Yale Conference on Mental Illness 2023

Thomas Insel, MD
Psychiatrist-Neuroscientist, Author of Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health, Entrepreneur, Mental Health Advocate, Co-founder and Executive Chair at Vanna Health, Former NIMH Director

Dr. Insel is a neuroscientist, psychiatrist, entrepreneur and author, who has been a national leader in mental health research, policy, and technology. He served as the Director the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) from 2002 until November 2015, and subsequently led the Mental Health Team at Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences). Since then, he has been a thought leader in building tools for people with severe and persistent mental illness, leading the Mental Health team at Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences), co-founded Mindstrong Health (a Silicon Valley Start-up), Humanest Care, MindSiteNews, and Vanna Health.  

Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP
Purpose-Driven Physician Executive, Scientist, and Entrepreneur, Chief Medical Officer at Federally Qualified Health Centers, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, IBM, and CVS

Dr. Kyu Rhee has served as the Chief Health Officer of IBM and subsequently as the Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Aetna at CVS Health. Prior to joining IBM, Dr. Rhee was Chief Public Health Officer at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and also served as Director of the Office of Innovation and Program  Coordination at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Rhee obtained his M.D. from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, and his master's degree in Healthcare Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He acquired his Bachelor in Science degree from Yale University in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, where he also served as student body President.

David Dupee, MD, MBA
Psychiatry and Resident Physician at Stanford Medicine, Clinical Product Manager at Flock Healthcare, Director of Strategy at Brainstorm: The Stanford Lab for Mental Health Innovation
Dr. David Dupee is a psychiatry resident at Stanford, where he launched a novel rotating coverage scheme to ensure continuous psychiatric care in face of COVID outages and implemented algorithms to optimally assign resident rotations. As Stanford Brainstorm Lab’s Director of Strategy, he oversees the vision for the lab’s academic and private sector mental health tech work alike. David serves as a clinical product manager with Flock Health, where he seeks to mitigate ER utilization and inpatient hospitalization by patients navigating serious mental illness. He has also provided a clinical perspective to numerous multibillion dollar clients with McKinsey’s SF office. Before jumping coasts in 2021, he won several entrepreneurship awards for his work in digital health and medical devices at Yale, where he completed his MD/MBA and championed structural changes to Yale New Haven Health’s approach to physician wellness and executive health.

Vinod Srihari, MD
Professor at Yale School of Medicine, Director of the Specialized Treatment Early in Psychosis (STEP) Program which is a collaborative program of the Connecticut Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services and the Yale Department of Psychiatry
Dr. Vinod Srihari is a Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and a Staff Psychiatrist at the Connecticut Mental Health Center. Dr. Srihari is also the Director of STEP (Specialized Treatment Early in Psychosis), a collaborative effort between the Connecticut Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services and Yale Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Srihari's scholarly focus is on improving outcomes for individuals with early course schizophrenia spectrum disorders. He leads activities that connect research to the missions of delivering a model service (the STEP Clinic), disseminating clinical best practices (via Learning Health Networks), education and workforce development, and influencing policies that support the public health mission of early intervention for schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Dr. Srihari developed and implemented an Evidence-Based Medicine-based approach to enable psychiatrists in training to apply the best available scientific evidence to their practice and audit the health of the populations they serve. He also consults with academic and non-academic healthcare systems that seek to initiate or refine early intervention services for recent onset or "first-episode" psychosis. Dr. Srihari received his B.A. and M.D. from the University of Rochester.

Alison Muckle Egizi, MPP
Government Health Policy Research Lead at Deloitte
Alison Muckle Egizi is a research and policy professional experienced in managing initiatives for the federal health agencies, academia, and health systems. She is currently the Government Health Policy Research Lead for the Center of Government Insights at Deloitte. Her research has focused on the future of public health, community health systems, child health equity, and health innovation. Prior to Deloitte, she was an independent Research and Policy Consultant, leading research design, evaluation, writing, and data analytic projects for a spectrum of clients. Allison also previously held roles as Research Project Manager at both Boston Children’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she managed one of the most innovative SDOH efforts in the US, Project Dulce. Prior to that, she was a Senior Policy Analyst at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. There, she managed the creation of a research institute and partnership for health equity innovation between UCLA and AltaMed, the largest federally qualified health center in the US. She brings over 15 years of experience spanning across various organizations including NORC at the University of Chicago, the George Washington University Center for Family Research, and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Allison earned an MPP in Health Policy from UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, and a BA from American University. 

