhealth/

Chris Pittenger earned his MD and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University, where his graduate work was done with Nobel Prize recipient Eric Kandel. He returned to Yale University, his undergraduate alma mater, for residency and research training in psychiatry in 2003. He joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2007 and is now a tenured Associate Professor and Assistant Chair for Translational Research in the Department of Psychiatry .During his Ph.D. studies in basic neurobiology, he became fascinated by the brain's ability to go on autopilot -- to perform complex series of actions or thoughts, after sufficient rehearsal, with almost no conscious effort. Then, during his clinical training, he recognized how this process, when disrupted by disease, can lead to the maladaptive and disruptive automaticity seen in many neuropsychiatric disorders. His research, both with patients and in animal models, aims to elucidate the mechanisms of learned automatic behaviors and to better understand the consequences when they go awry, with the ultimate goal of developing new understandings and better treatments for a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions.Dr. Pittenger's research and clinical work have been acknowledged by a number of prestigious awards, including grant funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke, NARSAD, the Tourette Syndrome of America, the Doris Duke Charitable Trust, and other organizations.  He has won a number of honorific awards, including from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Society for Neuroscience, the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American College of Psychiatrists. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the International OCD Foundation and Chair of both their Grant Review Committee and their Annual Research Symposium Planning Committee.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Neurological Association.