Current Residents

As an undergraduate at Columbia University, I majored in Biomedical Engineering. My formative experience working in the Biomaterials and Interface Tissue Engineering Lab paired with my passion to help patients motivated me to become a physician-scientist. I joined the MD/PhD program at Columbia’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and completed my thesis work in Dr. Kam Leong’s lab onhow dual-purpose nanomaterials that can deliver chemotherapy and bind to inflammatory damage associated molecular pattern (DAMPs) thereby mitigating the metastatic spread of breast cancer. My research was funded by an NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award in April 2021. As my desire to become a psychiatrist grew, I developed a novel research plan to test the influence of DAMP-scavenging nanoparticles on chemobrain side effects, particularly anxiety. My thesis work was awarded the Miriam Berkman Spotnitz Award in Oncology at Columbia’s medical school graduation in 2023. Going forward, I would like to conduct clinical research aimed at better understanding or improving treatments women’s mental and it’s incredible to have the opportunity to pursue this research at Yale.

Dr. Laelia Benoit is a Clinical Fellow (PGY-1) in the Solnit Integrated Training Program in Child, Adolescent, and Adult Psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center. She is a French and Brazilian Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist (fully trained in France) and came to the U.S. in 2021 to work as a Fulbright Visiting Research Scholar at the Yale Child Study Center. Dr. Benoit maintains her affiliation with the French NIH (Inserm, CESP, Centre de Recherche en Epidémiologie et Santé des Populations). Dr. Benoit is the co-director of QUALab, Qualitative and Mixed Methods Lab, a collaboration between the Yale Child Study Center (Dr. Andrés Martin), and the CESP (Dr. Bruno Falissard). Dr. Benoit's previous research focused on early intervention in psychosis, anxious school refusal, and access to care for minorities. Her current project assesses the impact of climate change on the mental health of children and adolescents in three countries (the US, Brazil, and France). Laelia Benoit favors citizen research approaches involving adolescents, their parents, professionals, and family support groups. Her teaching (Yale University, Universidade de São Paolo, University of Paris) focuses on qualitative methods for researchers and psychological and social science skills for caregivers and school professionals to help them support children's health and reduce inequities in health care. Professional honors: Fulbright (2021), Monahan Foundation (2021), Inserm Award (2016), Paris Public Hospital AP-HP Award (2016). Methods: Qualitative (Grounded theory), Social Science, Mixed-methods, Transcultural Keywords: Youth mental health, Climate Change, Access to care, School refusal, Migration, Early Intervention (Autism, Psychosis), Adoption. Books : "L'adolescent fragile, peut-on prédire en psychiatrie? (2016), "Phobie scolaire, retrouver le plaisir d'apprendre" (2020), "Infantisme" (2023). All publications. Researchgate

Amy was born and raised on Long Island, New York and graduated from Stony Brook University where she completed an honors thesis on taste processing in the gustatory cortex. She finished her MD/PhD at UMass Chan Medical School where her thesis work on understanding the role of the synaptic protein neurexin in serotonin signaling was supported by an F30 fellowship through the National Institute of Mental Health. Amy co-founded UMass MIND’s Community Intervention Program to work alongside community members with serious mental illness, local mental health organizations, and academic institutions. She co-developed the Food4Thought nutrition program and promoted creative expression for those living with serious mental illness and/or substance use disorders through arts-based programs. As a first-year psychiatry resident at Yale, Amy continues her passion for public psychiatry, community-based participatory efforts, mentorship, and stigma reduction. She currently leads the Public Psychiatry Interest Group and plans to continue her work in lifestyle and nutritional psychiatry to advocate for a healthier New Haven. She serves as one of the resident representatives of the Medical Student Education Committee and the representative of the Information Technology Committee on the Psychiatry Residents’ Association. Outside of work, Amy enjoys all things food, staying active, and spending time with friends and family.

Lala L. Forrest was born on the ancestral land of the Hewisedawi people, in Alturas, California. She is a citizen of the Pit River Nation in Northern California and a descendant of the Modoc and Wintu people. Lala was the first in her family to graduate from a university and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego. During this time she was an active member of the California Native American Research Center for Health program, where she nurtured her passions for healing and discovery by exploring the intersections of medicine and research. With an interest in health equity, Lala pursued the Postbac Enrichment Program at the National Institutes of Health after graduating college. With the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp technique, she studied insulin sensitivity and resistance to explain the physiological basis for health disparities in Asian and African American communities. After participating in the Post Baccalaureate Program at the University of California, San Francisco, and working as an emergency medical technician in New Haven, Connecticut, Lala matriculated into medical school at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University where she was awarded the Netter scholarship. While in medical school, Lala co-founded the Perspectives on Equity Advancement: Research and Learning Symposium where students receive grant funding to pursue DEI initiatives programs alongside a supportive mentorship team placement. With an interest in medical education, Lala served as the Assistant Editor for Trainee Engagement for the journal, Academic Medicine. She worked with Drs. Charles Odonkor and Erik Brodt to publish, "Representation of American Indian and Alaska Native Individuals in Academic Medical Training" in JAMA Network Open. In 2023, Lala received her Doctor of Medicine degree with a concentration in medical education and was a recipient of the "Excellence in Clerkship for Psychiatry." Currently, Lala is a We Are Healers Fellow and an active member of the Association of American Indian Physicians. She is interested in Indigenous mental health, the influence of structural racism on mental inequities, addiction medicine, child and adolescent psychiatry, and psychotherapy. Lala is also an athlete at Branford CrossFit, enjoys live music, attending the Yale Repertory Theatre, and playing with her dog, Tilly.

Simone graduated from Harvard College in 2016, where she received an A.B. in integrative biology. Her undergraduate thesis, which used diffusion tensor imaging to examine relationships between social functioning and white matter microstructural variation in typically developing children, was advised by Dr. Charles Nelson of Boston Children's Hospital and received the Thomas T. Hoopes prize. She now works on the Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials' Data Analytics and Acquisition Core analyzing EEG and eye-tracking data.

Henry Kietzman, MD, PhD, is a resident in Yale’s Neuroscience Research Training Program. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Swarthmore College with a B.A. in Neuroscience. He then enrolled in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Emory University. During medical school, he organized a resilience initiative to promote social connection and decrease burnout among medical students. He then transitioned to his dissertation work in the lab of Dr. Shannon Gourley, where he performed circuit-level analyses to understand how connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala allow social experiences to shape behavior in rodents. At Yale, he aims to continue using rodent models to understand the neural building blocks of social cognition, while developing new pharmacological and psychological interventions for those with mental illness focused on improving social connectedness. This dovetails with a vested interest in understanding new patient-centered treatments to decrease mental illness burden in LGBTQ+ individuals.

Songjun William (Will) Li, MD, PhD, is a psychiatry resident in Yale’s Neuroscience Research Training Program. He graduated from Emory University with a bachelors degree double majoring in music performance as well as neuroscience and behavioral biology. There, he studied the neurobiological basis of relational memory formation in the Rhesus macaque model under the guidance of Dr. Beth Buffalo. After college, he joined Dr. Leslie Ungerleider’s lab at the NIMH to investigate facial processing using as a post-bacc fellow. Will then moved to Boston, where he continued his studies at the Boston University School of Medicine, and completed his PhD dissertation with Dr. Ziv Williams at Mass General Hospital evaluating single-neuronal responses during complex social decision making in mice. His research has, thus far, revealed a putative executive mechanism in the prefrontal cortical network that allows animals to evaluate social information about others that can adaptively influence pro-social decisions, competitive effort, and sociability. Will's current research interests aim to build upon our understanding of how the brain processes and encodes socially motivated behaviors, uncovering the mechanisms that go awry in psychosocial disorders using rodent models, and exploring novel treatment options – such as neuromodulation and psychedelics – to restore behavioral function. He is also interested in optimizing digital tools and wearable technologies to detect and track psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, OCD, and PTSD.

Jada McMahon is a current psychiatry intern at Yale. She was born in Coney Island, NY and attended undergraduate and medical school in upstate New York. She currently serves on the Psychiatry Residents' Association as the PGY-1 representative on the Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) and the co-PGY-1 representative on the Graduate Educational Committee (GEC). Jada is passionate about criminal-legal system reform, reproductive justice, and other forms of legislative advocacy particularly as it pertains to BIPOC youth.

Alyssa Nielsen is a first-year psychiatry resident at Yale. She grew up in Pensacola, FL and attended Tulane University where she studied neuroscience and dance. As a part of a 7-year combined B.S.-M.D. program, she transferred to the University of Florida. In medical school, Alyssa was elected to serve as a student representative on the curriculum committee and was heavily involved with a free, student-run clinic network (Equal Access Clinic Network). She directed a weekly primary care site specializing in gender affirming therapy and established a monthly psychiatry clinic. At Yale, Alyssa serves on the Psychiatry Residents' Association as a member of the Medical Student Education Committee. She is passionate about community psychiatry, medical education, and investigating patients' and caregivers' perspectives of mental health care.

Abiba Salahou is a resident physician in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. She is a member of the national Gold Humanism Honor Society and a 2022-2023 Doximity Op-Med Writing Fellow. Her clinical interests include childhood trauma, racial trauma, and immigrant mental health. She also has an interest in medical education and serves as a mentor to premedical and medical students. She is passionate about community organizing, antiracism, restorative social justice work, and de-stigmatizing mental illness. She has presented her work at national conferences including the AAMC, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and AACAP. Her goal is to serve diverse communities as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. Abiba is currently enrolled in the Yale Young Physicians' Leadership Curriculum and serves as a mentor in the Yale Post Graduate Association MAP program.