2023 Executive Committee Candidate Info:
1. President Elect / Vice President:
Nikhil Rao, MD, MSc
Dr. Nik Rao is a recent transplant to Portland, having moved from the opposite corner of the country. A native of Texas, Dr. Rao attended Cornell before pursuing graduate school across the pond at University College London where he studied the evolution of social systems in monkeys, who are not as easy to talk to as kids. While successful in that endeavor, the effort to obtain a posh-sounding British accent was not, so he moved back home. After obtaining an MD from University of Oklahoma and completing general and child psychiatric training, he earned an additional board certification in obesity medicine.
Dr. Rao has practiced across a range of environments including emergency, consultation, and general and specialty pediatric embedded services. Currently, he provides care to youth with complex trauma, neurodevelopmental disorders, and severe mental illness through Catholic Community Services as well as complex eating disorders at Kartini Clinic. He also serves as the medical director of New Avenues for Youth (part of the homeless youth continuum) in addition to teaching and serving as a rotation director for students, residents, and fellows from multiple institutions. He also enjoys small-scale research and providing education about mental health to both practitioners and the community.
An inveterate sci-fi geek, he misappropriated his MD to sidle closer to his favorite authors as a ‘medical and science content advisor’. It also gives him an excuse to speak at sci-fi conventions and use it as resume fodder. Some have claimed he picked a pediatric specialty so he could dress up as Batman and claim it is ‘for the children’. He has never denied this.
Nikhil Rao, MD, MSc
Dr. Nik Rao is a recent transplant to Portland, having moved from the opposite corner of the country. A native of Texas, Dr. Rao attended Cornell before pursuing graduate school across the pond at University College London where he studied the evolution of social systems in monkeys, who are not as easy to talk to as kids. While successful in that endeavor, the effort to obtain a posh-sounding British accent was not, so he moved back home. After obtaining an MD from University of Oklahoma and completing general and child psychiatric training, he earned an additional board certification in obesity medicine.
Dr. Rao has practiced across a range of environments including emergency, consultation, and general and specialty pediatric embedded services. Currently, he provides care to youth with complex trauma, neurodevelopmental disorders, and severe mental illness through Catholic Community Services as well as complex eating disorders at Kartini Clinic. He also serves as the medical director of New Avenues for Youth (part of the homeless youth continuum) in addition to teaching and serving as a rotation director for students, residents, and fellows from multiple institutions. He also enjoys small-scale research and providing education about mental health to both practitioners and the community.
An inveterate sci-fi geek, he misappropriated his MD to sidle closer to his favorite authors as a ‘medical and science content advisor’. It also gives him an excuse to speak at sci-fi conventions and use it as resume fodder. Some have claimed he picked a pediatric specialty so he could dress up as Batman and claim it is ‘for the children’. He has never denied this.
2. Secretary/Treasurer:
Kenneth Ensroth, MD
Dr. Ensroth is the Chair of the Psychiatry department at Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center (PWFMC) and is the President Elect of the PWFMC Medical Staff Office. Dr. Ensroth a member of the Board of Directors of Children’s Center. A graduate of Michigan State Medical School, he completed his Residency & Fellowship at the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry. He has been a member of OCCAP since 2001, and is a past President of the Council (2012-2013).
Dr. Ensroth enjoys triathlons and music (he sings in a choir and plays the trombone!). He is currently registered for the Boston marathon as a fundraiser for Cradles to Crayons, an organization that provides much needed items to kids in Massachusetts. He also enjoys spending time with his two sons, Alex & Nick.
Kenneth Ensroth, MD
Dr. Ensroth is the Chair of the Psychiatry department at Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center (PWFMC) and is the President Elect of the PWFMC Medical Staff Office. Dr. Ensroth a member of the Board of Directors of Children’s Center. A graduate of Michigan State Medical School, he completed his Residency & Fellowship at the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry. He has been a member of OCCAP since 2001, and is a past President of the Council (2012-2013).
Dr. Ensroth enjoys triathlons and music (he sings in a choir and plays the trombone!). He is currently registered for the Boston marathon as a fundraiser for Cradles to Crayons, an organization that provides much needed items to kids in Massachusetts. He also enjoys spending time with his two sons, Alex & Nick.
