Maria A. Oquendo, M.D. is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University, and is Director of the Clinical Evaluation Core of the Conte Center for the Neurobiology of Mental Disorders. Her areas of expertise include the diagnosis, pharmacologic treatment and neurobiology of major depression, and bipolar disorder with a special focus on suicidal behavior.

Dr. Oquendo graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University and received her M.D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. She completed her residency in Psychiatry at the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic in the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center.

Dr. Oquendo is the Principal Investigator on an NIMH-funded high-risk study of suicide attempters with bipolar disorder, and on a prospective study of suicidal behavior in patients with affective and psychotic disorders. She is also a co-investigator on four other NIMH-funded research studies examining the neurobiology of suicidal behavior. She is the recipient of a grant from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for the study of serotonin transporter binding using PET in bipolar suicide attempters, nonattempters and healthy volunteers.

Dr. Oquendo also supervises residents and medical students at Columbia University. She is a peer reviewer for various psychiatric journals and grant proposals submitted to the NIMH. Dr. Oquendo is a member of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Society of Hispanic Psychiatry, Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, Association of Women Psychiatrists and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, on which she also functions as an examiner. She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Dr. Oquendo has authored or co-authored over 60 articles and chapters. She is the recipient of several awards including Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (1993); Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill for Commitment to Multicultural and Underserved Communities (2002); Travel Award from American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (2003); and the Marian Butterfield Early Career Psychiatrist Award from the Association of Women Psychiatrists (2004).

Barbara Stanley, Ph.D.

Ainsley Burke, Ph.D. is a Research Scientist in the Department of Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. She is the Director of Training and Supervising Psychologist for the psychology staff for the Clinical Evaluation Core of the Silvio O. Conte Center for the Neurobiology of Mental Disorders.

Dr. Burke graduated from the University of Michigan in 1988 with a B.A. in psychology. She received a Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 1997 from the New School for Social Research after completing her internship at the Brooklyn V.A. Medical Center.

Dr. Burke trains and supervises the psychologists on numerous diagnostic assessments. Her particular areas of diagnostic expertise include major depression, bipolar disorder, and suicidal behavior. In addition to her diagnostic work she also trains and supervises psychologists to conduct a manualized family therapy for bipolar patients. She also coordinates a study which is examining the familial transmission of early onset suicidal behavior.

She is the co-author of several articles on depression and suicide and is a member of the American Psychological Association.

Beth S. Brodsky, Ph.D. is Assistant Clinical Professor of Medical Psychology in Psychiatry at Columbia University, and a research scientist in the Silvio O. Conte Center for the Neurobiology of Mental Disorders, at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Department of Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology. Her areas of expertise include research and psychotherapeutic treatment of self-destructive behavior in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Dr. Brodsky received her B.S. degree from Cornell University, and her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Graduate Faculty of the New School University in 1993. She completed her internship and a postdoctoral fellowship at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, Westchester Division.

Dr. Brodsky is co-investigator on an NIMH-funded prospective study of suicidal behavior in Borderline Personality Disorder, and on a grant funded to principal investigator Dr. Barbara Stanley by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention comparing suicide attempters with borderline personality disorder and with major depressive disorder. She has published numerous articles and chapters on the topics of suicidal risk and treatment of suicidal behavior in borderline personality disorder. Dr. Brodsky supervises psychology interns and teaches psychiatry residents. She is a peer reviewer for numerous psychiatric journals, and is a member of the American Psychological Association and the New York State Psychological Association.

Leo Sher, M.D. is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University, and a Research Psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Department of Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology. His areas of expertise include the diagnosis, treatment and neurobiology of depression, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and alcoholism.

Dr. Sher graduated summa cum laude from the Ukrainian National Medical University in Kiev, Ukraine. He did his residency in Psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Glen Oaks, New York, and the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Sher also completed a Research Fellowship in psychobiology of mood disorders at the National Institute of Mental Health.

