Who We Are

I am privileged to have served in different aspects of Stanford CAP Program leadership for over 20 years. Having grown up as a doctor across 3 institutions in Texas, New York and California, I have learned that the strength of any educational program lies in the camaraderie and connection among its trainees and their engagement with faculty. Our Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry strongly supports our training structure, which provides flexibility within the formal structure of a 2-year training program. CAP Fellows who actively participate in their educational, scholarly, and clinical opportunities here tend to have the greatest sense of fulfillment and well-being. As a program leadership team, we have learned that education is strongest when accounting for individual differences while pursuing common goals.

The highest priority of our CAP Fellowship Training Program is to prepare trainees for leadership roles in academic child & adolescent psychiatry, clinical practice and public service. As such, we provide many opportunities to develop leadership skills through participating in scholarly opportunities, seminars, faculty engagement, and national meetings. Regardless of their career choices, we believe that all Fellows must be thoroughly trained, first and foremost, as clinicians. Our mentor guided 6-week scholarly block in the CAP-1 year is unique among CAP programs nationally, and allows for deep exploration in specific topics of interest to Fellows. 

As a Professor, I am part of the diverse tapestry of academic activities among Stanford University faculty. It has been so fulfilling to introduce CAP Fellows to my interests in school mental health, suicide prevention, teaching and mentoring, professional development, and cultural psychiatry.

My personal learning philosophy is based on the importance of developing skills as a lifelong learner – a lesson that I continue to appreciate on a daily basis in my clinical and research activities. This same premise drives our CAP training structure, where we continually strive to deliver child and adolescent psychiatric education across clinical, didactic and research settings. Our intentional approach focuses on concentrating as much skill development in these domains within the fellowship period. Perhaps more importantly, we also highly value the importance of developing a lifelong learning mindset during fellowship, through the acknowledgement that there will be much to learn about child and adolescent psychiatry for many years after fellowship concludes. To these ends, fellows are active stakeholders in the training program, and quickly develop into dual roles both as trainees learning a new field, and also as leaders within the multiple communities that comprise our clinical, educational and national efforts.

As the Associate Program Director for Research and Curriculum, I am particularly interested in innovative approaches to teaching neuroscientific principles and brain-based understanding of complex human behavior, while incorporating the many complex interpersonal and environmental influences that impact a child’s development. I am also invested in mentoring fellows interested in academic child psychiatry and research, who are sorely needed to advance our field. My own research uses multiple levels of inquiry ranging from neuroimaging, cognitive-behavioral and genomics methods, to technological approaches to electronic health records and mobile mental health apps. Across this broad spectrum, the common thread of my research is a focus on developmental and cognitive neuroscience, which also holds true in my clinics which focus on neurodevelopmental conditions and genetic syndromes. Ultimately, I am passionate about innovation in the conceptualization of child psychiatric conditions, and the critical need for incorporating development as a fundamental concept in how disorders are defined and treated. I am always eager to include fellows in any, or all these initiatives, and to collaborate on how to incorporate these themes in fellowship education.

Growing up, I always dreamed of being an educator one day and this desire was only strengthened during training when I learned about a program director’s impact on their trainees. As the Associate Program Director of the CAP Fellowship program, my scholarly work focuses on physician well-being, professionalism and faculty development. I believe that professionalism, along with mentorship, sponsorship and professional development opportunities, is a key driver of one’s well-being. This is in line with the values of our program, which emphasizes compassion, collegiality and respect for one’s personal and professional needs, and where Faculty understand the importance of providing supervision while promoting autonomy as Fellows progress during their training.

I direct the Fellowship’s Ethics and Professionalism Course, and am the Co-Chair for the Well-Being and Professional Development Committee. I am particularly interested in developing a better understanding of the association of trainee and faculty well-being with professional development, and crafting creative ideas to enhance professional fulfillment within the Department. As the Acting Director of the Pediatric Mood Disorders Clinic, I provide direct supervision to Fellows to help them develop expertise within the context of providing excellent, patient-centered clinical care for the youth seen in our clinic, many of whom have an elevated risk for suicide.

From our engaging didactic seminars and enriching, immersive clinical experiences, our program takes pride in supporting Fellows to develop a sense of professional identity as a psychotherapist, psychopharmacologist, family psychiatrist, advocate and consultant-- with the aim to produce inquisitive lifelong learners who become experts and leaders in the field of child & adolescent psychiatry.

I studied education and social policy in college and became interested in child psychiatry when I discovered the importance of children’s mental health in their ability to learn. I am interested in school mental health, parent/teacher support, psychotherapy, and trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness practices. I have been involved in research on the benefits of a school yoga program and advocacy efforts through the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Children, Adolescents, and Their Families. 

