Qualifications and Expertise:
Though I have focused my professional practice in psychiatry, I have received training in both Psychiatry and Family Practice, and have considerable training in brain-based medication treatment (psychopharmacology), general medical issues (I served as the assistant director of the consult-liaison psychiatry service at UCSD), and psychotherapy (I have extensive training in short-term dynamic therapy). In the mental health field, I have particular experience in addiction (as medical director of an outpatient substance abuse program), mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and ADD/ADHD. I have extensive experience as a QME (qualified medical examiner) for fitness for duty examinations, and have served as an expert witness in forensic psychiatry. I am a board certified Addiction Psychiatrist.
Ketamine, Oxytocin, and Brain-Based Illness
Furthermore, at the University of California, San Diego, I have participated as an investigator in dozens of clinical research trials in adult ADHD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and anxiety.
I have years of experience treating patients with ketamine, wrote a protocol for IV ketamine use with a colleague, and am uniquely qualified to administer this particular treatment.
I was a principal investigator in the UCSD Oxytocin Clinical Research Program. I have also authored or co-authored peer-reviewed articles on ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, trauma, and anxiety, and I am actively involved in teaching student doctors and other community professionals on these subjects. With two other colleagues, I designed and serve as a faculty member in a nationally recognized program that teaches physicians in practice about healthy relationships in health care.
Selected Awards:
- Voted as one of “San Diego’s Top Doctor’s” by peers in 2009-2013, 2015.
- Teaching awards from psychiatric residents: 2008, 2010
- Teaching award from UCSD medical students: 2008
Professional Societies:
- American Psychiatric Association Fellow
- American Medical Association Member
- Diplomate, American Board of Psychiatry/Neurology
- San Diego Psychiatric Society Member
- Society for Neuroscience Member
- Society of Biological Psychiatry Member