3. AACAP Delegate: Select 2
Kirk Wolfe, MD, DFAACAP, DFAPA
Mike Franz, DFAACAP, FAPA
Dr. Franz is a board certified child & adolescent and adult psychiatrist who has worked in a variety of clinical and administrative leadership positions throughout Oregon. He is the Senior Medical Director of Behavioral Health at Cambia/Regence. He previously was the first Medical Director of Behavioral Health at PacificSource. His passion is working toward sustainable reimbursement of high value behavioral health <–> physical health integration in medical settings. On Fridays, he works as a clinician providing direct care to children at Deschutes County Behavioral Health as well as psychiatric consultation to pediatric primary care clinics using the Collaborative Care Model and eConsults. Dr. Franz is a past-president of the Oregon Council of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (OCCAP) and continues as an active member of its Executive Council. In 2012 he received OCCAP’s Child Psychiatrist of the Year Award. In 2015 he was recognized as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Dr. Franz lives in Bend, Oregon with his wife and two daughters where they enjoy skiing, biking, hiking, and playing in their backyard.
Dr. Franz has been an OCCAP Assembly Delegate for over 15 years during which he has actively been involved in guiding policies at a national level, always representing the specific interests of Oregon children, families and child psychiatry. Dr. Franz looks forward to continuing in this role with an emphasis on integrating child psychiatry with broader health delivery systems, developing and sustaining novel clinical models of care and working to ensure sustainable reimbursement of those services that offer value and clinical outcomes for Oregonian families.
Kirk Wolfe, MD, DFAACAP, DFAPA
- AACAP DISTINGUISHED FELLOW, 2013- present
- APA DISTINGUISHED FELLOW, 2019-present
- OCCAP EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, 2000- present
- OREGON DELEGATE TO AACAP, 2002- present
- OCCAP ADVOCACY LIAISON, 2022- present
- OCCAP PRESIDENT, 2001- 2
- OREGON MEDICAL ASSOCIATION BOARD OF TRUSTEE, 2009-present
- OPPA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, 2007-present
- OREGON ALLIANCE TO PREVENT SUICIDE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
- CLINICAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, OHSU, 1997- present
- CHILDREN'S SYSTEM ADVISORY COMMITTEE, 2006- present
- Continued my commitment building relationships in advocating for our profession, and Oregon youth and families, through the thick and thin of the pandemic
- Continued my service with 3yrs of commitment on the OCCAP executive committee, OPPA executive and legislative committees, OMA Board of Trustees, Oregon Alliance to Prevent Suicide executive committee, Oregon Children's System Advisory Committee (CSAC) and as Oregon Delegate to AACAP
- Provided OCCAP members the opportunity to contribute to YSIPP 2.0, our state's Youth Suicide Intervention and Prevention Plan
- Developed and presented the OMA Resolution on "Addressing the Crisis in Youth Mental Health in Oregon", which was passed unanimously by the OMA Board of Trustees in 2022
- Served as moderator of the panel, "There's Light on the Horizon: Oregon's Youth Suicide Prevention Efforts, Perspectives for Further Improvement", at the 2022 annual OMA meeting
- Had personal invite to AACAP President Warren Ng, MD, MPH accepted to speak at our 2023 annual meeting in April
- Prioritized AACAP Delegate meetings to represent OCCAP with 100% attendance, despite the challenges of the pandemic, most often the only Oregon delegate able to attend
- Three decades of building relationships in advocating for Oregon youth and families, and our profession, as an Oregon child and adolescent psychiatrist, including more than 20 years serving as Oregon Delegate to AACAP, receiving OCCAP's Child Psychiatrist of the Year award in 2003 and the OMA's Doctor-Citizen of the Year award in 2018, the first Oregon child psychiatrist to receive this award
- Active in the work leading to our Council twice receiving AACAP's Catchers in the Rye Award for Best Regional Council, in 2010, and providing the winning nomination in 2018
- Three decades' commitment in Oregon preventing suicide in Oregon youth, working with the Governor's Task Force on Youth Suicide Prevention in 1996, serving as chair of Oregon's first Youth Suicide Prevention Conference, "Making a Difference", in 1997, developing well-received youth suicide prevention brochures for Oregon parents and teachers (replicated in Virginia and Washington state), helping to develop Oregon's three youth suicide prevention plans (published 2000, 2016, 2022) and on several state committees, awarded the 2001 Oregon Mental Health Award for Excellence for this work
- Proposed OCCAP add the positions of Early Career Child Psychiatrist, Disaster and Trauma Representative and Advocacy Liaison Representative to our executive committee, which we now have
- Started OCCAP's Oregon Children's Mental Health Advocate of the Year Award in 2002, with former governor Kate Brown our first recipient in 2002, and Ebony Clarke our most recent recipient
- Active in collaboration with our state partners, including early OCCAP work with the Oregon Pediatric Society on pediatric mental health consultation; Oregon Family Support Network; received Youth Move Oregon's 2011 Heart of the Healer Award at the state capitol