Dr. Sher is the principal investigator on a study of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function in depressed patients with or without a history of suicidal behavior, and healthy volunteers. He is also involved in a high-risk study of suicide attempters with bipolar disorder; a treatment study of suicidal and self-injurious behavior in borderline personality disorder; and a number of other research studies examining the neurobiology of mood disorders and suicidal behavior.

Dr. Sher has authored or co-authored over 200 scientific publications and is a peer reviewer for a number of psychiatric journals. Dr. Sher is the recipient of several Awards including the Charlotte Marker Zitrin, M.D. Award from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Long Island Jewish Medical Center for the Best Scientific Paper (1997) and the Finalist Award of The Endocrine Society and Pfizer, Inc. International Award for Excellence in Published Clinical Research in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (2004).

Michael F. Grunebaum, M.D. is Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University, and is a research psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Department of Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology. His areas of expertise include the diagnosis and treatment of mood disorders, with a special focus on suicidal behavior.

Dr. Grunebaum graduated magna cum laude and phi beta kappa from Harvard College in 1983 and received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1991. He completed his residency in psychiatry at the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic, New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, in 1995. He completed the Public Psychiatry Fellowship at Columbia University-New York State Psychiatric Institute and received his board certification in psychiatry in 1996.

Dr. Grunebaum is a recipient of a 2004 NARSAD Young Investigator award to conduct a randomized controlled study comparing two medications for adults with Major Depressive Disorder and a history of suicide attempt. He is a research psychiatrist on other federally funded clinical studies of mood disorders and suicidal behavior in the Department of Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology.

Dr. Grunebaum teaches psychiatry residents and medical students at the College of Physicians and Surgeons-Columbia University. He is a peer reviewer for psychiatric journals and a member of the American Psychiatric Association and Society of Biological Psychiatry. He has authored or co-authored 17 articles in peer reviewed psychiatric journals.

Ramin V. Parsey M.D. Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University and the Associate Director of the Brain Imaging Core of the Silvio O. Conte Center for the Neurobiology of Mental Disorders, at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Department of Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology. His areas of expertise include magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography (PET) studies in mood disorders.

Dr. Parsey graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Maryland. His Ph.D. was from the Department of Biophysics on a project where he studied the electrophysiological alterations of calcium channels in pancreatic beta cells. He completed his residency in Psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center and a fellowship in Affective Disorders at Columbia University.

Dr. Parsey is the principal investigator of two National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders grants and a National Institute of Health research training grant. He is a mentor for an American Foundation of Suicide Prevention grant. He is also a co-investigator on four other NIMH-funded research studies examining the neurobiology of affective disorders and suicidal behavior and development of novel radiotracers for PET imaging.

Jill M. Harkavy Friedman, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, in Psychiatry, at Columbia University.  She is a co-principal investigator on a project of the Conte Neuroscience Center for the Study of the Neurobiology of Suicidal behavior and an investigator for the Clinical Evaluation Core of that Center.  Dr. Harkavy Friedman is a past grant recipient from the National Institute of Mental Health and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for the study of suicidal behavior in schizophrenia. Dr. Harkavy Friedman was involved in the development of the Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies, the current primary diagnostic interview for psychiatric genetic studies. Dr. Harkavy Friedman's primary focus has been on suicidal behavior among adolescents and adults as well as psychiatric diagnosis and assessment and research methodology.

Dr. Harkavy Friedman graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and received her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Florida.  She completed her clinical internship at Yale University-Yale New Haven Hospital in 1984.  Dr. Harkavy Friedman is on the Scientific Advisory Council and the Ethics Committee for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. She is an investigator on several NIMH funded research grants studying suicidal behavior as well as those studying schizophrenia.  She has authored or co-authored over 60 articles, reviews and chapters and is a reviewer for several psychiatric journals. She teaches the Research Methodology Course for the Psychiatric Fellowships at Columbia University. In 2003 Dr. Harkavy Friedman received the Alexander Gralnick award from the American Association for Suicidology. She is a member if the American Psychological Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Psychopathological Association.