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Behavioral Neurology & Neuropsychiatry Fellowship
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Training in Behavioral Neurology & Neuropsychiatry Fellowship
The Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry (BNNP) Fellowship Program at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center (LHMC) is committed to training the next generation of clinical and academic experts in the diagnosis and management of brain disorders that affect cognition, emotion, and behavior.
Our program is accredited by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties (UCNS), and is jointly run by the departments of Neurology and Psychiatry at LHMC.
About Our Fellowship
The fellowship is offered as both a 1-year clinical and a 2-year academic track with up to two fellows accepted per year. Fellows in the BNNP are trained in the neurobiological bases and treatment of cognitive, behavioral, and neuropsychiatric manifestations of neurodegenerative diseases, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, stroke, movement disorders, brain tumors, inflammatory and infectious diseases of the central nervous system, developmental disorders, traumatic brain injury, and other disorders. The clinical foundation of the fellowship consists of longitudinal behavioral neurology and neuropsychiatry clinics, with elective rotations available based on the individual fellow’s interest.
The elective rotations we offer within LHMC include inpatient neuropsychiatric consultations, inpatient neurocritical care, and neurology subspecialty clinics (movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, and others). The elective rotations in our affiliated institutions include brain stimulation therapies (ECT, rTMS, tCS), traumatic brain injury, geriatric neuropsychiatry, and inpatient neuropsychiatry. Please see the list below for more information.
Fellows are closely supervised by our cognitive and behavioral neurologists in the Center for Memory and Cognitive Disorders at LHMC and by colleagues with other neurological subspecialties including movement disorders, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, sleep disorders, and neurocritical care. Within our Lahey Psychiatry Division, our fellows are closely supervised by neuropsychiatrists, CL psychiatrists, and geriatric psychiatrists.
Fellows participate in interdisciplinary clinical teaching rounds, journal club, clinical neuroscience seminars, and one-on-one tutorials. Opportunities to engage in clinical research and clinical trials with members of LHMC’s neurology and psychiatry divisions are widely available and encouraged, depending on fellows’ area of interest.
Meet the Team
Our teaching faculty includes:
Program Director: Laura T. Safar, MD
Associate Program Director: Oleg Yerstein, MD
Cognitive Neurologists: Oleg Yerstein, MD; Grazyna Pomorska, MD; Joseph Keating, MD
Neuropsychiatrists/Geriatric Psychiatrists/CL Psychiatrists: Laura Safar, MD; Joseph Keating, MD (dually trained in neurology and psychiatry); David Van Norstrand, MD; Benita Handa, MD; Neil Weiser, MD; Smita Patel, MD; Larry Schibuk, MD; Patrick Aquino, MD
Neuropsychologists: Dede Ukueberuwa, PhD; Dana Penney, PhD; Caitlin Macaulay, PhD
Advanced Practitioners: Pritika Patel, NP; Stephany Hollaender, NP; Avani Shah, PA
Other Faculty: Maura Copeland, MD (geriatric psychiatry); Alexandra Stillman, MD (traumatic brain injury, brain stimulation); Roknedin Safavi, MD (TMS); Matthew McAdams, MD (multiple sclerosis); Illya Tolokh, MD PhD (epilepsy); Joanna Suski, MD (epilepsy); Collin Culbertson, MD (stroke); Michal Vytopil, MD (neuromuscular); Joseph Burns, MD (neurocritical care); David Lerner, MD (neurocritical care); Irina Guryanova, MD (inpatient geriatric psychiatry and neuropsychiatry); Steven Gillespie, MD (ECT)
Application Information
Candidates may be currently attending or have completed residency training in either neurology or psychiatry. They should have a valid U.S. medical license and be board certified/board eligible. We accept applicants who are J-1 visa holders.
To apply, please send a CV, personal statement, and 3 letters of recommendation to the Program Director, Laura T. Safar, M.D.
Applications are reviewed year-round but must be received by October 15 for applicants intending to start in July of the following year. Please reach out to Dr. Safar with questions related to the program.
Additional Elective Rotations at Participating Institutions
Site: Cognitive Neurology Unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Faculty: Alexandra Stillman, M.D. – Director, Concussion, TBI & Neurorehabilitation
Traumatic Brain Injury
Site: Cognitive Neurology Unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Faculty: Alexandra Stillman, M.D. – Director, Concussion, TBI & Neurorehabilitation
Site: Cognitive Neurology Unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Faculty: Alexandra Stillman, M.D. – Director, Concussion, TBI & Neurorehabilitation
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Site: Center for Healthy Aging
Faculty: Roknedin Safavi, M.D. – Director, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Neuropsychiatric Disorders in the Geriatric Population
Site: Center for Healthy Aging
Faculty: Maura Copeland, M.D. – Geriatric Psychiatrist
Electroconvulsive Therapy for Neuropsychiatric Disorders
Site: ECT Service, Beverly Hospital
Faculty: Steven Gillespie, M.D.
Inpatient Geriatric Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry
Site: Leland Unit, Beverly Hospital
Faculty: Irina Guryanova, M.D. – Medical Director, Leland Unit
About Us
Lahey Hospital & Medical Center (LHMC) is a physician-led thriving teaching hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine based in Burlington, Massachusetts. Faculty hold professorships at Tufts University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Boston University School of Medicine. The hospital hosts 30 residency and post-graduate fellowship programs including Neurology, Neurosurgery, Radiology, Interventional Neuroradiology, and others. LHMC is part of the Beth Israel Lahey Health system (BILH). As such, it has a privileged relationship and multiple established clinical, educational, and research collaborations with other institutions in the network including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Mount Auburn Hospital, Beverly Hospital, and others.
The Neurology Division at LHMC is a large, academically affiliated, hospital-based multi-specialty neurology group. It includes multiple subspecialty clinics: Cognitive Disorders, Brain Tumor Clinic, Cerebrovascular Center, Epilepsy & Seizures, Interventional Headache Center, Movement Disorders, Multiple Sclerosis, Neuromuscular Disorders, Sleep Disorders, and Stroke Center. The Division boasts an active research portfolio, including ongoing studies on movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, sleep disorders, and others.
The Psychiatry Division at LHMC is comprised of a dynamic multidisciplinary group of psychiatrists with subspecialty in neuropsychiatry, consultation-liaison psychiatry and geriatric psychiatry, neuropsychologist and clinical psychologists, and advanced practitioners and social workers. The Division has strong established clinical and academic collaborations with other psychiatric services in the BILH system.
Lahey’s Center for Memory and Cognitive Disorders is a multidisciplinary center devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of acquired disorders of memory, language, reasoning, awareness, and behavior in adults. Specialists from multiple departments including neurology, neuropsychology, psychiatry, social work, and physical, speech, and occupational therapy work together to provide individualized and comprehensive care.
