Katayune Kaeni, Psy.D., PMH-C
Board Chair
Katayune Kaeni is a psychologist in private practice specializing in perinatal mental health, host of the Mom & Mind Podcast with Dr. Kat and author of The Pregnancy Workbook: Manage Anxiety and Worry with CBT and Mindfulness Techniques. She began specializing in perinatal mental health after her own experience with ...
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David Levine, MD
Board Vice-Chair
Dr. Levine is a New Jersey based pediatrician with the Atlantic Medical Group and is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He suffered from postpartum depression with his first child, but that did not stop him from having a second, nor from having postpartum anxiety with that one ...
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Laudy Burgos, LCSW
Perinatal Mental Health Alliance for People of Color
Laudy Burgos is an associate director of social work in the Women’s and Children’s Division at Mount Sinai Hospital. In this capacity she supervises social work staff in the outpatient clinic, inpatient units, and the faculty practice in the OB/GYN department. Her specialty area is the treatment of perinatal mood ...
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Karen Wachenheim
Treasurer
Karen Wachenheim is a supervising accountant for the New York State Education Department. She has a bachelor’s degree in child development and family studies and a certificate in accounting. She is also a Zumba instructor. Her interest in postpartum mental health was sparked by being a two-time survivor of postpartum ...
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Vanessa Park
Board Secretary
As proprietor of Vanessa’s Red Pen, Vanessa Park provides marketing/communications services to both nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses, as well as creates, develops, and edits content for clients of all walks of life, from major marketing firms to start-ups. She also loves working with academics and does some writing coaching ...
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Nicole Cirino MD
Board and Faculty
Dr. Nicole Cirino is a physician specializing in reproductive psychiatry clinical care, education, and research for women with perinatal, perimenstrual, and perimenopausal psychiatric conditions, as well as disorders of female sexual dysfunction, including postpartum depression, perinatal loss, sexual trauma related conditions, postpartum psychosis, perinatal OCD, PMDD, and other mental health ...
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Michele Davidson, PhD, PMHNP-BC, PMH-C, CNM, CFN
PPP Infanticide Coordinator
Dr. Michele Davidson is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, and forensic nurse. Dr. Davidson was a nurse educator for more than 20 years, and during that time, developed the Smith Island Community Health Program, the graduate forensic nursing certificate program, and briefly headed up the PhD Program ...
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Roderick Drew
Roderick Drew has nearly 30 years of communications experience in the Chicagoland area, including media relations, writing, strategic planning and emergency response experience. He is currently an Associate Vice President and Deputy Program Manager – Communications for HNTB Corporation, an employee-owned infrastructure solutions firm serving public and private owners and ...
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Sarah Kotranza
Public Policy and Advocacy Chair
Sarah Kotranza has been a peer advocate in the perinatal mental health space since 2013. She has led multiple Climb Out of the Darkness events, presented at new mom groups, was one of the founding members of her local perinatal mental health coalition, and has participated in multiple lobby days ...
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Mary Parnham
Nominating and Governance
Mary Moore Parnham is a paralegal and office manager for the firm of Parnham & Associates in Houston, TX, a criminal defense law firm most known for representing Andrea Yates. Their experiences with Andrea’s two trials led Mary and her defense attorney husband, George Parnham, to found the Yates Children ...
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Lita Simanis, LCSW, PMH-C
State Chapters Chair
Lita Simanis is coordinator of the Pregnancy and Postpartum Mood & Anxiety Disorder Program at Alexian Brothers Health System in Illinois. She also works as a perinatal mental health clinician on the North Shore Mom’s Line. Since 2008, Lita has been the co-coordinator of the Postpartum Depression Illinois Alliance. Lita ...
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Samantha Suffren MD
Education Committee Chair
Dr. Samantha Suffren is a board certified neuropsychiatrist. After earning an undergraduate degree in biochemistry as a Howard Hughes Fellow at North Carolina State University, and a stint in research, she pursued medicine at East Carolina University to follow a dream of becoming a rural family medicine practitioner. But she ...
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P. Nicole Taylor MD
Executive Committee At Large
Dr. Phyliss Nicole Taylor is a psychiatrist specializing in perinatal mental health. She works at the North Florida South Georgia VA Health Systems Outpatient Mental Health Clinic in Jacksonville, FL and is affiliated with the University of Florida, Jacksonville, providing clinical supervision for psychiatry residents. She is certified in general ...
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Liz Verney
Marketing and Communications Chair
Former vice-chair of PSI, Liz Verney currently leads the marketing and communications committee. She has a BFA from Parson’s School of Design and The New School. After a career as an illustrator, graphic designer, and magazine art director in New York City, Liz moved to rural New Hampshire as a ...
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