- Chaired OCCAP's first Oregon Children's Mental Health Conference, "Understanding and Supporting our Children's Mental Health", in 200
- Recognized by AACAP leadership in helping to defeat past psychology-prescribing bills in Oregon
Mike Franz, DFAACAP, FAPA
Dr. Franz is a board certified child & adolescent and adult psychiatrist who has worked in a variety of clinical and administrative leadership positions throughout Oregon. He is the Senior Medical Director of Behavioral Health at Cambia/Regence. He previously was the first Medical Director of Behavioral Health at PacificSource. His passion is working toward sustainable reimbursement of high value behavioral health <–> physical health integration in medical settings. On Fridays, he works as a clinician providing direct care to children at Deschutes County Behavioral Health as well as psychiatric consultation to pediatric primary care clinics using the Collaborative Care Model and eConsults. Dr. Franz is a past-president of the Oregon Council of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (OCCAP) and continues as an active member of its Executive Council. In 2012 he received OCCAP’s Child Psychiatrist of the Year Award. In 2015 he was recognized as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Dr. Franz lives in Bend, Oregon with his wife and two daughters where they enjoy skiing, biking, hiking, and playing in their backyard.
Dr. Franz has been an OCCAP Assembly Delegate for over 15 years during which he has actively been involved in guiding policies at a national level, always representing the specific interests of Oregon children, families and child psychiatry. Dr. Franz looks forward to continuing in this role with an emphasis on integrating child psychiatry with broader health delivery systems, developing and sustaining novel clinical models of care and working to ensure sustainable reimbursement of those services that offer value and clinical outcomes for Oregonian families.
4. AACAP Alternate Delegate:
Naomi Fishman, MD
Naomi trained at OHSU for adult residency and child fellowship and graduated in 2016. For the past six years she has worked at Albertina Kerr Centers, a non-profit in Portland that provides mental health care to youth around the state and a variety of services to the I/DD community, including Kerr’s youth and adult group homes. At Kerr she works to provide care for youth and families in the sub-acute unit and through the outpatient clinic, which serves many youth who live in Kerr group homes as well as youth in the community at large. For the past year she has been Albertina Kerr’s medical director. She recently accepted the role of Child Psychiatrist representative on the OHA Mental Health Clinical Advisory Group and she previously sat on the OCCAP executive committee as the Program Committee Chair. Naomi would be thrilled to return to the OCCAP executive committee in the role of AACAP alternate delegate with the goal to represent Oregon child psychiatrists when called to attend the national conference as well as bring pertinent information back to OCCAP members. Additionally, she would appreciate the opportunity to play a role in furthering collaboration and innovation around services for those with mental health challenges who are also in the I/DD community.
Robert McKelvey, MD, DLFAPA, DLFAACP
rmckelveymd.com
I have been in psychiatric practice for 43 years and am board certified in both adult and child psychiatry. I am a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. I am a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry and an Accredited member of the Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
I graduated from Dartmouth Medical School in 1974, completed my psychiatry residency at Cambridge Hospital/Harvard Medical School in 1977, and my child psychiatry fellowship training at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School. I have served on the faculties of Harvard Medical School,
Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Western Australia, and Oregon Health and Science University, and directed the Divisions of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at both Baylor and OHSU. I am presently Emeritus Professor in Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University and in private practice. My academic interests include cross-cultural psychiatry involving refugee populations from Vietnam, and physicians and nurses coping with the deaths of child patients. I have published numerous articles and three books, “The Dust of Life: America’s Abandonment of Its Children in Vietnam;” A Gift of Barbed Wire: America’s Abandonment of Its Allies in South Vietnam;” and “When a Child Dies: How
Pediatric Physicians and Nurses Cope.” My clinical interests include the assessment of complex child, adolescent, and adult psychiatric problems, psychopharmacology, and psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy. I have been involved in medical student education for many years, directing courses in child psychiatry and human growth and development, and receiving several student and faculty nominated teaching awards. I have extensive experience supervising psychiatry and child psychiatry residents.
