Comprehensive Care Center for Eating Disorders

Overall Program Director

Evelyn Attia, MD
Director
Joint Program for Eating Disorders

New York-Presbyterian Hospital and New York State Psychiatric Institute

Weill Cornell Medical Center and Columbia University Medical Center
Phone: 212-543-5923
Fax: 212-543-5607
Email: ea12@columbia.edu

Evelyn Attia, MD (NYSPI) The identified program director, Evelyn Attia, MD, has been working with eating disorder patients, and administrating clinical and research programs at NYSPI since she completed her training in psychiatry in 1990. Dr. Evelyn Attia is Director of The Joint Program for Eating Disorders at NYSPI/NYPH and a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons and Weill Cornell Medical College. Since starting in this position in 1999, Dr. Attia has obtained 3 private industry and 3 NIH-funded grants to study biology and treatment of anorexia nervosa.

Local Program Directors

Martin Fisher, MD
Division of Adolescent Medicine
Schneider Children's Hospital
Phone: 516-465-3270

Martin Fisher, MD (SCH) Dr. Fisher is Chief of the Division of Adolescent Medicine at SCH and Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at New York University Medical School. He evaluates 2-3 new patients per week, follows several hundred patients with eating disorders per year, and manages the inpatient service two months per year. He is a Past President of the Society of Adolescent Medicine, has served on the Committee on Adolescence of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Adolescent Medicine sub-board of the American Board of Pediatrics. He is the lead author of the American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement on "Identifying and treating eating disorders."

Evelyn Attia, MD
Director
Eating Disorder Programs
New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College
White Plains, NY
Phone: 914-997-5700

Director

Eating Disorder Programs

New York State Psyciatric Institute/Columbia University Medical Center

New York, New York 10032

Phone: 212-543-5739

Evelyn Attia, MD has been working with eating disorder patients, and administrating clinical and research programs at NYSPI since she completed her training in psychiatry in 1990. In addition to overseeing The Eating Disorders Clinic at NYSPI/CPMC, she is the Director of the joint program in eating disorders at NewYork Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division, and on the faculty or Cornell Medical College. Since starting in this position in 1999, Dr. Attia has obtained 3 private industry and 3 NIH-funded grants to study biology and treatment of anorexia nervosa.

Advocacy & Government Relations

Mary Hanrahan, MSW, CSW, ACSW

Mary Hanrahan, MSW, CSW, ACSW (NYPH) Mary Hanrahan is a professional health care executive with diversified experience and a proven track record of accomplishments in outpatient and community services. Ms. Hanrahan’s has been the Government Relations Specialist for Psychiatry at NYPH since 2001. She has successfully been involved in lobbying, advocacy and liaison activities regarding a range of mental health concerns. Ms. Hanrahan is an excellent administrator, communicator and clinician, and she has been a successful initiator and manager of change in one of the largest healthcare systems in the country. Ms. Hanrahan will help to coordinate state-wide activities for this project, especially those components involving mental health advocacy and policy change.

Local Contacts

Christel Ferrell
Access Department
New York-Presbyterian Hospital
Weill Cornell Medical College
White Plains, NY
Phone: 914-997-5700

Christel Ferrell (NYPH) - Ms. Ferrell works in the NYPH-Cornell Westchester Patient Access Department, where she serves as the admissions coordinator for the Eating Disorders Unit. She works closely with Dr. Dara Bellace and Dr. Parinda Parikh to coordinate inpatient admissions for eating disordered patients at NYPH.

Elisheva Wollner , LCSW, LMSW
Site Coordinator
Schneider’s Children’s Hospital
269-01 76th Avenue
New Hyde Park, NY 11040
Phone: 516-465-5207
Email: Ewollner@NSHS.edu

Elisheva Wollner coordinates patient care at Schneider’s Children’ s Hospital and across Metro NYCCCED sites. She received her Masters in social work from NYU School of Social Work and has a specialty degree in Eating disorders from Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy (ICP) from the Program Center for the Study of Anorexia and Bulimia (CSAB).

Additional Metro CCCED Staff

Mary Bongiovi, MD, PhD (CUMC/NYSPI) Dr. Bongiovi has been the director of the GCRU, a 24-bed mixed-diagnosis inpatient unit that houses the inpatient eating disorders program at NYSPI. Dr. Bongiovi completed her psychiatry residency training at Columbia/NYSPI in 1994. Following her residency, Dr. Bongiovi worked as an attending psychiatrist and then assistant unit chief on the NYSPI’ s Washington Heights Community Service before taking the position as director of the GCRU in 1999.

Michael Devlin, MD (CUMC/NYSPI) Dr. Devlin has been a research psychiatrist with the EDRU at NYSPI since 1986 when he completed his residency training at Columbia. He completed a research fellowship in eating disorders under Dr. Walsh’s mentorship and has become nationally recognized in his own right as an expert in binge eating disorder and obesity. Dr. Devlin is Clinical Co-Director of the EDRU with Dr. Attia, and is the outgoing president of the Academy for Eating Disorders.

E Linda Riker Filiberto, RN NPP (SCH) Coordinator of Day Program.

Gladys Frankel, PhD (NYPH) Dr. Frankel is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and a Senior Psychologist at NYPH-Westchester. Dr. Frankel’s clinical responsibilities include conducting individual and group treatment for patients on the Eating Disorders Unit at NYPH. Her teaching responsibilities include teaching medical students, psychiatric residents and fellows.

Juli Goldfein, PhD (CUMC/NYSPI) Dr. Goldfein is a research psychologist who has been affiliated with the EDRU at NYSPI since 1991. She has been involved in a variety of research studies for eating disorders, including eating behavior and treatment of patients with binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa, and treatment of patients with anorexia nervosa. Dr. Goldfein also teaches a course on cognitive behavioral therapy for eating disorders at the Center for the Study of Anorexia and Bulimia.

Melissa Klein, PhD (NYPH) Dr. Klein is a staff psychologist at NYPH-Cornell Westchester. In addition to individual and group treatment on the Eating Disorders Unit, Dr. Klein conductes Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for which she received formal skills training in 2001. Dr. Klein has also been a therapist on a number of NIH-funded treatment studies with Dr. Katherine Halmi and colleagues.

Lisa Kotler, MD (CUMC/NYSPI) Dr. Kotler is a research psychiatrist in the Division of Child Psychiatry at NYSPI. She is board certified in child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry. Dr. Kotler came to NYSPI in 1996 for a child and adolescent psychiatry clinical fellowship and has been working with the EDRU since 1998 when she began a research fellowship focusing on the treatment of children and adolescents with eating disorders.

Dr. Kotler currently serves as the medical director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Evaluation Service at NYSPI and also serves as a research child psychiatrist in the Division of Child Psychiatry Advanced Children's Intervention and Services Research Center. Dr. Kotler has successfully obtained research funding to study the treatment of bulimia nervosa in adolescents, and the relationship of mood and eating disorder symptoms in adolescents.

Laurel Mayer, MD (CUMC/NYSPI) Dr. Mayer is a research psychiatrist at NYSPI. Dr. Mayer has been working with the EDRU since completing her psychiatry residency program in 1997. She has successfully obtained research funding to study body composition in eating disorder patients and is currently supported to study body fat distribution during the re-feeding process and thereafter for patients with AN. Dr. Mayer is currently the Clinical Director of the EDRU.

Dennis McNabb, MSW (NYPH) - Mr. McNabb is a senior social worker in the outpatient Eating Disorders Clinic at NYPH-Cornell Westchester. He conducts individual and group treatments with outpatients struggling with eating disorders. Mr. McNabb has been a licensed clinical social worker at NYPH-Westchester on child, adolescent and adult services since 1973.

Parinda Parikh, MD (NYPH) - Dr. Parikh is a child psychiatrist and unit chief on the Eating Disorders Unit at NYPH-Cornell Westchester. She treats children and adolescents on the inpatient Eating Disorders Unit, as well as in the outpatient Eating Disorders Clinic at NYPH. Dr. Parikh has been a co-investigator in a study of anti-depressants in depressed children. She is a member of the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, and the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Pamela Raizman, PhD (CUMC/NYSPI) Dr. Raizman is a research psychologist who has been affiliated with the EDRU since 1990. She has been involved in numerous clinical studies on the treatment of bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa and binge eating disorder. In addition to supervising psychiatry residents and fellows, she also teaches a course on cognitive behavioral therapy for eating disorders to psychology interns.

Janet Schebendach, MA, RD, CDN (CUMC/NYSPI) Janet Schebendach is a research nutritionist who joined the Columbia group after 23 years of clinical and research experience at Schneider Children’s Hospital. She is the research coordinator for an NIMH-funded, multi-site, translational research study that aims to examine the similarities between eating and substance use disorders, and serves as a nutritional consultant to all of the EDRU’s eating behavior studies. She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in nutrition at Columbia University.

Joanna Steinglass, MD (CUMC/NYSPI) Dr. Steinglass is a research psychiatrist at NYSPI. Dr. Steinglass received her M.D. from Harvard University School of Medicine and completed her psychiatry training at NYSPI/Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons. Dr. Steinglass is currently interested in examining Exposure Therapy in weight restored patients with Anorexia Nervosa and runs the Eating Disorders Assessment Services at Columbia University Medical Center.