MIRECC / CoE

Newsletter | South Central MIRECC

Summer 2019, Volume 21, Issue 3 - In this Issue

Introducing the 2019 TRIPS Awardees
RtoP | Veteran-Centered Barriers to Use of VA Mental Health Services
New Grants for Research on Suicide Prevention Funded in New Orleans
Affiliates Share Research Results Across the Country
Houston Affiliates Receive Local and National Honors
Newest Clinical Education Products
Recent Publications
Pilot Study Grant Award Application Opportunity
Research Methods and Analysis Consultation Services Available

Introducing the 2019 TRIPS Awardees

Our Training Residents in Psychiatry Scholarship (TRIPS) program encourages psychiatry residents to enter post-residency research training fellowships in VISNs 16 and 17. Directed by Dr. Ali Abbas Asghar-Ali, the program recognizes talented residents with academic medicine interests and offers didactic and consultative experiences in mental health research careers. Awardees attend a national scientific meeting, get a stipend for books or tuition, and work with a career mentor. Congratulations to our 2019 awardees!

Jessa Derania, DO

Dr. Derania is a third-year adult psychiatry resident at Tulane University in New Orleans. She was raised in Amity, Oregon and attended medical school at Pacific Northwest University of Osteopathic Medicine. She has a bachelor’s degree in criminology from Portland State University. She moved to New Orleans in 2007 with the desire to contribute to the rebuilding of the post-Katrina community. After years of working in the legal field, she decided that becoming a physician would have a greater community impact.

Dr. Derania believes in approaching her patients holistically, with a strong interest in existential psychiatry. She plans to pursue a forensics fellowship and continue her academic psychiatry career. She hopes to contribute to her community through teaching and research while providing dynamic psychiatric care.

Britney Lambert, MD

Dr. Lambert is a third-year psychiatry resident at Louisiana State University (LSU) New Orleans and a graduate of Boston University School of Medicine. Before starting her residency, Dr. Lambert developed iPhone and Android apps that monitored substance cravings of patients engaged in treatment for substance use disorder.

Dr. Lambert recently received the Excellence in Care Award at New Orleans’s Ochsner Hospital's Psychiatry Department. During her free time, Dr. Lambert enjoys traveling, cycling, and visiting her family in sunny South Florida.

Keerthiga Raveendran, MD

Dr. Raveendran is a third-year psychiatry resident at LSU Health Sciences Center - Shreveport. Born and raised in Canada, she received an honors bachelor’s degree in science, double majoring in neuroscience and psychology. Her interest in the brain-mind interface was sparked during undergraduate training. She completed her medical degree at Medical University of the Americas in St. Kits & Nevis with hopes of exploring this interest as a psychiatrist.

Dr. Raveendran has worked with the homeless community and head injury patients as part of several mental health related research studies while in Canada. She has also presented several research posters and grand rounds lectures during her residency on new areas of research, like the gut-microbiome connection to mental health and psychogenic foreign accent syndrome.

TRIPS has given her the opportunity to learn more about research and academia and has encouraged her to pursue a career that will allow her to be a passionate clinician and educator and remain active in research. Currently, she is engaged in research on the impacts of climate change on mental health with her mentor Dr. Fitz-Gerald.

Abigail Richison, MD

Dr. Richison is a third-year psychiatry resident at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Raised in Galveston, Texas, Dr. Richison received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Southern Methodist University. She completed medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Dr. Richison’s interest in psychiatry began in her third-year rotation. She appreciated the profound impact that mental health issues have on individuals, their close family and friends, and society. She is interested in addiction and plans to complete a fellowship in addiction psychiatry. She is currently engaged in research on marijuana use in pregnancy and its possible correlation on Beck Depression Inventory scores.

Dr. Richison feels fortunate to have had amazing mentors help her throughout her academic career and hopes to become a great academic mentor one day. The TRIPS program has strengthened, encouraged and solidified her interest in addiction, academics and research.

Alexandra "Ali" Sibley, MD

Dr. Sibley is a third-year psychiatry resident at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Born and raised in Houston, she obtained her bachelor's degree summa cum laude with honors in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. She attended medical school at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and graduated with the highest honors.

After medical school, Dr. Sibley worked as a research assistant at BCM and the Houston VA Medical Center where she became interested in geriatric psychiatry. She is currently engaged in research on medication use in outpatients with dementia. She is also interested in healthcare inequality in patients with severe and persistent mental illness. She plans to complete a fellowship in geriatric psychiatry and pursue a career in academic psychiatry.

Last updated: August 2, 2019

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