Alastair Ager, PhD, has worked in the field of international health and development for nearly 25 years, after originally training in psychology at the Universities of Keele, Wales and Birmingham in the UK. He was head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Malawi from 1989 until 1992 and Foundation Director of the Institute of International Health and Development at Queen Margaret University, Edinburg [ ... ]
Jessica Alexander has over 12 years experience working in humanitarian affairs across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East for the United Nations and various NGOs. Professor Alexander is former a Fulbright Scholar who received the award to research child soldiers in Sierra Leone in 2006. She has received a Master of Public Health and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University and is currently pursuing h [ ... ]
Dr. Neil Boothby is an internationally recognized expert and advocate for children affected by war and displacement. As a senior representative of UNICEF, UNHCR and Save the Children, he has worked for more than 20 years with children in crises in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. As director of the Program on Forced Migration and Health at the Mailman School, his research focuses on the psychosocial conseq [ ... ]
Sayantani DasGupta is an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics and a faculty member of the Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University. She also teaches in the graduate program in Health Advocacy at Sarah Lawrence College, and is a prose faculty member in the summer writing conference Writing the Medical Experience at Sarah Lawrence College. Dr. DasGupta is co-author of The Demon Slayers and Othe [ ... ]
Dr. Alwyn Cohall is director of the Harlem Health Promotion Center, one of 33 national Prevention Research Centers established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to build bridges between academia and vulnerable communities. Dr. Cohall is board-certified in both pediatrics and adolescent medicine and has a private practice in adolescent health. Dr. Cohall serves as the director of Project Stay (Services to A [ ... ]
Ruth L. Fischbach is a faculty member both in the Department of Psychiatry at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Department of Sociomedical Sciences at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Prior to arriving at Columbia, Dr. Fischbach served from 1998 to 2001 as Senior Advisor for Biomedical Ethics in the Office of the Director of Extramural Research at the National Insti [ ... ]
Mindy Thompson Fullilove, MD, is a research psychiatrist at New York State Psychiatric Institute and a professor of clinical psychiatry and public health at Columbia University. She was educated at Bryn Mawr College (AB, 1971) and Columbia University (MS, 1971; MD 1978). She is a board certified psychiatrist, having received her training at New York Hospital-Westchester Division (1978-1981) and Montefiore Hospital (1981- [ ... ]
Sandro Galea, MD, MPH, DrPH, is a physician and an epidemiologist. Dr. Galea is interested in the social production of health of urban populations. His work explores innovative cells-to-society approaches to population health questions. His primary focus is on the causes of brain disorders, particularly common mood-anxiety disorders and substance abuse. He has long had a particular interest in the consequences of mass tra [ ... ]
Cassie Landers holds a Doctorate in Education, as well as a Master's in Public Health, both from Harvard University. Since 1985, Dr. Landers has worked with UNICEF and other international agencies to promote policies and programs in support of young children and their families. Over the past 20 years, she has provided technical assistance and support to child development programs in over 60 countries throughou [ ... ]
Dr. Unni Krishnan Karunakara was appointed International President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in June 2010. His first engagement in MSF was in 1995, when he was tasked with setting up a tuberculosis control programme in Jijiga, Ethiopia. He went on to become Medical Coordinator for MSF's activities in Azerbaijan, providing basic health care services to forced migrants from Nagorno-Karabakh, in Brazil [ ... ]
Dr. Bruce Link is a research scientist at New York State Psychiatric Institute, in addition to his responsibilities at the Mailman School. Dr. Link's interests are centered on topics in psychiatric and social epidemiology. He has written on the connection between socioeconomic status and health, homelessness, violence, stigma, and discrimination. Currently he is conducting research aimed at understanding health disparitie [ ... ]
Dr. Ellen Lukens has extensive experience in the development, application and evaluation of educational and psychoeducational interventions designed to improve quality of life and outcomes for adolescents, adults, and families faced with trauma, mental illness, or other significant life challenges. She is involved in adapting these techniques both in the context of applied clinical and community practice and as a te [ ... ]
Therese McGinn, Associate Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, is principal investigator of the Reproductive Health Access, Information and Services in Emergencies (RAISE) Initiative. Previously and also at the Mailman School, she served as deputy director of the Averting Maternal Death and Disability Program (AMDD) and as principal investigator of [ ... ]
Dr. Yuval Neria is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at Columbia University, Departments of Psychiatry and Epidemiology, and Director of Trauma and PTSD at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He received his BA degrees in Philosophy and Political Science and his MA degree in Clinical Psychology from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and his PhD in Psychology from Haifa University, Israel (1994). He was on faculty of [ ... ]
Nancy Northup is the President of the Center for Reproductive Rights, a global human rights organization that uses constitutional and international law to secure women's reproductive freedom. The Center has won groundbreaking cases before federal and state courts, U.N. committees, and regional human rights bodies, such as the European Court of Human Rights. Working at the state, national, and international levels, the Cen [ ... ]
Les Roberts did a post-doctorate fellowship in epidemiology at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention where he worked for 4 years. In 1994, he worked as an epidemiologist for the World Health Organization in Rwanda during their civil war. Les was Director of Health Policy at the International Rescue Committee from Dec. 2000 until April of 2003. Les had led over 50 surveys in 17 countries, mostly measuring [ ... ]
