Our Faculty

Dr. Weissman is Chief of the Division of Epidemiology at New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI). Her current research is on understanding the rates and risks of mood and anxiety disorders using methods of epidemiology, genetics, neuroimaging, and the application of these findings to develop and test empirically based treatments and prevention intervention. She directs a 3-generation study of families at high and low risk for depression who have been studied clinically for up to 25 years and who are participating in genetic and imaging studies. She directs a multi-center study to determine the impact of maternal remission from depression on offspring. She is participating in several studies of the genetics of mood and anxiety disorder. She directs a study of psychiatric disorders in a poor minority patient population in primary care. Along with her late husband, Gerald Klerman, she developed and tested interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT). Her book outlining the method has been translated into 5 languages. An international society of researchers and clinicians using IPT was formed several years ago. Her current interest is in bringing psychiatric epidemiology closer to translational studies in the neurosciences and genetics.

PhD, Yale University, 1974

University Affiliations:

• New York State Psychiatric Institute  Chief, Division of Clinical and Genetic Epidemiology
• Department of psychiatry college of physicians and surgeons  Professor

Additional Affiliations:

• Elected Fellow, New York Academy of Medicine, 2003 - present
• Scientific Advisory Board Panel Program for Diagnostic Improvements in Brain Disorders of Childhood, University of California, San Francisco, 2003 - present
• Elected to The Scientific Advisory Board of Mental Illness and Neuroscience Discovery Institute(MIND), 2002- present
• Elected to the Council of American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 1999-2002
• Elected president of the American Psychopathological Association,1998-1999
• Selected as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, United Kingdom, 1998

• Distinguished Scholar Award, Partnership for Gender-Specific Medicine, Columbia University, 2003
• Selected by New York Academy of Science as one of the areas outstanding women in science, 2000
• Selected by the New York Times June 22, 1997 as one of the 12 leaders in the U.S. in women's health
• NYS Office of Mental Health Research Award for Outstanding Contributions to Psychiatric Research, 1996
• Joseph Zubin Research Award, American Psychopathological Association, 1996

Selected Editorial Boards

• Current Psychiatry Reviews, Bentham Science Publishers Ltd, 2004
• American Journal of Psychiatry, 2002- present
• Archives of General Psychiatry, 1984- present

Survey of Primary Care Clinic in Manhattan
Dr. Weissman has studied the rates of psychiatric disorders and their detection and treatment in a primary care clinic serving a large Hispanic immigrant population.

genetics of mood and anxiety disorders
Dr. Weissman has several NIMH grants studying the genetics of depression,panic and/or social anxiety disorders .Two of the studies include MRI

Treatment of depression in Uganda
Dr. Weissman has trained lay therapists in Uganda. She also developed a manual, treatment protocol, and was involved in conducting a successful clinical trial on treatment of depression.

Countries: Uganda

Cross National Rates of Psychiatric Disorders
Dr. Weissman completed an epidemiological comparison of rates of psychiatric disorders in 10 countries (US, Canada, Puerto Rico, France, West Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Taiwan, Korea, and New Zealand).