2022 Psychiatry Conference Recordings | FACULTY

Walter Dunn, MD

• Assistant Clinical Professor, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
• Director of the Mood Clinic and Interventional Psychiatry Service, Greater Los Angeles VA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA

Dr. Walter Dunn is an attending physician in the UCLA Psychosis Clinic and psychiatrist for the UCLA Operation Mend Program. Prior to his medical training, he completed his PhD and post-doctoral work in molecular virology. He also served in the United States Marines and has found that experience to be invaluable in working with veterans. His research is focused on using non-invasive neuromoduation to target auditory processing deficits in patients with schizophrenia. His published work suggests that direct current stimulation may improve auditory processing in schizophrenia patients, which may have implications in improving social cognition and functioning. In his clinical work, he uses transcranial magnetic stimulation, ketamine, and ECT, and treats patients with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and treatment resistant depression. He serves on the scientific committee and executive committee of the International Society for CNS Clinical Trials Methodology. He is currently an advisor to the FDA as a member of the FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drug Advisory Committee.

Rimal Bera, MD

• Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Irvine, CA

Dr. Bera earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from the University of California, Irvine, and a medical degree from the University of California, Irvine in 1987. He completed his psychiatry residency at the University of California, Irvine in 1991. He has been a Full Time Faculty at the University of California, Irvine since 1991. His primary area of specialty is adult psychiatry with a focus on schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and memory disorders. Dr. Bera is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He serves as Medical Director for Universal Care Behavioral Health for California and as Medical Director at the John Henry Foundation in Santa Ana, a high level center for the treatment of Schizophrenia. At the John Henry Foundation, 4th year psychiatry residents from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, Irvine receive state of the art clinical training. He formally was chairman of the Public Affairs Committee of the Orange County Psychiatric Society from 1991 to 2016. He was been on the Board of Directors of the Mental Health Association of Orange County from 1991 to 2012 and served as a past President of the Board. He is the current President of the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine Alumni. In 2014 Dr. Bera was the recipient of the Orange County Medical Association Physician of the Year Award.

Marc Heiser, MD, PhD

Marc Heiser, MD, PhD is a board-certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist who is committed to providing the highest quality care to individuals and families. He has extensive experience treating a wide range of psychiatric issues including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, PTSD, substance use disorders, and neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD and autism spectrum disorder. He also has expertise in mindfulness-based stress reduction, cognitive behavioral therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, ketamine therapy, and in the care of individuals exploring their gender identity.

Josh Woolley, MD

• Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco

Dr. Josh Woolley has been studying the underpinnings of social deficits in schizophrenia and has examined how oxytocin might be a useful treatment for these social deficits. People with schizophrenia often have functionally significant social cognitive deficits, and there are currently no available pharmacological treatments that target these deficits. In healthy individuals, the natural hormone oxytocin has been shown to increase social abilities such as understanding emotions and trusting people. People with schizophrenia can have difficulties with social relationships, which can impact interactions with others and community participation. Dr. Woolley believes that oxytocin may help with many of these difficulties, so a major focus of his research laboratory has been to examine whether supplementary oxytocin can increase social cognition in people with schizophrenia.

Carla Marienfeld, MD

Carla Marienfeld, MD, is board certified in psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, and addiction medicine. She specializes in treating individuals with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression. She supports recovery in a harm-reduction approach that uses therapy, motivational interviewing, and medication treatment. A professor in the Department of Psychiatry, her research looks at health outcomes for individuals with substance use disorders and involves monitoring implementation of evidence based practices in treatment of substance use disorders. She has been highly involved in educating colleagues and trainees about addiction psychiatry and effective interventions, including buprenorphine treatment and motivational interviewing. Prior to joining UC San Diego Health in 2016, she was an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Marienfeld completed a fellowship in addiction psychiatry and a residency in psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. During her residency, she was chief resident of psychiatry and founded (and later led) the Yale Global Mental Health Program. She earned a medical degree, with Alpha Omega Alpha medical honors, from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Dr. Marienfeld is a member and fellow of many professional organizations, including the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the American

David Taylor, PhD, MSc, FRPharmS, FRCRPEdin, FRCPsych

• Professor of Psychopharmacology, Kings College London, London, UK
• Director of Pharmacy and Pathology, Maudsley Hospital, London, UK

Dr. David Taylor is Director of Pharmacy and Pathology at the Maudsley Hospital and Professor of Psychopharmacology at KCL. In 2014, David was ranked in the top 100 clinical leaders in the NHS by the Health Service Journal. David is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology (IF 5.0). David was a member of the UK Department of Transport expert panel that introduced drug-driving regulation. He is currently a member of the UK government’s Advisory Council on Misuse of Drugs. He has formally contributed to five NICE Guidelines. Professor Taylor has been the lead author of the Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines since their inception in 1993. The Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines have sold over 300,000 copies in fourteen editions and twelve languages. David has also authored over 375 clinical papers in journals such as the Lancet, BMJ, JAMA Psychiatry, British Journal of Psychiatry and Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. These papers have been cited over 14,000 times. Professor Taylor has an H Index of 69.