Leadership and Faculty

Simon A. Rego, PsyD, ABPP, A-CBT

Chief of Psychology and Director of Psychology Training, Montefiore Medical Center Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Dr. Simon Rego is a licensed clinical psychologist with more than 25 years of experience in using Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and other evidence-based psychological treatments. He was mentored as a graduate student at Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) by Arnold A. Lazarus, PhD, G. Terrence Wilson, PhD and William C. Sanderson, PhD, as an intern at UBC Hospital by S. Jack Rachman, PhD, Peter D. McLean, PhD, and Maureen L. Whittal, PhD, and as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety (CTSA) by Edna B. Foa, PhD and Martin E. Franklin, PhD. Dr. Rego is Board Certified in Cognitive Behavioral Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology, Certified in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy by the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies, and Certified as a Cognitive Therapy Trainer/Consultant by the Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies. He is also a Fellow of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, a Founding Clinical Fellow of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, and a Diplomate and Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy.

Addiction Psychology

Leadership

Yael Belinkie, PhD

Director of Clinical and Business Affairs, Substance Abuse Treatment Program, New Directions Recovery Center and Wakefield Recovery Center, Montefiore Medical Center

Dr. Yael Belinkie is a licensed clinical psychologist and a graduate of Montefiore’s Clinical Psychology Pre-doctoral training program. She has held supervisory and leadership positions at Montefiore’s Substance Abuse Treatment Program for over 10 years, where she has guided efforts to expand evidence-based interventions, integrate harm reduction approaches, and increase access to substance use treatment. She specializes in the use of Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. Dr. Belinkie received her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Yale University where, under the mentorship of Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Ph.D., she examined neural correlates of emotion dysregulation in depression and developed a novel intervention aimed at preventing transdiagnostic distress and substance use in an adolescent population.

Other Key Faculty

Yash Bhambhani, PhD

Attending Psychologist, Substance Abuse Treatment Program, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Yash Bhambhani, PhD is an Attending Psychologist at Montefiore's Substance Abuse Treatment Program and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Bhambhani is a previous graduate from Montefiore-Einstein's Psychology Internship program, from the Adult Specialization Track. He found his work to be so meaningful that he had to come back! Dr. Bhambhani specializes in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, addiction treatment, and working with minoritized populations, including gender/sexual minorities, and racial/ethnic minorities. Using ACT and intersectionality frameworks, he is interested in creating interpersonal and societal change through clinical work, research, and teaching. As such, Dr. Bhambhani enjoys supervising externs and interns, mentoring, and teaching didactic lectures. His area of research specialization is also focused on ACT and how ACT can be used to improve well-being for people with minoritized experiences (e.g., gay, and bisexual men of color).

Jessica Silver, PsyD

Attending Psychologist, Montefiore Medical Center, Substance Abuse Treatment Program

Dr. Jessica Silver is an attending psychologist at Montefiore’s Substance Abuse Treatment Program (SATP) and New Directions Recovery Center (NDRC). She also works with private patients through Montefiore’s faculty practice, MEPA. She completed her Doctorate in Psychology at Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University and her Pre-Doctoral internship at the Brooklyn VA Medical Center. Her clinical interests include holistic approaches to addiction and trauma treatment and psychodynamic psychotherapy.

Ambulatory Consults Urgent Treatment & Evaluations (ACUTE)/CL Psychiatry

Leadership

Brett Simpson, PsyD

Attending Psychologist, Consultation –Liaison Psychiatry Service, Psychologist, Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Montefiore Medical Center/ Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Dr. Brett Simpson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine. He serves as an Attending Psychologist on the Psychiatry Consultative & Liaison service and works on the abdominal transplant team within the Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation. He completed his doctorate in clinical psychology with a specialization in Health Psychology at Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Simpson completed his internship in adult & pediatric health psychology at Broward Health Medical Center and his post-doctoral fellowship at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Jackson Medical Center specializing in C&L psychology. His research interests include medical trauma and efficacy of early psychological interventions with medically admitted patients. Dr. Simpson currently serves as a Member on the APA’s Division 38 Public Health Policy Committee.

