Alumni news
Published on Tuesday, July 6, 2021
The Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior is proud to recognize our alumni on their recent achievements.
Congratulations to our 2021 graduates on their new ventures.
Adult Psychiatry
Mary Claire Meeks, MD - Fayetteville Psychiatry, Fayetteville, AR
Justin Jones, MD - University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackon, MS
Salaahuddin Dakhlalla, MD - Mississippi State Hospital, Pearl, MS
Mason Jahnke, MD - University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV
Alexandra Sibley, MD - Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Dustyn Baker, MD - Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Cesar Cardenas, Jr., MD - Mississippi Center for Advanced Medicine, Madison, MS
Sleep Medicine
Musaddiq Tariq, MD - UCSF Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital, San Francisco, CA
Psychology
Kimberly Barajas, PhD - Child Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, WA
Kerry Kinney, PhD - Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS
Kevin McKenna, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow, Continuum of Care for Addictive Behaviors, Trauma, and Co-occurring Disorders, Palo Alto VA
Kara Nayfa, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, BeHIP Grant, Department of Pediatrics, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS
Francesca Penner, PhD - T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Research Training Program in Childhood Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Yale Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Aishwarya Rajesh, PhD - Postdoctoral Research Associate, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington State University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
Chris Kelly, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
Aaron Lee, PhD (Psychology Residency Graduating Class of 2015-2016)
Dr. Aaron Lee is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Mississippi where he is the director of the Psychological and Social Influences of Chronic Health conditions (PSICH) lab. He received his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Wyoming in 2016 after finishing his predoctoral internship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center Consortium in Jackson. Following residency, Dr. Lee completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the VA Center for Clinical Management Research and University of Michigan Center for Managing Chronic Disease. Dr. Lee’s research seeks to improve our understanding of how psychosocial variables influence disease self-management, clinical outcomes, and medical service use among adults with chronic medical problems such as diabetes and obesity. Specifically, his work focuses on examining the interactive effects of stress, psychological vulnerabilities, and social support on patients’ ability to effectively manage their chronic health conditions. The goal of this research is to inform the development and creation of behavioral interventions to improve health outcomes among adults with chronic disease. Dr. Lee has as authored 36 peer reviewed publications with recent studies published in Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Health Psychology, Diabetes Care, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, and Journal of Behavioral Medicine.
Lisa Anderson, PhD (Psychology Residency Graduating Class of 2016-2017)
Dr. Lisa Anderson received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University at Albany, State University of New York in 2017. She completed an APA-accredited predoctoral clinical internship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center/G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center Psychology Training Consortium, and a postdoctoral fellowship in the NIMH T32 Midwest Regional Postdoctoral Training Program in Eating Disorders Research at the University of Minnesota. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the University of Minnesota Medical School, where she serves as the Director of Training and Education within the Minnesota Center for Eating Disorders Research, and as faculty mentor within the NIMH T32 Midwest Regional Postdoctoral Training Program in Eating Disorders Research. To date, Dr. Anderson has published extensively on the overlap between anxiety and eating disorder psychopathology, with recent efforts focusing on aversive (fear, disgust-based) learning and decision making processes that may contribute to the maintenance of severe and persistent eating disorder symptoms. Her primary research interests include the identification of biological and behavioral mechanisms that promote eating disorder symptom development and maintenance. Dr. Anderson is currently supported by a career development award from the National Institute of Mental Health (K23MH123910), which supports a 5-year project that aims to examine the computational and neurophysiological processes that underlie threat-based learning systems in individuals with eating disorders. Ultimately, this work will inform a parallel line of research that seeks to develop and optimize novel neuroscience-informed treatments for eating disorders.
Whitney Fosco, PhD (Psychology Residency Graduating Class of 2017-2018)
Since completing her psychology residency at UMMC in 2018 and receiving her PhD from the University of Buffalo, Dr. Fosco completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Children and Families at Florida International University and is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Penn State Health University. Her research continues to take a translational approach to understanding the role of cognitive and motivational factors in the maintenance and treatment of externalizing problems in children and adolescents. In 2020, she was awarded the Young Scientist Award by the Children and Adults with ADHD (CHADD) organization, and she recently received her first grant from the Children's Miracle Network.
Cesar Cardenas, Jr., MD (Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Graduating Class of 2020-2021)
Dr. Cardenas chaired an APA workshop in May.
"COVID 19 has affected many aspects of daily life including the APA annual meeting which will be virtual this year. I am excited to present and chair this workshop. The workshop emphasizes how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted education in the United States. The technology gap between households of different income classes was made prominent in the early stages of the pandemic. The session will identify disparities in technology for the availability of distance learning during the pandemic. We will highlight regional examples of various school districts throughout the country reviewing the educational impact from school closures/distance learning. We will also identify the effects that school closures had on student mental health and will identify helpful resources for student mental health during the pandemic."
Dr. Cardenas will also will join other academic leaders for a media theatre presentation titled, “Born in Syria: Novel, Evidence-Based, and Culturally Competent Modalities for Healing Trauma and Promoting Resilience Among Child and Adolescent Immigrants.”
Nida Khawaja, MD (Adult Psychiatry class of 2016-2019)
Dr. Nida Khawaja left UMMC in 2019 after completing her PGY 3 year of the adult psychiatry residency. She is now board certified in psychiatry by the ABPN and recently completed her Child and Adolescent Fellowship training from the University at Buffalo, Jacob School of Medicine. Driven by a passion for advocacy, Dr. Khawaja was an active member of the University at Buffalo Resident Committee. In addition to mental health and child trafficking support movements, Dr. Khawaja recently assisted with the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry COVID-19 support hotline. By way of this support network, Dr. Khawaja diligently provided front-line workers with supportive psychotherapy assistance during the COVID-19 outbreak. Nutritional Psychiatry is another one of Dr. Khawaja's interests, as she has devoted two years to developing her scholarly research project, "Soda and Milk Consumption and Depression in Adolescents," which was accepted by AACAP for presentation as a poster in October 2021. Upon graduation, Dr. Khawaja was given the PRITE Award and will be moving back to her home country, Canada, where she will continue her work at the Joseph Brant Hospital.
Yun Feng, MD (Adult Psychiatry class of 2016-2017)
"It has been five years but I still remember the day as if it were yesterday when I left Mississippi for my child psychiatry fellowship at Yale Child Study Center. It was my long-held desire to start a career that encompassed clinical care and the intellectual stimulation that came with teaching and research. Following the completion of my fellowship, I joined the faculty at Yale Psychiatric Hospital, which excellently interweaved my passions. On the Mood disorders Unit, where I serve as attending physician, we have adopted an integrated care model incorporating innovative research and interventional psychiatry treatments into comprehensive care standards. I always appreciate the training and education I received at UMMC, which equipped me with enormous confidence while teaching medical students and residents. In addition to my clinical engagement, facilitating the growth of mental health care in Asia has also become my lifelong mission. In collaboration with my colleagues, I am going to present at AACAP this fall to discuss corporal punishment in East Asia."