Jack Saul, PhD, is a psychologist and family therapist, who has worked since the early 1980's in clinical and community settings creating programs that address the psychosocial needs of children and families suffering from domestic, urban, and political violence. Dr. Saul co-founded the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture in 1995 and was its clinical director until 1998 when he founded NYU School of Medici [ ... ]
Marni Sommer, DrPH, MSN, RN, has worked in global health and development on issues ranging from improving access to essential medicines to humanitarian relief in conflict settings. Dr. Sommer's particular areas of expertise include conducting participatory research with adolescents, understanding and promoting healthy transitions to adulthood, the intersection of public health and education, gender and sexual heal [ ... ]
Dr. Sormanti's work experience includes extensive clinical practice with children and families at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital in Boston, MA, where she specialized in bone marrow transplantation and bereavement. From September 2002 through August 2003 Dr. Sormanti served as the Clinical Program Director for a newly developed Project Liberty funded program that addressed the mental health [ ... ]
Catherine Stayton is the Director of the Injury Epidemiology Unit in the Bureau of Epidemiology Services at the New York City (NYC) Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). She oversees the Unit's Female Homicide and Injury Surveillance Systems. She is writing a report on Intimate Partner Violence that brings together multiple DOHMH data sources. Dr. Stayton co-chairs the agency's Domestic Violence Steering Commit [ ... ]
Michael Wessells, PhD, is Professor at Columbia University in the Program on Forced Migration and Health. A long time psychosocial and child protection practitioner, he is former Co-Chair of the IASC Task Force on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings. Recently, he was co-focal point on mental health and psychosocial support for the revision of the Sphere humanitarian standards. He has conduct [ ... ]
Marina Catallozzi, MD, is an assistant professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Clinical Population & Family Health at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons and the Heilbrunn Department of Population & Family Health in the Mailman School of Public Health. At New York-Presbyterian Hospital, she serves as the Director of the Adolescent Medicine Consult Service, the Medical Director of the Lang Youth M [ ... ]
Dr. Cerda's interests include the social epidemiology of risk behaviors and psychiatric disorders, particularly violence, substance abuse and depression, and the influence of massive disasters on risk behavior trajectories. Her current work looks at individual, family, peer and neighborhood influences on psychiatric comorbidity, and focuses on developing innovative methods to simultaneously measure the onset and accelerat [ ... ]
Lindsay Stark is an Associate Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health in Columbia University's Program on Forced Migration and Health. She has over a decade of experience leading applied research on protection of women and children in humanitarian settings. Dr. Stark's particular area of expertise is measuring sensitive and difficult-to-measure social phenomenon. Dr. Stark has led assessment and evaluatio [ ... ]
Dr. Irwin Redlener is a recognized national leader in disaster preparedness and the public health ramifications of terrorism and large-scale catastrophic events. He and his team have developed major programs to enhance public health and health systems readiness with respect to disasters. He has written and spoken widely on the response to Hurricane Katrina, U.S. readiness for pandemics and the concerns of children a [ ... ]
Dr. Leslie Davidson's primary research interests are disability in children; international child health, screening, and epidemiology; and prevention of accidents and violence, particularly intimate partner violence. She has worked in an international team that developed an efficient approach to screen children for disability in developing countries (The TQ)and, for five years, led the Central Harlem School Health Program, [ ... ]
Dr. Nabila El-Bassel provides significant national and international leadership to the global health agenda. Dr. El-Bassel is a Professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work and Director of the Social Intervention Group (SIG), which was established in 1990 as a multi-disciplinary center focusing on developing and testing effective prevention and intervention approaches and disseminating them to local, nationa [ ... ]
Dr. Wu is an Associate Director of the CUSSW Social Intervention Group and the Co-Director of the HIV Intervention Science Training Program for Racial/Ethnic Minority New Investigators. His practice experience includes direct clinical practice with individuals, couples, and groups with agencies serving primarily the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities; evaluation of violence prevention programs for pe [ ... ]
Paul S. Appelbaum, M.D., the Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine and Law, and Director, Division of Law, Ethics and Psychiatry at Columbia was previously A.F. Zeleznik Distinguished Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry; and Director, Law and Psychiatry Program, University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is currently Chair of APA's Committee on Judicial Action and a member of the Standing [ ... ]
Karestan Chase Koenen, M.A., Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and epidemiologist who uses a developmental approach to examine the interplay of genetic and environmental factors in the etiology of stress-related mental disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder and depression. She has published over 150 scientific papers and co-authored several books including Treating Survivors of Childhood Abuse: Psychoth [ ... ]
Dr. Michael Stone is a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia. His specialty is personality disorders - most especially "borderline personality disorder." But in recent years he has concentrated as well on the extremes of personality, as shown by persons who show antisocial, psychopathic, and sadistic traits. This led to an interest in the kinds of people committing murder - spanning the spectrum from jeal [ ... ]