Our Team
Our center is led by Helen Blair Simpson, MD, PhD, who is also a Professor of Psychiatry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University and an Attending Psychiatrist at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. Dr. Simpson is a world-renowned expert in OCD, trained in both the pharmacological and psychological treatment of this disorder. She leads an outstanding team of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and research coordinators. Between our therapists, we have decades of experience treating OCD and related disorders. Each is a specialist in OCD and can be considered among the best in the country.
Leadership
Helen Blair Simpson, MD, PhD
- Director
Since 1996, Dr. Simpson has worked in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic, first as a NIMH Research Fellow under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Liebowitz and now as an independent researcher and Director of the OCD Research Program. Her research is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and private foundations, such as the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation and National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders (NARSAD). Her interdisciplinary work ranges from clinical trials comparing the effects of medication and therapy in OCD to brain imaging studies examining the brain basis of OCD. As a specialist of OCD, the goal of her work is to improve the outcome of patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Sapana R. Patel, PhD
- Director of Services and Implementation Research
Dr. Patel is a licensed clinical health psychologist and mental health services researcher whose work focuses on the improvement of quality and access to care for individuals with serious mental illness. Her research focuses on:
- Improving behavioral health and the quality of behavioral health services for individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
- Advancing the study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of evidence-based practices into routine practice to improve the quality and effectiveness of health services (i.e., implementation science).
Dr. Patel leads the IMPACT-OCD initiative, a statewide workforce development program in collaboration with the Center for OCD and Related Disorders, Center for Practice Innovations and the New York State Office of Mental Health (NYS-OMH).
Stephanie Grimaldi, PhD
- Program Manager
Stephanie Grimaldi, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and clinical researcher in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Grimaldi earned her undergraduate degree from St. John’s University, master’s degree from Teachers College Columbia University, and PhD in clinical psychology from Hofstra University. She has trained in various research and clinical settings including the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Center for OCD and Related Disorders at NYSPI, Zucker Hillside Hospital at Northwell Health, and completed her predoctoral clinical internship at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center. Dr. Grimaldi has extensive experience implementing cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of OCD, anxiety disorders, and PTSD. Her research interests include optimizing evidence-based treatments for OCD and increasing access to evidenced-based treatments within community mental health. As Program Manager of the Center for OCD and Related Disorders, Dr. Grimaldi oversees the coordination of various lab projects and serves as a clinical researcher and supervisor.
Faculty & Staff
Kevin Brea, BS
- Data Manager
Kevin Brea is a Data Manager for the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at NYSPI. Kevin Brea has a bachelor’s in Public Health and Information Technology Management from Syracuse University where he focused on bridging the gap between technology and the healthcare system. Kevin has worked for FDA approved trials at Mount Sinai’s Icahn Medical school and NYC Health and Hospitals. Kevin Brea works across many projects to develop plans to gather quality data to answer specific research questions and designing data input systems focused on ease of use for patients.
Natalie Gukasyan, MD
- Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at CUMC
Natalie Gukasyan, MD is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center. After receiving her MD from Tulane University School of Medicine Dr. Gukasyan completed her internship and residency in psychiatry at Johns Hopkins. She went on to complete a NIDA T32 fellowship in behavioral pharmacology under the mentorship of Dr. Roland Griffiths, focusing on safety and efficacy of psilocybin-assisted therapy for people with mood and eating disorders. Before joining the faculty at Columbia, Dr. Gukasyan served as Medical Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, where her research also spanned other clinical aspects of psychedelics including placebo and psychotherapy effects in treatment, as well as medication interactions.
Dianne Hezel, PhD
- Clinical Researcher
Dianne Hezel, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist and a clinical researcher in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Hezel earned her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and her PhD in clinical psychology from Harvard University. She completed her clinical psychology internship at Cornell Medical College/New York Presbyterian Hospital where she received extensive training in cognitive behavioral therapy across a number of disorders. She has also received clinical training at various other sites including the Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, and the British Columbia Children’s Hospital. Dr. Hezel’s research interests focus on cognitive factors associated with OCD and anxiety disorders.
Olta Hoxha, MA
- Research Scientist
Olta Hoxha, MA is a licensed mental health counselor and administrator in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Olta earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Baruch College, CUNY. Olta is a former lab manager and research coordinator of the social and affective cognitive neuroscience Dynamic Learning Lab at Baruch College. She completed her clinical internship and training in cognitive behavioral therapy at Shiloh Consulting, LLC, which is the only OMH licensed Article 31 outpatient clinic to provide treatment to individuals who have been involved in diverse forms of intimate aggression in NYC. During her eight years at Shiloh Olta provided cognitive behavioral therapy to individuals involved in the criminal justice system focusing on relapse prevention and healing from extensive trauma. Olta served as internship supervisor to graduate student interns and coordinator of the internship program.
Eyal Kalanthroff, PhD
- Visiting Associate Professor
Eyal Kalanthroff, PhD is a visiting associate professor and licensed clinical psychologist in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. After completing his PhD in clinical psychology and neuropsychology at the Ben-Gurion University (Israel) Dr. Kalanthroff continued to complete his post-doctoral training in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Currently, Dr. Kalanthroff is an associate Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the head of the Clinical Neuropsychology Lab, and the head of the OCD research clinic at the university. Dr. Kalanthroff has received extensive training at various treatment facilities in Israel and in the US, working with patients with various anxiety disorders, PTSD, and OCD. Dr. Kalanthroff's research interest focus on:
- Understanding the underlying neuropsychological mechanisms of various psychopathologies (and transdiagnostic characteristics of psychopathologies)
- Understanding the underlying neuropsychological mechanisms of successful treatments (including psychotherapy and medication)
- Developing easy to use technological tools that train basic cognitive processes that in turn improve treatment outcomes.
