BRANCH STAFF
Elizabeth Adeyemi, BA, is a 2010 graduate of Spelman College with a major in Biology and a minor in Environmental Studies. As a Post-Baccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award recipient, she is a coordinator of the down syndrome study in the Child Psychiatry Branch/ Brain Imaging Unit of the NIMH. Her academic goal is to attain a MD/PhD dual degree in neuroscience.
Aaron Alexander-Bloch, AB, MPhil, is an MD/PhD student co-supervised by Jay Giedd and by Ed Bullmore at the University of Cambridge. Supported by the NIH-Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program, his training is split between Cambridge, the Child Psychiatry Branch and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Jonathan Blumenthal, MA, is a Research Psychologist. His degree is from the University of Pittsburgh, where he was the Project Coordinator for several alcohol and ADHD studies. He currently focuses on automated measures of brain development using MRI in collaboration with Montreal Neurological Institute and is the Project Coordinator of the Study of Sex Chromosome Variations, including Klinefelter Syndrome and Triple X Syndrome. In addition, he is Coordinating the Kallmann Syndrome collaboration with NICHD and Harvard's Massachusetts General Hospital.
Liv Clasen, PhD, is a graduate of the Clinical Psychology program at The George Washington University. She is the coordinator of the Klinefelter Syndrome study and is also the Data Manager for the branch.
Christopher David, BA, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Cornell University in 2010 studying Biopsychology with a concentration in the Neurobiological Basis of Behavior. As an NIMH Intramural Research Training Award Recipient, his work has focused on the neurodevelopment of rare positive symptoms found in childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS). He is currently conducting an fMRI study to explore intermediary phenotypes in the siblings of COS patients. He plans to continue his studies in both psychiatric medicine and neuroimaging research at the doctoral level in the following year.
David I. Driver, MD, received his Bachelors of Science in Biology from The University of Texas at San Antonio and obtained his Doctorate in Medicine from The University of Sint Eustatius School of Medicine. He completed his General Adult Psychiatry residency at Georgetown University Hospital and his Child and Adolescent Psychiatry subspecialty training through the National Institute of Mental Health/Children¹s National Medical Center Combined Program. He joined the Child Psychiatry Branch in 2011 and currently a clinical fellow working on the childhood onset schizophrenia project.
Jay N. Giedd, MD, is a practicing child and adolescent psychiatrist and Chief of Brain Imaging at the Child Psychiatry Branch where he conducts research on the biological basis of cognitive, emotional and behavioral disorders. He is board certified in General, Child and Adolescent, and Geriatric Psychiatry.
Additional Information
Pete Gochman, MA, is a Research Psychologist. His is currently working on the neuropsychological aspects of Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia. He also manages the Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia database.
Nitin Gogtay, MD, received his MD from BJ Medical College in India in 1986 where he also received formal training in pathology and neuropathology. Subsequently, Dr. Gogtay spent 8 years in basic neuroscience research at Karolinska Institute in Sweden, Sydney University in Australia, and later at National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, before joining Psychiatry Residency at Cornell. He joined the Child Psychiatry Branch in 2000 and is currently a staff physician working on the childhood onset schizophrenia project. Dr. Gogtay's primary interest is in studying the normal and abnormal brain development, along with the clinical phenomenology and neurobiology of childhood onset psychotic disorders.
Deanna Greenstein, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist. She is currently working on both the ADHD and Childhood Onset Schizophrenia projects.
François M. Lalonde, Ph.D. is a Staff Scientist working on the advancement of MRI neuroimaging methods and technologies that can be applied to study brain development and decline through the lifespan. Majoring in psychobiology, he graduated with distinction from McGill University, and then obtained an M.A. from The George Washington University and his Ph.D from Howard University, both in neuropsychology. He is a licensed psychologist with expertise in geriatric as well as pediatric neuropsychological assessment. He holds the rank of Captain in the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service and is a decorated veteran of deployments to Mississippi during the aftermath of hurricane Katrina among others.
Nancy Raitano Lee, Ph.D. joined the branch as a postdoctoral fellow in 2007. She earned her doctoral degree in child clinical psychology with a specialization in developmental cognitive neuroscience from the University of Denver. She contributes to Dr. Giedd’s studies of children and young adults with typical development and different forms of sex chromosome variation.