David Rettew, MD
David Rettew, MD is a child & adolescent psychiatrist who currently works as the Medical Director of Lane County Behavioral Health in Eugene and is a clinical faculty member at OHSU. Before moving to Oregon, he worked as a tenured associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Vermont Medical Center and was Medical Director of the child and families division of the Vermont Department of Mental Health. He was also past president of the Vermont Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Rettew was previously the Training Director of UVM’s child psychiatry fellowship program. He is the author of 2 books and over 50 peer reviewed journal article on a variety of mental health topics. He currently is the co-chair of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry’s (AACAP) Health Promotion and Prevention committee and was previously on their journal’s (JAACAP’s) editorial board. Dr. Rettew did his general psychiatry and child & adolescent training at the combined Massachusetts General/McLean Hospital programs.
Heather Adams, MD
Heather Adams D.O. graduated with her undergraduate degree in genetics from Washington State University, medical degree from Midwestern University CCOM and from Triple Board Residency at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center. She worked after graduation from residency as an inpatient child psychiatrist at Childrens Hospital Colorado in Denver, CO. During her work in Denver she was able to pursue her goals of improving integrated care for children with co-morbid medical and psychiatric needs by developing an integrative outpatient clinic with adolescent medicine and neurology. Since August 2021 she has been happy to return home to the PNW and is currently working for OHSU child psychiatry department developing an Integrated Pediatric/Child Psychiatric service at Randall Children's Hospital.
Naomi Fishman, MD
Naomi trained at OHSU for adult residency and child fellowship and graduated in 2016. For the past six years she has worked at Albertina Kerr Centers, a non-profit in Portland that provides mental health care to youth around the state and a variety of services to the I/DD community, including Kerr’s youth and adult group homes. At Kerr she works to provide care for youth and families in the sub-acute unit and through the outpatient clinic, which serves many youth who live in Kerr group homes as well as youth in the community at large. For the past year she has been Albertina Kerr’s medical director. She recently accepted the role of Child Psychiatrist representative on the OHA Mental Health Clinical Advisory Group and she previously sat on the OCCAP executive committee as the Program Committee Chair. Naomi would be thrilled to return to the OCCAP executive committee in the role of AACAP alternate delegate with the goal to represent Oregon child psychiatrists when called to attend the national conference as well as bring pertinent information back to OCCAP members. Additionally, she would appreciate the opportunity to play a role in furthering collaboration and innovation around services for those with mental health challenges who are also in the I/DD community.
Robert McKelvey, MD, DLFAPA, DLFAACP
rmckelveymd.com
I have been in psychiatric practice for 43 years and am board certified in both adult and child psychiatry. I am a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. I am a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry and an Accredited member of the Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
I graduated from Dartmouth Medical School in 1974, completed my psychiatry residency at Cambridge Hospital/Harvard Medical School in 1977, and my child psychiatry fellowship training at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School. I have served on the faculties of Harvard Medical School,
Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Western Australia, and Oregon Health and Science University, and directed the Divisions of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at both Baylor and OHSU. I am presently Emeritus Professor in Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University and in private practice. My academic interests include cross-cultural psychiatry involving refugee populations from Vietnam, and physicians and nurses coping with the deaths of child patients. I have published numerous articles and three books, “The Dust of Life: America’s Abandonment of Its Children in Vietnam;” A Gift of Barbed Wire: America’s Abandonment of Its Allies in South Vietnam;” and “When a Child Dies: How
Pediatric Physicians and Nurses Cope.” My clinical interests include the assessment of complex child, adolescent, and adult psychiatric problems, psychopharmacology, and psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy. I have been involved in medical student education for many years, directing courses in child psychiatry and human growth and development, and receiving several student and faculty nominated teaching awards. I have extensive experience supervising psychiatry and child psychiatry residents.
David Rettew, MD
David Rettew, MD is a child & adolescent psychiatrist who currently works as the Medical Director of Lane County Behavioral Health in Eugene and is a clinical faculty member at OHSU. Before moving to Oregon, he worked as a tenured associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Vermont Medical Center and was Medical Director of the child and families division of the Vermont Department of Mental Health. He was also past president of the Vermont Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Rettew was previously the Training Director of UVM’s child psychiatry fellowship program. He is the author of 2 books and over 50 peer reviewed journal article on a variety of mental health topics. He currently is the co-chair of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry’s (AACAP) Health Promotion and Prevention committee and was previously on their journal’s (JAACAP’s) editorial board. Dr. Rettew did his general psychiatry and child & adolescent training at the combined Massachusetts General/McLean Hospital programs.
