Background:
Dr. Weissman has a Ph.D. in Chronic Disease Epidemiology from Yale University, 1974 and clinical training. She was a Professor of Psychiatry and Epidemiology at Yale and Director of the Depression Research Unit before coming to Columbia, where she is now a Professor of Epidemiology and Psychiatry and Chief of the Division of Clinical and Genetic Epidemiology at New York State Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Weissman is a faculty member in Epidemiology at the School of Public Health as well as in the Department of Psychiatry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia. She is the Director of a core in Psychotherapy Research as part of the Center grant in Child Psychiatry. Her office is at New York State Psychiatric Institute, just next door to the School of Public Health.
We have numerous fellows (both MD and PhD) and graduate (MPH and PhD) students joining us. The research represented in our Division focuses on depression and anxiety disorders but runs the gamut from descriptive epidemiology in primary care; children at high risk for depression (a three generation study involving MRI and genetic studies); genetic linkage and/or sibpair studies of panic disorder, social anxiety disorder and major depression; statistical genetics methods (Susan Hodge and David Greenberg); health services research (Mark Olfson); and design and conduct of psychotherapy trials (Laura Mufson and Lena Verdeli).
We have large previously collected data sets from longitudinal (15-20 year studies) and community samples, which can be accessed for thesis.
In the last 2 years, several new studies were started - a study of bipolar disorder in primary care; a study of the impact of September 11th on psychiatric symptoms and utilization in primary care; and a multi-site study examining the impact of successful treatment of maternal depression on psychopathology in offspring and a Program Project grant in collaboration with Eric Kandel, Rene Hen, Abby Fyer trying to identify genes involved in anxiety disorders. We have received an NIMH minority supplement for our high risk study and welcome more. There is a good opportunity for a supplement in the new study.
Selected publications
