Region 3 Team

David Kaye, M.D. is Vice Chair for Academic Affairs and Professor of Psychiatry at the University at Buffalo (UB). He completed medical school at the University of Vermont, and residency in general psychiatry and child/adolescent psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin. He is Board Certified in General Psychiatry and Child/Adolescent Psychiatry, and has been on the faculty at UB since 1982. He has written about a variety of topics in child psychiatry and is first author on a book for primary care physicians, Child and Adolescent Mental Health (Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins 2002). He is a national leader in psychiatric education and is a past President of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training.

Ira Bhatia, M.Sc., M.Ed. earned a Master’s in Counseling and Human Development from Hardin Simmons University, Abilene, TX. She also has a M.Sc in Zoology (Major: Cell Biology) from, New Delhi India. Ira’s past experiences include working in data collection and project coordination –for a statewide mental health research initiative. Specific duties involve planning, developing and implementing procedures. She also has experienced in preparing budgets and coordinating education programs across 5 different project sites.

Dr. Wanda Fremont, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, is currently the Division Chief of Child Psychiatry and the Training Director for the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Residency Program at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. She has been on the faculty at SUNY Upstate Medical University since 2001. Dr. Fremont completed her psychiatry residency at SUNY Upstate Medical University and her child & adolescent psychiatry fellowship at SUNY. She is board certified in adult and child and adolescent psychiatry. Dr. Fremont’s professional interest include child and adolescent mental health, multicultural issues, family systems, post traumatic stress disorder, and collaboration between psychiatry and primary care medicine. She is a national leader in psychiatric education, is published in the field, and has presented frequently at national conferences.

Carmel Foley obtained her medical education at the National University of Ireland. She completed a psychiatric residency at St. Patrick’s Hospital Trinity College Dublin, before immigrating to Lafayette Clinic in Detroit Michigan. In Michigan she completed further residency training and began fellowship training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She subsequently completed Child and Adolescent training at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and by 1980 joined the faculty there.

She has held many faculty positions, including Unit Chief of the Adolescent Inpatient Service and Child Inpatient Service. She was the Director of residency training for approximately 5 years and from 1996-2006 was the Division Chief. On standing down from that position she is now responsible for the consultation service in Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York.

Prior to Project TEACH, she provided consultation, care supervision and small group care discussions to a self-selected group of community general pediatricians.

For the past 5 years she has been the NSLIJHS site Psychiatrist for the Project TEACH Regions 1 and 3.

Dr. Victor Fornari is the Director of the merged Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center. He is also Professor of Psychiatry at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine.

Dr. Fornari graduated from Cornell University in 1974 with a Bachelor of Science degree, and received a Masters in Science in Human Nutrition from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1975. He obtained his Medical Degree at State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center in 1979. Dr. Fornari completed an internship in pediatrics at Long Island College Hospital, followed by a residency in psychiatry at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. A fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry was completed at Long Island Jewish Medical Center.

Dr. Fornari is actively involved in research in eating disorders, and has collaborated on numerous published articles and textbook chapters on the subject. In 1994, he was awarded a National Institute of Mental Health grant to study the use of phototherapy for the treatment for Bulimia Nervosa.

A noted child and adolescent specialist, Dr. Fornari has served as the director of residency training in both General Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Dr. Fornari is a recognized expert in the area of child survivors of trauma, and has been appointed by the United States Department of State to the National Crisis Response team. Dr. Fornari has worked closely with the Nassau County Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities on their Disaster Mental Health Services. Dr. Fornari has consulted to the Nassau County Mental Health Association over the past 20 years on the School-Mental Health Partnership.

Dr. Fornari has been a leader in many professional societies, including having served as the President of the Greater Long Island Psychiatric Society, district branch of the American Psychiatric Association (1997-1999).