Harrison McAdams, BA, is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where he was a biological basis of behavior major. He is currently a Post-Baccalaureate Research Fellow in the Child Psychiatry Branch using functional brain imaging to investigate childhood-onset schizophrenia.
Rachel Miller, LCSW, PhD, is a Research Social Worker with a degree from Adelphi University . She has 13 years experience with NIMH sponsored studies of first episode schizophrenia and is the author of numerous publications focusing on the psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia. Dr. Miller joined our staff in 2007.
Kathryn Mills, BA, is a pre-doctoral research fellow under the University College London-NIMH joint doctoral program in neuroscience. She is currently examining the genetic and pubertal influences on structural and functional changes in the brain across development under the supervision of Jay Giedd (NIMH) and Sarah-Jayne Blakemore (UCL).
Judith L. Rapoport, MD, is Chief of the Child Psychiatry Branch, NIMH. She is a graduate of Harvard Medical School. She did her clinical and research training at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center (Boston), Children's Hospital (DC), and the Karolinska Hospital (Stockholm). Her research has focused on diagnosis in child psychiatry, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Over the past decade, her group has been studying the clinical phenomenology, neurobiology and treatment of Childhood Onset Schizophrenia. She is an author or coauthor of over 300 scientific papers, a member of the Institute of Medicine, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Armin Raznahan, MD, PhD, is a Staff Scientist who works within Dr Giedd's group. He is interested in understanding how sex and genetic factors influence brain development, and using these insights to inform neurobiological research into autism and learning disability. He has a degree in Medicine and a PhD in Biological Psychiatry from King’s College University London, UK. He has completed residencies in pediatrics and psychiatry, and a specialist fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry. He is a member of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Heath (MRCPCH), and Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych).
Wendy Sharp, LCSW-C, is a Research Social Worker with a degree from Howard University. She specializes in ADHD and has been with the Child Psychiatry Branch since 1995.
Philip Shaw, BA, MB BCh, PhD is a staff clinician who leads the Branch’s research into attention-deficit/hyperacitivity disorder. He has degrees in Experimental Psychology and Medicine from Oxford University, England and a PhD from King's College, University of London. He has completed residencies in internal medicine and psychiatry in the UK and is a Member of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Psychiatrists.
Michael Stockman, BS, Biomedical Engineering with a specialty sequence in Computing and Imaging from Case Western Reserve University. He is currently helping with functional MRI studies of normal development and childhood onset schizophrenia. In the future he plans to pursue a PhD in Neuroscience.
Cheryl Bailey Turner, M.A. is a graduate of Amherst College and American University. She is a psychologist with a background in neuropsychological assessment. Ms. Turner is a patient research coordinator involved in recruiting patients and healthy volunteers, as well as performing neuro-cognitive evaluations with research participants in the Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia study.
Nora S. Vyas, PhD, is a Lindemann Trust postdoctoral research fellow, working on the childhood onset schizophrenia project. Dr Vyas joined the Child Psychiatry Branch in 2010 as recipient of the Fulbright Distinguished Scholar Award. Her research interest is studying normal and abnormal brain development, and the pathophysiology of childhood onset schizophrenia using cognitive, genetic, and neuroimaging techniques. She is interested in studying resting-state brain networks in childhood onset schizophrenia. She obtained PhD in Psychiatry from King's College, University of London, UK. She is Associate Editor of Frontiers in Child and Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry. She is an Associate Fellow and Chartered Scientist of the British Psychological Society. She has received various international/national awards in the early stages of her career for her research on schizophrenia including the Young Researcher Award, India (2008), Young Scientist Award, France (2009), Asian Achievers' Award for Achievement in Healthcare, UK (2010), Fulbright Distinguished Scholar Award US-UK Fulbright Commission (2010-11), and the Lindemann Trust Award, English-Speaking Union of the Commonwealth (2011-12).
Brian Weisinger, BS, is Undergraduate Scholarship Program recipient and a recent graduate of the University of Houston earning a Baccalaureate of Science degree in Psychology with a minor in Sociology. Presently he is conducting research examining childhood-onset schizophrenia focusing on the neurodevelopment of the disease. After his training, Brian expects to move on to a M.D. program and become a psychiatrist.