Choosing Stanford for fellowship training was an easy decision for me. Stanford offers incredible mentors and training opportunities in my areas of interest and has an environment that fosters collegiality and innovation. In addition, I am thrilled to stay in the Bay Area and enjoy the beautiful outdoors, diversity, and vibrant food scene!  

My passion for psychiatry originated in the homeless shelters of Philadelphia. As a medical student, I volunteered as an advocate at one of the largest emergency homeless shelters in the city, where I first began observing the impact of macro-systemic factors on the genesis, maintenance, and treatment of psychiatric illness. Psychiatry residency training in New York increased my appreciation of the impact systemic factors have on rates of recovery, medication adherence, quality of life, disease relapse, and even gene expression. Motivated to become skillful at systemic formulation and intervention, I pursued additional coursework at The Ackerman Institute for the Family in NYC, where I trained in family therapy and learned about the impact of culture, intersectionality, power, and oppression on disease genesis and maintenance. 

My hope as a child and adolescent psychiatrist is to effectively influence systemic dynamics at their earliest stages, in order to improve life trajectories for both patients and their families. I chose Stanford’s fellowship program with the strong belief it would enable me to learn how to empower not only individuals, but also their families and the communities in which they reside. Stanford’s program encourages active pursuit of intellectual curiosity and provides the innovative environment, faculty expertise, mentorship, and resources needed to transform ideas into systemic change. I have been impressed by the quality of our didactics, clinical experiences, and psychotherapy training, and am looking forward to my scholarly block later this year. I am loving the amazing food, outdoors, and climate of the SF Bay Area as well!

I grew up in Bangladesh and got my higher education on the East coast until coming to Stanford. Stanford is the perfect place to cultivate my growth as a physician. The culture here fosters medical innovation, empathy, humility, and the highest quality care. The program has unmatched didactics, supervision, and mentorship. There is great diversity amongst both patient populations and providers. Our program leadership is committed to CAP Fellow wellbeing. Moving to the West coast has also been great. I love travelling, and even though limited by COVID, in California I have discovered so much beauty without leaving the state! My cohort has been very welcoming and supportive, and is definitely one of my favorite things about the fellowship!

Stanford was unequivocally my top choice to continue my training as it rounds out my clinical education, while providing a rich and diverse research environment. So far, I have engaged in a broad range of training opportunities such as learning more about eating disorders at the Stanford Comprehensive Care Program, applying DBT skills across clinical environments, and acquiring expertise in psychotherapies like parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) and child parent psychotherapy (CPP). The possibility of longitudinal research time and postdoctoral opportunities beyond the CAP-1 year is exciting. Stanford University has multiple fields of expertise for me to draw upon for my research, including the Center for Digital Health and the School of Communication. Stanford University also has an emphasis on interdisciplinary research and translational medicine as well as ties to the tech community in Silicon Valley.

I am originally from the Chicagoland area and attended University of Notre Dame for undergrad. While working for a consulting firm in Chicago after college, I decided to make a career change and attended a post-baccalaureate pre-medical program at Bryn Mawr College. I then returned to Chicago for medical school at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

For residency, I made my first move westward and trained at the University of California San Francisco. I fell in love with the SF Bay Area, and thus Stanford was an obvious choice for CAP Fellowship. Additionally, Stanford’s program offered an excellent variety of clinical opportunities, advanced training and research in eating disorders, multiple modalities of psychotherapy supervision, and I felt a sense of community within the CAP Fellowship program even before Day 1. I feel so glad I made this choice!

Professionally, I am interested in psychodynamic psychotherapy, eating disorders, women’s mental health, and medical education. While I have not quite figured out how I am going to fit all those interests into one career path, I am looking forward to receiving mentorship at Stanford in order to figure that out. Outside of work I enjoy the amazing weather of the Bay Area, exploring new hiking trails, and watching my dog run on the beach.

I grew up in the rural north part of the SF Bay Area. Later I worked as a veterinary technician and became fascinated by animal behavior. Pursuing this interest, I studied Neurobiology, Physiology & Behavior at UC-Davis. I grew increasingly interested in the field of psychiatry. Prior to attending medical school I spent time in rural South Korea, where I taught English to underserved youth. Returning to the US, I attended UC-San Diego School of Medicine and UC-Riverside for residency.

I chose Stanford for CAP Fellowship due to the warm and welcoming attitude of the program leadership and fellows, and the strong support for pursuing specialty areas. My professional interests include trauma-related disorders, Animal Assisted Therapy, cultural psychiatry, and applications of technology to psychiatry. Outside of work I enjoy a variety of dog-related activities.