Leslie Cummins, LCSW graduated from Arcadia University with a Bachelors Degree in Sociology and received her masters from the Columbia School of Social Work. She has been working in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System where experiences have included inpatient and outpatient evaluations and treatment with children and families, emergency room services, court-related evaluations, and most recently, as the Liaison Coordinator for Project TEACH Regions 1 and 3.

Rachel A. Zuckerbrot, M.D., is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and has hospital appointments at both New York- Presbyterian Hospital and New York State Psychiatric Institute. Board-certified in child and adolescent psychiatry and adult (general) psychiatry, as well as board-eligible in general pediatrics, Dr. Zuckerbrot has a particular interest in linking primary care and psychiatry on both a systems and individual level. She co-authored the Guidelines for Adolescent Depression in Primary Care (GLAD-PC) and is currently working on their revision. Dr. Zuckerbrot has also published research in the field of adolescent depression screening in primary care and is considered an expert in that area, consulting both nationally and internationally. She has worked with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) on both a local and national level on collaborative projects involving mental health in pediatric primary care. She has also presented at national conferences, both pediatric, such as the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) meeting, and psychiatric, such as the AACAP Annual Meeting. Dr. Zuckerbrot maintains a private psychiatric practice in Englewood, NJ where she sees both children and adults for both psychopharmacology and psychotherapy.

Jennifer Petras, M.D completed her residency and fellowship training at Mount Sinai Hospitals’ Triple Board Program in Pediatrics, Adult Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She is interested in innovative ways to meet the mental health needs of children and adolescents including through the education and support of primary care providers. Jen’s past experience includes her roles as the Director of the Pediatric Consultation Liaison service and Director of the Integrated Aftercare Program both at Mount Sinai Hospital. In addition to her involvement in Project TEACH, Dr. Petras works as the psychiatrist for the Westchester County Department of Probation in the non-secure detention facility for adolescents at the Children’s Village in Dobbs Ferry NY.

Katherine C. Carnicelli, LCSW, is the new Liaison Coordinator for the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for Primary Care Program (CAP PC) and will be working closely with Dr. Rachel Zuckerbrot. Kate’s clinical work has focused largely on working with children and their families. She has extensive experience with adolescent boys in residential treatment settings through previous positions at The Children’s Village in both their RTC and RTF programs. In addition, she worked with Special needs school age children and adolescents at The Westchester School for Special Children. Kate is excited to continue to work with a multidisciplinary team approach in assisting primary care physicians in treating children and adolescents as an integral member of tProject TEACH Regions 1 and 3.

David Kaye, M.D. is Vice Chair for Academic Affairs and Professor of Psychiatry at the University at Buffalo (UB). He completed medical school at the University of Vermont, and residency in general psychiatry and child/adolescent psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin. He is Board Certified in General Psychiatry and Child/Adolescent Psychiatry, and has been on the faculty at UB since 1982. He has written about a variety of topics in child psychiatry and is first author on a book for primary care physicians, Child and Adolescent Mental Health (Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins 2002). He is a national leader in psychiatric education and is a past President of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training.

Dr. Beth Smith is an Associate Professor in Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University at Buffalo, and Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She has served as the Director of Pediatric Consultation Liaison Psychiatry at Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo for many years. She completed medical school and residency in both general psychiatry and child/adolescent psychiatry at the University at Buffalo. Dr. Smith is Board Certified in General Psychiatry and Child/Adolescent Psychiatry. She is a national leader in psychiatric aspects of cystic fibrosis and has an active research program. She is currently site PI for an NIH funded, multisite adherence intervention trial for adolescents and young adults with cystic fibrosis. She is in demand as a presenter at national meetings and has numerous publications in the field.

Kristin McGinley, LCSW graduated from Canisius College with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She received her Masters Degree in Social Work from the University at Buffalo and went on to receive her Clinical Social Work License from New York State. She has worked with children and families for the last several years including providing individual, group and family therapy in outpatient treatment and residential treatment centers. Experience also includes collaboration with schools, county departments of social services and courts throughout Buffalo and the surrounding counties as well as other services providers including the Family Voices Network of Erie County.