Heather Adams, MD
Heather Adams D.O. graduated with her undergraduate degree in genetics from Washington State University, medical degree from Midwestern University CCOM and from Triple Board Residency at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center. She worked after graduation from residency as an inpatient child psychiatrist at Childrens Hospital Colorado in Denver, CO. During her work in Denver she was able to pursue her goals of improving integrated care for children with co-morbid medical and psychiatric needs by developing an integrative outpatient clinic with adolescent medicine and neurology. Since August 2021 she has been happy to return home to the PNW and is currently working for OHSU child psychiatry department developing an Integrated Pediatric/Child Psychiatric service at Randall Children's Hospital.
5. Program Co-Chair:
Anthony Cordaro, Jr, MD
When Nik Rao, MD (current and ongoing Program Co-Chair) asked me to join him on the board to replace his outgoing co-chair, I had to think about it for a week or so then decided it would be worthwhile to join him. I have attended the yearly meeting now a few times and starting to become a regular at the monthly OCCAP meeting and look forward to getting more involved. Beyond helping continue past plans for meetings/ideas, two main reasons I applied for this position are:
Education/Career wise:
I moved to Clackamas in early 2017 to join Northwest Permanente/Kaiser to work as an outpatient provider. I came from Colorado where I lived for a total of 10 years involving my residency/child fellowship, post doc and a few years as new attending. I am originally from Texas and a grad of the U. of Texas-Southwestern Med School where I also completed a 1-year Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship focused cognitive behavioral therapy. While in Dallas, I also moonlighted about 4 years as a medical student in the psychiatric ER honing my crisis management skills an area, I continue to have particular interest in. I attended the U. of Colorado for my postgraduate work as part of the research track as a mentee of Marianne Wamboldt, MD. This included a 2-year clinical research postdoc focused on parent-child relationship issues during which I helped layout, author and validate updated criteria for parent-child relational problem for the DSM-5. At the attending level, I have been an assistant professor doing ER shift 1-2 times a week, C/L work and maintained outpatient clinic for kids with chronic medical conditions. After this, I moved to solely outpatient work at Mental Health Partners – the Medicaid Mental Health provider for Boulder/Broomfield County for about 2 years before moving to Oregon.
Overall, I have developed a rather family focused approach aimed at improving a family’s ability to cope with challenges and behavioral interventions like exercise along with formal psychotherapy and medication. I particularly enjoy working with families in crisis and outpatient work.
I very much agree with the idea of childhood (and thus also parenthood) as a journey across an ocean and the family/friends you have help make the boat everyone is on. The more I can help a family function more smoothly the better built their boat will be to weather the storms we all face in our lives, and particularly the times our destination changes from where we thought we were headed in our future.
On a more personal level – I am married with 3 kids – 2 daughters and a son -all elementary age as of 2022. We keep busy with volunteering in the school and PTA. We go camping as much as we can each year and get to the coast often. Though as much as love the PNW, as my patients’ know I can’t shake my native Texas roots. The sweetest question I have gotten professionally was from the father of a native PNW family I treat. It was simply “What does this word y’all mean?”
Heather Adams, MD
Heather Adams D.O. graduated with her undergraduate degree in genetics from Washington State University, medical degree from Midwestern University CCOM and from Triple Board Residency at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center. She worked after graduation from residency as an inpatient child psychiatrist at Childrens Hospital Colorado in Denver, CO. During her work in Denver she was able to pursue her goals of improving integrated care for children with co-morbid medical and psychiatric needs by developing an integrative outpatient clinic with adolescent medicine and neurology. Since August 2021 she has been happy to return home to the PNW and is currently working for OHSU child psychiatry department developing an Integrated Pediatric/Child Psychiatric service at Randall Children's Hospital.
Anthony Cordaro, Jr, MD
When Nik Rao, MD (current and ongoing Program Co-Chair) asked me to join him on the board to replace his outgoing co-chair, I had to think about it for a week or so then decided it would be worthwhile to join him. I have attended the yearly meeting now a few times and starting to become a regular at the monthly OCCAP meeting and look forward to getting more involved. Beyond helping continue past plans for meetings/ideas, two main reasons I applied for this position are:
- I would like to help plan a meeting focusing on family relationships and, given the limited resources, how we can best intervene at the family and community level. It would be great to pull together local/state level thoughts and ideas with visiting guest(s) on how to help families function better across the treatment spectrum from ER, Inpt and outpatient levels.
