Faculty members
Full-time physician faculty
The following child and adolescent psychiatrists are full-time faculty of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Children's Memorial Hospital and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine:
Division Chief
Mina K. Dulcan, MD, who is the Margaret C. Osterman Professor of Child Psychiatry, is chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, head of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Children's Memorial Hospital, and chief of Adolescent Psychiatry at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She is a past president of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training, and she recently ended a 10-year term as editor in chief of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Dulcan is a graduate of the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC) residency program at the University of Pittsburgh and has particular expertise in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and child psychiatric epidemiology. She is the lead author of the Concise Guide to Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and co-editor of the Textbook of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 3rd Edition and Essentials of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She is also the editor of Helping Parents, Youth, and Teachers Understand Medications for Behavioral and Emotional Problems: A Resource Book of Medication Information Handouts, 3rd Edition. She was recently recognized by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) as the only ABPN diplomate to have served as an oral examiner for 80 certification exams (Part II and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry).
Dr. Dulcan is actively involved in program administration, didactic teaching and clinical supervision. She directs the Year 1 Clinical and Clinical Research Assessment course, the Year 1 Practice Parameters/Journal Club course and the Year 2 Research Literacy/Journal Club course. Dr. Dulcan also works individually with each fellow during Year 2 as an outpatient supervisor.
Director of Education
MaryBeth Lake, MD, a former chief resident at WPIC at the University of Pittsburgh, is associate professor and the director of education in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. While at WPIC, she worked in inpatient and consultation-liaison child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP), and was medical director of an adolescent after-school and summer treatment program. She also has a special interest in family therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Prior to joining Children's Memorial in 2000, Dr. Lake worked briefly in the private sector providing inpatient, outpatient and partial hospitalization program services. She is active in several regional and national professional organizations and was previously a member of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Committee for Liaison with Primary Care. She is also a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Dr. Lake is a co-author of the Concise Guide to Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, as well as other publications.
In addition to her work with all aspects of the fellows' training, Dr. Lake directs multiple courses in the curriculum and co-teaches the Year 2 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy course. She also works individually with each fellow during Year 2 as an outpatient supervisor.
Dr. Lake was the recipient of the 2008 "Teacher of the Year" award from the class of graduating fellows.
Teaching faculty
Thomas K. Cummins, MD, is medical director of the Children's Memorial inpatient psychiatry unit and the director of the Year 1 Inpatient Program rotation. His general psychiatry residency training was completed at Emory University, followed by CAP training at UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, where he served as chief resident. Dr. Cummins brings experience with psychopharmacology research and development to the program. He is a member of the national professional advisory board of CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), and he serves as an examiner for the ABPN child psychiatry boards.
Farrah Fang, MD, joined our faculty in September 2008 after completing her CAP fellowship (as chief fellow) at Children's Memorial/Northwestern University in June 2008. Dr. Fang's general psychiatry residency was at Northwestern University, during which she authored a paper on resident experience of patient suicide that was published in Academic Psychiatry and was presented at the 2007 annual AADPRT meeting. She has a wide range of clinical interests including ADHD, mood, and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. In addition, her specialty interests include psychiatric education and training.
Poonam Jha, MD, is the director of the Year 2 Psychopharmacology Teaching Clinic. Dr. Jha joined our faculty from the private sector and is an attending in the outpatient program. She completed her general psychiatry and CAP training at the University of Michigan. Dr. Jha’s interests include affective illness, anxiety disorders and pervasive developmental disorders. She participates in the multi-disciplinary treatment of traumatized children, is a physician in the departmental mood and anxiety program (MAP), works in consultation with primary care physicians in treatment of ADHD, and provides direct consultation and on-site treatment to patients in a primary care setting.
Margery Johnson, MD, is medical director of the Children's Memorial outpatient psychiatry services. She is a graduate of the residency training program at Tufts-New England Medical Center and has been an inpatient unit director, an acting head and training director in CAP, and a private practitioner. She has performed extensive teaching and supervision in residency programs, in addition to making numerous local and national presentations on a wide variety of topics. Dr. Johnson directs the normal development course and co-directs the Year 2 Forensic Psychiatry Course.
