Dedicated to understanding and treating mood disorders
Medical Staff
Dr. Altshuler holds the
Julia S. Gouw Endowed Chair for Mood Disorders.
She received her bachelor and M.D. degrees from Cornell University.
Following completion of her residency at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, she conducted research as a visiting scholar at the
Shanghai Psychiatric Institute in Shanghai, China.
Upon her return, she
continued her research in the biological correlates of schizophrenia and bipolar
disorder during a two-year fellowship at the Biological Psychiatry branch of the
NIMH.
In 1989, Dr. Altshuler was appointed assistant clinical professor
at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, and in her first year on faculty she
received the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital Junior Faculty Distinguished
Teaching Award. She has been an active teacher and mentor, and in 1994 and 2004
she received the UCLA Department of Psychiatry Outstanding Research Mentor
Award.
She has been recognized for her research by the National Alliance
for the Mentally Ill and the National Depressive, Manic-Depressive Association.
Dr. Altshuler directs two nationally recognized research programs: the
Women’s
UCLA Mood Disorders
Research Program
and the
Research Program.
Dr. Gitlin is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the
UCLA School of Medicine. He is currently the Director of the Adult Division and
Director of the Mood Disorders Clinic at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital.
He is the author of many scientific articles and book chapters as well
as two editions of a solo authored psychopharmacology textbook written for
nonphysician therapists entitled
The
Psychotherapist's Guide to Psychopharmacology
published by the Free
Press. He recently coauthored a book entitled
Psychotropic Drugs and Women
with Dr. Victoria
Hendrick.
He served as
Chief of Staff at the Neuropsychiatric
Hospital from 1997-1999.
His recent awards include: Distinguished
Educator Award in Teaching from the UCLA Department of Psychiatry in 1999, the
UCLA Department of Psychiatry Outstanding Housestaff Teaching Award in 1994, the
Distinguished Service Award from the Southern California Psychiatric Society in
1995 and was named
Psychiatric Times Teacher of the Year in 2002.
He has also won the award for the best Internal Medicine Board Review
Course in the area of psychiatry from the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Dr. Burt is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the
UCLA School of Medicine. She is the
Founder and Director of the
UCLA-Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital
Women's Life Center.
Dr. Burt earned her Bachelor's degree in Biology from New York
University and completed a Master's Degree in Physiology and Biochemistry and a
Ph.D. in Physiology from Rutger's University.
She joined the Department
of Biology at Dawson College, Montreal, Canada following a postdoctoral
fellowship in the Department of Haematology at the Royal Victoria Hospital in
Montreal, Canada.
Dr. Burt received her M.D. from McGill University in
Montreal and completed her training in psychiatry at the University of
California, Los Angeles.
Her interests include pregnancy-related
psychiatric illnesses, postpartum disorders, and psychiatric conditions
associated with perimenopause.
She is the co-author of the text,
Clinical Manual of Women's Mental Health
, now
in its third edition, published by the American Psychiatric Press and has
authored numerous articles and chapters on women's mental health.
Dr.
Burt is the recipient of the 1990-91 Distinguished Service Award of the UCLA
Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, the 1995 Outstanding House Staff
Teaching Award and the 1997 President's Award of the Southern California
Psychiatric Society
Dr. Suri is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA Semel Institute of Neuroscience & Human Behavior.
She completed her medical training at Washington University School of
Medicine and psychiatry residency at UCLA. Following her residency, she
completed a two year fellowship in Women’s Mental Health.
Her research
interests focus on mood disorders during pregnancy and the postpartum period.
Additionally, she is the Associate Director of Residency Education and
Medical Director of the Geriatric Day Treatment Program.
Dr. Abulseoud graduated form Cairo
University in Egypt in 1991; he started his training in surgery in the same
school and is a board certified physician.
He moved to the United States
in 2000 and decided to study mental illness. He did residency training at the
University of Southern California and joined our Mood Disorder’s Research
Program in 2005 as a research fellow.
Dr. Abulseoud is currently working
on several research projects including accelerating antidepressant response by
adding thyroid hormone and evaluating thyroid function tests as outcome
predictors for treatment response. Dr. Abulseoud is also actively involved in
brain imaging studies to serve as biological markers in differentiating bipolar
from unipolar depression.
Dr. Marusak is an Associate Research Physician Diplomate and Clinical Instructor
at the UCLA Semel Institute of Neuroscience & Human Behavior.
She attended UC Berkeley for her undergraduate
degree in psychology, and Columbia University as a Post-baccalaureate.
Dr. Marusak received her medical training at Wayne State University School of Medicine.
She completed her internship and residency in psychiatry at Harbor UCLA and a Fellowship
in mood disorders and psychopharmacology at UCLA.
Her research interests focus on psychopharmacology and mood disorders.
In addition, she is a clinical instructor at both The UCLA Mood Disorders Clinic and the
West LA VA Bipolar Clinic as well as a valued member of our medical research team.