Martha Katechis, BS
- Data Manager
Martha Katechis is a Data Manager for the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at NYSPI. Martha has a bachelor’s in information systems and over 10 years of experience in data. She works across the clinic’s teams developing plans to maintain data quality in research projects, building data relational systems, training staff, and helping research staff use data to tell a story.
Hannah McManus, BA
- Research Coordinator
Hannah McManus, BA is a Research Coordinator in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Hannah received her bachelor's degree in psychology from Cornell University in 2022. While pursuing her degree she also assisted in research at Boston Childrens Hospital in their chronic pain clinic. After graduating she worked at NYU Langone in their behavioral neuroscience lab focusing on avoidance behaviors in the PTSD population. Hannah is interested in pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology in the future.
Jeffrey M. Miller, MD
- Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry
Dr. Miller completed his residency in psychiatry as well as post-doctoral research training at Columbia University and The New York State Psychiatric Institute, where he is now Co-Director of Brain Imaging in the Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology Area, and Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry. His clinical and research interests focus on mood disorders, with goals of increasing our understanding of the neurobiology of mood disorders, predicting treatment outcome with medication and psychotherapeutic interventions, and developing more effective treatments, using functional brain imaging approaches.
Dr. Miller's research has been funded by The Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, The International OCD Foundation, The Paul Janssen Fellowship in Translational Neuroscience Research, and The National Institutes of Health.
Gabriella Restifo-Bernstein, BA
- Research Coordinator
Gabriella Restifo-Bernstein, BA is a Research Coordinator in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Gabriella received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and neuroscience from Skidmore College in 2022. While there, she completed a research thesis in behavioral neuroscience investigating the impact of the pharmacological manipulation of distress on altruistic behavior. Gabriella is interested in pursuing a PhD or MD in the future.
Arturo Sanchez-LaCay, MD, PhD, MA
- Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Arturo Sanchez-LaCay, MD, PhD, MA started at the Anxiety Disorders Clinic in 1987. He received his MD from the University of Puerto Rico, where he specialized in Child Psychiatry. He then received a Masters and PhD in Public Health in Epidemiology from Columbia University. Dr. Sanchez-Lacay is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry.
Abigail (Abby) Szkutak, MS
- Clinical Extern
Abigail (Abby) Szkutak, MS, is a clinical extern in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Abby earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the College of the Holy Cross in 2019, after which she served as a clinical research coordinator for 2 years at the Massachusetts General Hospital's Center for OCD and Related Disorders. She is currently a fourth-year Clinical Psychology PhD student at Teachers College, Columbia University in Dr. Douglas Mennin's Regulation of Emotion in Anxiety and Depression Lab. Abby's main program of research centers around leveraging affective neuroscience and psychophysiology techniques to:
- Better understand the connection between perseverative negative thinking (e.g., worry, rumination, self-criticism) and negative health outcomes
- Investigate mechanisms underlying the transdiagnostic treatment of PNT in adults
- Tailor the timing, content, and dosing of treatment components to match clients’ needs.
Michael Wheaton, PhD
- Clinical Researcher
Michael Wheaton, PhD is a clinical researcher in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. After completing his undergraduate degree at Cornell University, Dr. Wheaton received his PhD in clinical psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Wheaton completed his clinical psychology internship at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he received advanced training in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for adults and children with mood and anxiety disorders. Dr. Wheaton has received training at various other treatment facilities, including the UNC-Chapel Hill Anxiety and Stress Disorders Clinic and Central Regional Hospital in North Carolina. Dr. Wheaton's research interests focus on the mechanisms underlying OCD and related disorders and his doctoral dissertation, which explored the psychophysiological correlates of hoarding disorder, was supported by a research grant from the International OCD Foundation.
Collaborators
Kate Fitzgerald, MD
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University
Dr. Fitzgerald is the Ruane Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute (CU/NYSPI). As a child psychiatrist with clinical expertise in pediatric obsessive-compulsive and anxiety disorders, Dr. Fitzgerald's research is focused on developing better treatments to help kids. At CU, she conducts research to examine how an iPad-based cognitive training game combined with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) helps children with excessive worries and related repetitive behaviors (“obsessive compulsive disorder”). She has published extensively on these topics in general and child psychiatric journals. Her research has implicated alterations of neural substrate for task control in affected children, adolescents, and adults.
Rachel Marsh, PhD
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Dr. Marsh is the Irving Philips Professor of Medical Psychology (in Psychiatry) at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) where she directs the Cognitive Development and Neuroimaging Laboratory. She is also a Research Scientist VII at the New York State Psychiatric Institute where she directs the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) research program. Dr. Marsh is the recipient of multiple grants from the NIMH and has authored over 90 peer-reviewed publications. The overarching goal of her research is to investigate brain-behavior relationships in normal development and in the development of psychiatric disorders that arise during childhood and adolescence. Utilizing multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, behavioral, and clinical measures, her lab studies self-regulatory control processes -- how they change over development and following treatment in children diagnosed with psychiatric disorders, as well as how deficits in these processes are transmitted intergenerationally. Dr. Marsh is currently recruiting children with OCD for a clinical trial using iPAD-based games to enhance cognitive control and response to first-line treatment (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy).
- Edna Foa, PhD
University of Pennsylvania - Jeremy Tyler, PsyD
University of Pennsylvania - Euripedes Constantino, MD, PhD
University of Sao Paulo Medical School (USP), Brazil - Roseli Gedanke Shavitt, MD, PhD
University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine (USP), Brazil - Y.C. Janardhan Reddy, MD
National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, India - Odile A. van den Heuvel, MD, PhD
Amsterdam UMC (Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam), Netherlands - Dan Stein, MD, PhD
University of Cape Town, South Africa - Christine Lochner, PhD
Stellenbosch University, South Africa