Other Key Faculty

Lisa Teh, PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Montefiore Medical Center/ Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Dr. Teh is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine and works within the Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation as the Lead Psychologist. She completed her doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Hawai'i, internship in adult/health psychology at Geisinger Medical Center, and post-doctoral fellowship at Indiana University School of Medicine specializing in transplant psychology. Her research interests include increasing the accuracy of psychosocial evaluations for solid-organ transplant candidacy, mitigating risks for relapse to alcohol following liver transplantation, and decreasing health disparities in access to solid-organ transplantation and outcomes. Dr. Teh currently serves as a Member at Large on the Executive Committee of the American Society of Transplantation’s Psychosocial and Ethics Community of Practice.

Christine Cho, PsyD

Attending Psychologist, Pediatric Abdominal Solid Organ Transplantation

Dr. Cho is a faculty member and attending psychologist for all pediatric abdominal solid organ transplantation. She assists with program development, implementation, and evaluation for a new transition clinic for adolescents and young adults transitioning from pediatric to adult models of care. She completed her masters and doctoral training at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) at Rutgers University with a Clinical Child, Adolescent, Family, and Pediatric Concentration and her internship at Montefiore, before completing a postdoctoral fellowship in disruptive behavior disorders and behavioral parenting interventions with Steven Kurtz, PhD, ABPP. She comes with extensive training in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT) for anxiety and related disorders, mood disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, disruptive behavior disorders, and emotion dysregulation in youth and young adults.

Andrea Kondracke, MD

Director of the Division of Psychiatry and Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center

In her role, Dr. Kondracke oversees and integrates psychiatric consultation services for people admitted to medical and surgical services at Montefiore’s Moses campus, as well as oversees Montefiore’s specialized psychiatric consultation services for transplant surgery and for addiction medicine. After earning her BA in Philosophy at Boston College and MD at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Kondracke completed residencies in both Internal Medicine and Psychiatry at New York Presbyterian, Columbia University Medical Center. After training, she joined the faculty at NYU, where she forged uniquely collaborative bridges between Psychiatry and Medicine at Bellevue, serving as Division Chief for Medical Psychiatry, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, and the Addiction Consultative (CATCH) Service, which she developed. She also served as a hospitalist in Medicine on a regular basis each year and during the COVID-19 pandemic. An Associate Clinical Professor at NYU with joint appointments in the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Medicine, Dr. Kondracke has been a formative teacher and mentor for many outstanding psychiatry leaders, including faculty whom we have been so fortunate to welcome in recent times.

Eating Disorders Program at Montefiore (EDPM)/Adolescent Dialectical Behavior Therapy (A-DBT)

Leadership

Sandra S. Pimentel, PhD

Chief, Child and Adolescent Psychology, Associate Director of Psychology Training, and Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Dr. Sandra Pimentel launched and is Director of the Anxiety and Mood Program (AMP), a specialty training program in the Child Outpatient Psychiatry Department, and co-Director of the Becoming an Emerging Adult at Montefiore (BEAM) Program. From 2007 through 2015, Dr. Pimentel held the position of Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Columbia University Medical Center, where she served as Senior Psychologist and Associate Director of the Columbia University Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders. Dr. Pimentel specializes in cognitive behavioral treatments (CBT) for children, adolescents, and young adults with anxiety, mood, and behavioral difficulties. She is committed to teaching and advanced training, education, and mentorship are at the core of Dr. Pimentel's professional interests. Her research interests have focused on the dissemination of evidenced-based interventions for child and adolescent disorders and the evaluation of the most effective strategies for training and transporting treatments to school and community settings. Dr. Pimentel served as a CBT consultant for community- and school-based clinicians throughout New York State and for the New York State Office of Mental Health's statewide clinician training initiative. She was named a New York State Office of Mental Health Policy Scholar. Dr. Pimentel is actively involved in professional organizations, including the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies where she currently serves on the Board as Secretary-Treasurer and was just elected President-Elect. She also volunteers for community-based programs and is involved in multiple community engagement initiatives in the Bronx.