James MacKenzie, DO, is medical director of the Children's Memorial consultation-liaison service and emergency psychiatry service. Dr. MacKenzie joined the faculty after completing his CAP fellowship at Children's Memorial/Northwestern University in 2006. His general psychiatry residency was at Loyola University Medical Center, where he was named resident of the year in 2003 by the medical school and received the “Excellence in Teaching” award in 2001 and 2002. Dr. MacKenzie is an executive council member of the Illinois Psychiatric Society. His specialty interests include the medical-psychiatric interface, with a specific focus in allergies. Dr. MacKenzie also directs the emergency psychiatry course.
Sigita Plioplys, MD, is the head of the Children's Memorial pediatric neuropsychiatry program. She completed her CAP fellowship at Children's Memorial/Northwestern University in 2001 and received the first A. Todd Davis, MD Outstanding Resident award at Children's Memorial (for which she was chosen from all pediatric and subspecialty programs). Prior to performing her CAP training, Dr. Plioplys was an academic neurologist in Lithuania. She has received grants and awards for her publications and clinical research in the area of psychopathology in children with epilepsy, and she is involved in several international and national initiatives on mood disorders in children with epilepsy and pediatric non-epileptic psychogenic seizures. Dr. Plioplys collaborates with the Children's Memorial Division of Neurology and the Children's Epilepsy Center. She directs the Year 1 CAP neuropsychiatry course and the Year 2 CAP neuropsychiatry teaching clinic. She also serves as faculty sponsor for CAP electives on clinical research and pediatric neuropsychiatry, with a particular focus on psychopathology in patients with epilepsy.
Part-time physician faculty
The following child and adolescent psychiatrists are also faculty in child and adolescent psychiatry at Children's Memorial Hospital and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, and are closely involved in our education and training activities:
Bradley Pechter, MD, is an attending psychiatrist in the Warren Wright Adolescent Psychiatry and Substance Use Disorders Clinic at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. In addition to his CAP training at the University of Colorado, Dr. Pechter worked in addiction psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and he earned added qualification in that subspecialty.
Karen Pierce, MD, is medical director of the Children's Memorial partial hospitalization program (PHP) and director of the Year 1 PHP rotation. She is highly regarded as a psychopharmacology consultant with expertise in the management of complicated attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities and comorbid psychiatric illnesses. She is active in collaborative projects with the American Academy of Pediatrics and other organizations such as the local CHADD chapter. She is also a distinguished fellow of the APA, and she also works with the APA on quality indicators. Dr. Pierce trained at the University of Michigan.
Jennifer Kurth, DO, recently joined the faculty of the Warren Wright Adolescent Program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital after completing her CAP fellowship at Children's Memorial/Northwestern University in 2007. Her general psychiatry residency was at the University of California – Irvine Medical Center. Her specialty interests include teaching evidence-based medicine and working with adolescents. She is an attending in the Warren Wright Adolescent Psychiatry and Substance Use Disorders Clinic. In addition to her faculty appointment, Dr. Kurth has a private practice and conducts complex parenting assessments for a local community mental health center.
Volunteer physician faculty supervisors
During Year 2 of training, each fellow works with two volunteer outpatient supervisors (in addition to outpatient supervisors who are members of our department faculty). Our volunteer supervisors include:
Elective faculty supervisors
During Year 2 of training, each fellow individually arranges electives in areas of his or her particular interests. Please see the electives page for more information on the many individuals (and organizations) from whom fellows can obtain supervision.
Other physician instructors
Our volunteer physician instructors include not only child and adolescent psychiatrists working in the community, but also specialists in forensic psychiatry, neurology, sleep disorders, pediatrics, medical ethics, and many other disciplines:
- Melanie Banas, MD, JD
- DeeDee Dupre, MD
- Robert Edger, MD
- Joel Frader, MD
- William Gilmer, MD
- Joshua Goldstein, MD
- Miriam Gutmann, MD
- Michael Hoffman, MD
- Badr Javed, MD
- Jeremy Kaplan, MD
- Siddhartha Kumar, MD
- Gunnbjorg Lavoll, MD
- Mercedes Martinez, MD
- Maria Ponton, MD
- Steve Robinson, MD
- Jeffrey Spector, MD
- Roy Wilson, MD
- Lisa Yeh, MD
Instructors in allied disciplines
Fellows receive important training from psychologists, social workers, and experts in other allied fields in both Year 1 and Year 2 of their training. Our multidisciplinary teachers include: