Sapana R. Patel, PhD

Sapana R. Patel, PhD is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medical Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons where she presently serves as the Director of Implementation Science at the Center for Practice Innovations, Director of Services and Implementation Research at the Center for OCD and Related Disorders at Columbia Psychiatry and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Patel has expertise in community based participatory research and implementation science to design, implement, and evaluate evidence based behavioral health interventions across diverse healthcare contexts. Focusing on the underserved, she has examined novel service delivery models, scalable and sustainable training programs and implementation strategies to support implementation of evidence-based care, learning health system approaches, and digital health technology as methods to improve care for individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder, young adults who have recently experienced a first episode of psychosis and youth and Veteran service members at high risk for suicide. Dr. Patel has over twenty years of experience as Principal Investigator (PI) or Multiple PI on numerous state and federally funded projects, including those supported by National Institute for Mental Health, the Administration for Community Living, and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. As Director of Implementation Science at the Center for Practice Innovations (CPI), a nationally known intermediary organization supported by the New York State Office of Mental Health, she leads efforts to integrate practical implementation science approaches across CPI initiatives via consultation, mentorship, and building capacity for implementation research within CPI. Her work has contributed to the growing science of how intermediary organizations like CPI can support systems of care in delivering high-quality, accessible mental health services.