Other Key Faculty

Melanie Fox, PsyD

Attending Psychologist, Montefiore Medical Center, Child Outpatient Psychiatry Division

Dr. Melanie Fox is an Attending Psychologist and Clinical Director of the Eating Disorders Program at Montefiore. She completed her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the PGSP-Stanford University Psy.D. program. Dr. Fox completed her pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowships in pediatric psychology at Childrens' Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). She is particularly interested in implementation of family-based treatment for eating disorders across populations, enhancing early identification of eating disorders and comorbid presentations, and effectively working in a multidisciplinary team to provide comprehensive care and consultation.

Liza E. Pincus, PsyD

Attending Psychologist, Clinical Director of the Adolescent DBT Program, Montefiore Medical Center, Child Outpatient Psychiatry Division

Dr. Liza Pincus is an Attending Psychologist and Clinical Director of the Adolescent Dialectical Behavior Therapy Program at the Montefiore Moses Child Outpatient Psychiatry Division. She completed her doctorate in clinical psychology at Rutgers University. Dr. Pincus completed her pre-doctoral internship in the dialectical behavior therapy and trauma treatment tracks at Westchester Jewish Community Services. Her research interests include the dissemination and implementation of dialectical behavior therapy and trauma treatment in community mental health settings.

Psychosomatic Medicine

Leadership

Lisa Teh, PhD

Lead Psychologist, Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Montefiore Medical Center/ Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Dr. Teh is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine and works within the Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation as the Lead Psychologist. She completed her doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Hawai'i, internship in adult/health psychology at Geisinger Medical Center, and post-doctoral fellowship at Indiana University School of Medicine specializing in transplant psychology. Her research interests include increasing the accuracy of psychosocial evaluations for solid-organ transplant candidacy, mitigating risks for relapse to alcohol following liver transplantation, and decreasing health disparities in access to solid-organ transplantation and outcomes. Dr. Teh currently serves as a Member at Large on the Executive Committee of the American Society of Transplantation’s Psychosocial and Ethics Community of Practice.

Other Key Faculty

Brett Simpson, PsyD

Attending Psychologist, Consultation –Liaison Psychiatry Service, Psychologist, Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Montefiore Medical Center/ Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Dr. Brett Simpson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine. He serves as an Attending Psychologist on the Psychiatry Consultative & Liaison service and works on the abdominal transplant team within the Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation. He completed his doctorate in clinical psychology with a specialization in Health Psychology at Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Simpson completed his internship in adult & pediatric health psychology at Broward Health Medical Center and his post-doctoral fellowship at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Jackson Medical Center specializing in C&L psychology. His research interests include medical trauma and efficacy of early psychological interventions with medically admitted patients. Dr. Simpson currently serves as a Member on the APA’s Division 38 Public Health Policy Committee.

Christine Cho, PsyD

Attending Psychologist, Pediatric Abdominal Solid Organ Transplantation

Dr. Cho is a faculty member and attending psychologist for all pediatric abdominal solid organ transplantation. She assists with program development, implementation, and evaluation for a new transition clinic for adolescents and young adults transitioning from pediatric to adult models of care. She completed her masters and doctoral training at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) at Rutgers University with a Clinical Child, Adolescent, Family, and Pediatric Concentration and her internship at Montefiore, before completing a postdoctoral fellowship in disruptive behavior disorders and behavioral parenting interventions with Steven Kurtz, PhD, ABPP. She comes with extensive training in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT) for anxiety and related disorders, mood disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, disruptive behavior disorders, and emotion dysregulation in youth and young adults.

Andrea Kondracke, MD

Director of the Division of Psychiatry and Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center

In her role, Dr. Kondracke oversees and integrates psychiatric consultation services for people admitted to medical and surgical services at Montefiore’s Moses campus, as well as oversees Montefiore’s specialized psychiatric consultation services for transplant surgery and for addiction medicine. After earning her BA in Philosophy at Boston College and MD at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Kondracke completed residencies in both Internal Medicine and Psychiatry at New York Presbyterian, Columbia University Medical Center. After training, she joined the faculty at NYU, where she forged uniquely collaborative bridges between Psychiatry and Medicine at Bellevue, serving as Division Chief for Medical Psychiatry, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, and the Addiction Consultative (CATCH) Service, which she developed. She also served as a hospitalist in Medicine on a regular basis each year and during the COVID-19 pandemic. An Associate Clinical Professor at NYU with joint appointments in the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Medicine, Dr. Kondracke has been a formative teacher and mentor for many outstanding psychiatry leaders, including faculty whom we have been so fortunate to welcome in recent times.

Trauma Healing and Resilience in Vulnerable Environments (THRIVE)

Leadership

Laurie Gallo, PhD

Lead Psychologist, Adult Outpatient Psychiatric Division, Director, Trauma Healing and Resilience in Vulnerable Environments (THRIVE) Program, Associate Director, Psychology Training, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Dr. Gallo has been an Attending Psychologist and Assistant Professor at Montefiore-Einstein since 2010. Throughout her tenure at Montefiore she has been involved in various clinical, teaching, supervisory, and administrative activities in the Adult Outpatient Psychiatric Department, Pre-doctoral Psychology Internship and Psychiatry Residency Training Programs. Dr. Gallo is deeply committed to teaching and supervision, and in 2018 was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award by the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Montefiore. Dr. Gallo completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at Binghamton University, earning a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Syracuse VA Medical Center, with a specialization in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders including trauma related stress and anxiety. She also received advanced postdoctoral training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Payne Whitney Westchester/Weill Cornell. Dr. Gallo specializes in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for adults presenting with trauma related stress, anxiety, and depressive disorders. Her primary area of interest is in the treatment of trauma related distress inclusive of complex trauma, racism related stress, and trauma related to marginalization based on gender expression. Her clinical and research interests include the dissemination of evidence-based treatments for marginalized and underserved communities, as well as program development to address systemic needs to provide quality and compassionate care within large community mental health systems. Of note, she has been involved in the dissemination of several evidence-based group interventions in the AOPD including Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, A Transdiagnostic Approach to CBT for Anxiety, Exercise for Mood and Anxiety, and Trauma Sensitive Yoga for PTSD. She has also been involved in the development and implementation of evidence-based tools and policies to improve the management of patients at high risk for suicide and violence which have been adopted throughout the department. In 2022 Dr. Gallo was awarded the Clinical Excellence Award by the Department of Psychiatry at Montefiore. Dr. Gallo is also a yoga teacher (RYT-200) and Certified Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga Facilitator (TC-TSYF) and is interested in the application of yoga as an adjunctive treatment for trauma related stress, anxiety, and depression.

Other Key Faculty

Yash Bhambhani, PhD

Attending Psychologist, Substance Abuse Treatment Program, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Yash Bhambhani, PhD is an Attending Psychologist at Montefiore's Substance Abuse Treatment Program and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Bhambhani is a previous graduate from Montefiore-Einstein's Psychology Internship program, from the Adult Specialization Track. He found his work to be so meaningful that he had to come back! Dr. Bhambhani specializes in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, addiction treatment, and working with minoritized populations, including gender/sexual minorities, and racial/ethnic minorities. Using ACT and intersectionality frameworks, he is interested in creating interpersonal and societal change through clinical work, research, and teaching. As such, Dr. Bhambhani enjoys supervising externs and interns, mentoring, and teaching didactic lectures. His area of research specialization is also focused on ACT and how ACT can be used to improve well-being for people with minoritized experiences (e.g., gay, and bisexual men of color).

Ryan C.T. DeLapp, PhD

Clinical psychologist at Albert Einstein’s Student Mental Health Center and an attending psychologist at Montefiore’s Child/Adolescent Psychiatric Outpatient Division

Dr. DeLapp earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Louisville and completed his pre-doctoral internship at Montefiore Medical Center. Dr. DeLapp specializes in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety, mood, and behavioral disorders. He also has several publications and presentations discussing considerations for assessing and treating racial stress. He is currently developing and evaluating a program entitled "Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Healing" (REACH) focused on supporting adolescent and emerging adult growth in self-acceptance, empowerment, and healing within the context of racial and cultural stressors. This program is based in a theoretical framework designed by Dr. DeLapp entitled the “Racial, Ethnic, And Cultural Healing Unifying Principles” (REACH UP) and includes the study of how this model can guide the development of culturally sensitive treatment plans for adolescents and emerging adults engaged outpatient psychiatric care.

Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences