Program for Anxiety Disorders director is named Alfred A. Messer Professor

Wendy K. Silverman, Ph.D., newly named as the inaugural Alfred A. Messer Professor of Child Psychiatry, focuses her research on developing and evaluating psychosocial interventions for child and adolescent anxiety disorders.

A child and adolescent clinical psychologist, Silverman became director of the Yale Child Study Center’s Program for Anxiety Disorders in January. She previously served on the psychology faculty at Florida International University and at the University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY). A graduate of Binghamton University, SUNY, Silverman received her M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Case Western Reserve University.

Silverman, who was president of Division 53 (Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology) of the American Psychological Association from 2006 to 2007, was chair of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Interventions Committee for Disorders Involving Children and their Families from 2007 to 2010.

She has published numerous scientific papers and chapters in the area of child and adolescent anxiety disorders, and is the author of five books on the topic. She has been principal investigator on NIMH research grants to develop and evaluate treatments for anxiety disorders in children and adolescents for the past 20 years, and has been an invited lecturer both nationally and internationally.

Currently co-editor of Clinical Psychology Review, Silverman previously served as editor of the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, as well as associate editor of other major journals in her field. She was recognized with an NIMH mid-career development award (K24) from 2005 to 2010 for her research as well as for her mentorship of trainees in both psychology and psychiatry.