Samantha Ciarocco, MSW
Director of Trauma Services, Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program
Samantha Ciarocco is a social worker at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless (BHCHP) program where she is the Director of Trauma Services, focusing on developing trauma-informed care and services for patients; leading initiatives to support staff who are exposed to primary, secondary and vicarious trauma; and developing an internal critical incident response team. Prior to this role, she worked at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the Emergency Department and on the inpatient Addiction Consult Team as a clinical social worker. Her clinical areas of interest include Psychological First Aid, community building and advocacy within the unhoused populations of Boston, and Harm Reduction. Recently Sam developed the mental health and SUDs treatment protocol for Boston Hope, the city’s medical field hospital, during COVID-19s initial surge. She has facilitated many education events around special populations experiencing SUDs at MGH, Harvard Medical School, Boston Medical Center, and MGH Institute of Heath Professionals and continues to work towards reducing the stigma and discrimination of those with SUDs through education and advocacy efforts. Samantha Ciarocco is an Ohio native and 2014 graduate of Simmons College School of Social Work where her clinical focus was the treatment of substance use disorders and trauma.

Oliver Freudenreich, MD
Psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital, Attending Psychiatrist and Resident Supervisor in the MGH Schizophrenia Program at the Freedom Trail Clinic in the Erich Lindemann Mental Health Center
Oliver Freudenreich, MD, FACLP an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a Psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), serves as co-director of the MGH Psychosis Clinical and Research Program and directs the MGH Fellowship in Public and Community Psychiatry. His academic interest lies in the area of optimal psychopharmacological treatment for schizophrenia, including the development of innovative treatments and management of treatment-resistant psychosis. In addition to his clinical and clinical trial expertise in schizophrenia, Dr. Freudenreich provides psychiatric consultations for medically complex patients with serious mental illness and for diagnostically difficult cases with psychosis. He also serves on local and national committees related to disaster preparedness. Dr. Freudenreich has published extensively in his areas of interest and has written a handbook on psychotic disorders; its second edition was published in 2020. He teaches and speaks on a regular basis at international and national meetings. Recent awards include the MGH Department of Psychiatry Clinical Excellence Award and the 2022 Outstanding Psychiatrist Award for the Public Sector from the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society.

Maia Goodell, JD, LLM
Civil Rights Lawyer Specializing in Employment & Disability Rights, Partner at Vladeck, Raskin & Clark, P.C.
Maia Goodell is a civil rights lawyer. She is currently a Partner at Vladeck, Raskin & Clark and has over 15 years of experience, including as lead attorney in complex litigation seeking system change. Maia leads the firm’s disability rights and justice practice focused on the performance of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related civil rights laws. She has experience leading groundbreaking actions against major private and government institutions. Maia believes equality is a human right and recognizes that disability equity is intertwined with racial and other forms of injustice. She is committed to a client-driven, community-based approach to lawyering for long-term, holistic solutions advancing equity and dignity for all. Maia holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Yale Law School, a J.D. from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Stanford University.

Katherine Koh, MD, MSc
Psychiatrist, Street Team at the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and Massachusetts General Hospital Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Koh is a practicing psychiatrist at the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and Massachusetts General Hospital, focusing her clinical care on people who live on the street. She leverages a combination of street outreach, clinic sessions, and home visits for patients recently or unstably housed. Katherine also has a general adult outpatient practice at MGH and focuses her research on the health of homeless populations, primarily interested in improving systems of mental health care for patients experiencing homelessness. She is a graduate of the MGH/McLean Psychiatry Residency Program, where she served as MGH Chief Resident as well as Chief Resident for Community Psychiatry. She earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School, Master of Science in Evidence-Based Social Intervention with Distinction from Oxford University, and BA, magna cum laude with Highest Honors in Psychology, from Harvard College.