After leaving the West coast to spend 8 years in Houston, TX, arriving to the SF Bay Area for residency has felt like finally finding my home. The culture here, including at Stanford, manages to strike the perfect balance of ambition and well-being. There have been endless opportunities for me to grow - both professionally (exploring my interests in neurodiversity, Asian-American cultural psychiatry, and forensic psychiatry) and personally. Outside of work, I am often found trying restaurants with my friends, going on local weekend trips with my husband and dog, and soaking up the sun with my niece and nephews.

Hi, I'm Omar. A bit about me:

Undergraduate: BS, UC Santa Cruz
Graduate: MPH, San Jose State University
Medical School: UC Davis
General (Adult) Residency: Stanford University

Interests: psychodynamic and psychoanalytic therapy, cultural psychiatry, medical education

Hobbies: photography, creative writing, baseball

I've been able to explore and cultivate so many aspects of myself here at Stanford, and look forward to chatting with you more about it!

My path to Child and Adolescent Psychiatry began while volunteering on an inpatient psychiatric unit 10 years ago. At the time I was working as a management consultant and had no inkling that I was about to begin a career in medicine. I was struck by the suffering experienced not only by patients but by their families as well. That understanding continues to inform the care I seek to provide to patients today. I have an abiding interest in psychotherapy and completed the psychoanalytic psychotherapy training program at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis. As a graduate of the San Mateo County Psychiatry Residency Program, I am experienced in public psychiatry and am committed to working with historically marginalized populations. I was attracted to Stanford for so many reasons, but to highlight just one, would be the incredible caliber of the CAP Fellows who have trained in this program, each of whom is working to advance the field of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. It is my honor to work with such outstanding colleagues. While at Stanford I look forward to deepening my skills across multiple psychotherapeutic modalities, working with families in moments of crisis, and helping parents navigate the challenges of caring for children with mental illness.

My journey to child psychiatry fellowship at Stanford completed a full circle for me. I first joined the Stanford psychiatry department as a research assistant and then as a post-doctoral fellow in the Stanford Muslims and Mental Health Lab. I got to experience first-hand the tremendous research resources that the psychiatry department offers, the culture that encourages innovation, and the fantastic collaborative vibe. I aspire to become an academic child & adolescent psychiatrist and found Stanford to be the perfect fit for my fellowship training and for my future career goals. I look forward to using my six weeks of scholarly block in the first year of fellowship to further advance my academic work. I am grateful for being trained by renowned faculty who model humility, professionalism, and compassion in serving their patients and families. I am passionate about psychotherapy, and the breadth of therapy training in the Stanford CAP-1 year, including CBT, play therapy, family psychiatry and parent management training, is unmatched by most other programs. In my free time, I enjoy the beautiful weather and exploring recreational places in the SF Bay Area with my family.

I chose Stanford because of the depth and breadth of clinical opportunities. I was drawn by the strength of the clinical rotations, the superb teaching faculty, and the impressive patient volume which allows us to see a wide array of psychiatric disorders, from the common to the rare. Because Stanford offers patients a variety of specialized clinical services, I feel fortunate to learn about how to use these top-notch resources from leaders in the field of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Since starting here, I’m even more impressed by the robust psychotherapy supervision, the ability to have an inpatient child psychiatry experience, the dedicated inpatient eating disorders rotation, and a six-week scholarly block that has allowed me to pursue my interest in bringing transcranial magnetic stimulation to children and adolescent populations.

My current clinical interests include interventional psychiatry (TMS, ECT, ketamine), psychoanalytic psychotherapy including play therapy for children, ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, Asian American mental health, and the clinical intersection between neurology and psychiatry. Since moving to San Francisco for residency at UCSF, I fell in love with the SF Bay Area and its endless outdoor opportunities, the temperate climate, and the diverse food options here. I’m glad to have had the opportunity to stay in the Bay Area!

I grew up in the SF Bay Area and left for the east coast to attend college, where I studied engineering and witnessed snowfall for the first time. After college, I explored global health in rural West Africa and studied medical anthropology in the UK before returning to the US for medical training. I traveled up and down the east coast during medical school and residency, and am delighted to finally return to California for fellowship at Stanford!

I feel very grateful to be part of the Stanford CAP community - not only are there diverse opportunities to learn and grow, there is also a palpable warmth among mentors and colleagues that makes the experience feel even more like home.

My professional interests are broad, including complex trauma, cultural behaviors, novel therapeutics, and technology in psychiatry. Outside of work, I enjoy dancing, backpacking, baking in large quantities, harvesting honey, and climbing trees.

I grew up in Dallas, TX and attended college in Southern California (at Claremont McKenna College), before heading back to Texas for medical school and residency. When I started my fellowship search, I was excited about the prospect of returning to California. When I interviewed at Stanford, it immediately felt like the right fit! There were a lot of things about Stanford that made it my first choice for fellowship – the expertise of the faculty in the department, the opportunities for research and mentorship, the quality of the didactics, the emphasis on psychotherapy training, and the breadth of clinical experiences. I’ve also been impressed with how our program leadership supports fellows in pursuing whatever areas of interest we have, and I'm excited for the opportunity to explore mine during scholarly block this year.

As the son of Argentine immigrants and growing up in a bicultural and bilingual household, I have had a longstanding interest in culture and how it defines us as individuals. I studied Art History as an undergrad, and though art and stories can enrich one's understanding of life, I found the cultivation of interpersonal relationships to be the most meaningful aspect of the human experience. Inevitably, Psychiatry was a perfect fit for my career interests. I chose to pursue child & adolescent training because of my interests in public health, prevention, early trauma interventions, development, and family systems work. I was especially drawn to Stanford’s community track as it allowed me to continue to cultivate my passion for working with underserved children and families. I am interested in examining and helping to change structural health inequities, deepening my psychotherapy skills, and developing my expertise as a clinician-educator. I have loved our program’s emphasis on teaching and practicing cultural psychiatry, and I feel strongly supported by my supervisors. My co-fellows have been amazing, thoughtful, and supportive people, and I feel especially fortunate to be working alongside them. Having done my residency at the San Mateo County program, I was glad to stay in the SF Bay Area, where there is ready access to the outdoors, diverse cultural experiences, and wonderful weather!

Growing up in the SF Bay Area, I was always curious about living in Southern California. When the opportunity came up, I eagerly attended UC San Diego for medical school and happily stayed for residency. Although I miss SoCal beaches, I feel right at home when I see towering palm trees on the beautiful Stanford campus.

I chose Stanford for fellowship training because it prioritizes the commitment to quality education, offers broad clinical experiences, and cultivates intellectual curiosity. Most of all, I came to Stanford for the amazing people who are invested in my development as a clinician and a future leader. I am interested in emergency psychiatry, consult liaison psychiatry, psychopharmacology, and cultural psychiatry. I am excited to explore the intersection of these interests during my dedicated scholarly time in both CAP-1 and CAP-2 years.

I am originally from Jacksonville, Florida and majored in Hispanic Studies at Davidson College in North Carolina. I completed medical school at the University of Florida before moving up the coast to the University of Virginia for psychiatry residency. I have always been drawn to working with children and I am excited to begin my career as a child and adolescent psychiatrist. My goal in this field is to work with vulnerable populations and communities with limited access to resources and specialized expertise. At Stanford, I found a program that offers well-rounded training experiences that will prepare me for a career serving these patient populations, especially immigrant children, their families, and victims of trauma and abuse. Given my desire to relocate to the west coast and Stanford’s bounty of clinical experiences and robust training opportunities, the program is a great fit!

Choosing to go to Stanford for fellowship seemed like the natural next step in my training. Having previously rotated at Stanford, I was impressed by the knowledge of the faculty, the diversity and complexity of patient cases, and the welcoming attitude of the program administration. The program appealed to me for many reasons, including the opportunity to work with faculty and fellows who are well respected, and well connected, in the field and flexible scholarly times to tailor my experience. There is a wealth of training opportunities at Stanford which provide fellows with an exceptionally well-rounded clinical experience. Additionally, the SF Bay Area is a wonderful place to live with plenty of options for food and outdoor adventures.

I fell in love with child psychiatry as a medical student at Yale and have loved every minute of my journey since!

Specifically, I’m passionate about improving the mental health of transgender youth and am the co-editor of the textbook, Pediatric Gender Identity: Gender-affirming Care for Transgender & Gender Diverse Youth. I’ve also had great opportunities to conduct research on the determinants of mental health for transgender youth that has made its way into legislative debates and court cases around the country. In my spare time, I work as a freelance opinion writer on issues of gender and sexuality, with pieces in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and a few others. I’m a member of the media committee of AACAP and the communications council of the APA.

Stanford has been such a perfect fit for me. The SF Bay Area has incredible expertise on LGBTQ mental health, and some of our very own program directors are conducting vital research in the area. Stanford also has an unparalleled medical humanities program that has allowed me to keep up my writing. And none of this is to mention the beautiful weather and laid-back supportive academic community! It’s been an incredibly welcomed culture shock from the East coast, and I think I’ve found my new home for the foreseeable future.