- Have more informal meetings throughout the year either in person or virtual as a way to increase avenues for open discussion of ideas/cases and connectedness with each other.
Education/Career wise:
I moved to Clackamas in early 2017 to join Northwest Permanente/Kaiser to work as an outpatient provider. I came from Colorado where I lived for a total of 10 years involving my residency/child fellowship, post doc and a few years as new attending. I am originally from Texas and a grad of the U. of Texas-Southwestern Med School where I also completed a 1-year Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship focused cognitive behavioral therapy. While in Dallas, I also moonlighted about 4 years as a medical student in the psychiatric ER honing my crisis management skills an area, I continue to have particular interest in. I attended the U. of Colorado for my postgraduate work as part of the research track as a mentee of Marianne Wamboldt, MD. This included a 2-year clinical research postdoc focused on parent-child relationship issues during which I helped layout, author and validate updated criteria for parent-child relational problem for the DSM-5. At the attending level, I have been an assistant professor doing ER shift 1-2 times a week, C/L work and maintained outpatient clinic for kids with chronic medical conditions. After this, I moved to solely outpatient work at Mental Health Partners – the Medicaid Mental Health provider for Boulder/Broomfield County for about 2 years before moving to Oregon.
Overall, I have developed a rather family focused approach aimed at improving a family’s ability to cope with challenges and behavioral interventions like exercise along with formal psychotherapy and medication. I particularly enjoy working with families in crisis and outpatient work.
I very much agree with the idea of childhood (and thus also parenthood) as a journey across an ocean and the family/friends you have help make the boat everyone is on. The more I can help a family function more smoothly the better built their boat will be to weather the storms we all face in our lives, and particularly the times our destination changes from where we thought we were headed in our future.
On a more personal level – I am married with 3 kids – 2 daughters and a son -all elementary age as of 2022. We keep busy with volunteering in the school and PTA. We go camping as much as we can each year and get to the coast often. Though as much as love the PNW, as my patients’ know I can’t shake my native Texas roots. The sweetest question I have gotten professionally was from the father of a native PNW family I treat. It was simply “What does this word y’all mean?”
Heather Adams, MD
Heather Adams D.O. graduated with her undergraduate degree in genetics from Washington State University, medical degree from Midwestern University CCOM and from Triple Board Residency at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center. She worked after graduation from residency as an inpatient child psychiatrist at Childrens Hospital Colorado in Denver, CO. During her work in Denver she was able to pursue her goals of improving integrated care for children with co-morbid medical and psychiatric needs by developing an integrative outpatient clinic with adolescent medicine and neurology. Since August 2021 she has been happy to return home to the PNW and is currently working for OHSU child psychiatry department developing an Integrated Pediatric/Child Psychiatric service at Randall Children's Hospital.
6. Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Representative:
Paria Zarrinnegar, MD
Dr. Zarrinnegar grew up in the hilly north part of Tehran, where she completed her medical training at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. She then moved to the United States in 2009 to join her family. Dr. Zarrinnegar worked as a volunteer at Intercultural Psychiatry Program (IPP) for 2 years where she developed her interest in cross cultural psychiatry and trauma-related disorders. She then completed her residency and child & adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Oregon Health& Science University and has been as assistant professor at OHSU since 2018.Dr. Zarrinnegar is the director of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry outpatient clinic at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. As a child & adolescent psychiatrist, she partners with kids and their families for a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment and emphasizes culturally competent care and high-quality evidence based psychotherapeutic interventions in her work.
Dr. Zarrinnegar has co-authored a book chapter and given presentations on Cultural Psychiatry, as well as mental health treatment for refugees and immigrants. As a clinical educator, Dr. Zarrinnegar is the leader of psychotherapy seminars for child & adolescent psychiatry fellows and is a co-director of Child Psychiatry clinic rotation for Psychiatry residents.
Paria Zarrinnegar, MD
Dr. Zarrinnegar grew up in the hilly north part of Tehran, where she completed her medical training at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. She then moved to the United States in 2009 to join her family. Dr. Zarrinnegar worked as a volunteer at Intercultural Psychiatry Program (IPP) for 2 years where she developed her interest in cross cultural psychiatry and trauma-related disorders. She then completed her residency and child & adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Oregon Health& Science University and has been as assistant professor at OHSU since 2018.Dr. Zarrinnegar is the director of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry outpatient clinic at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. As a child & adolescent psychiatrist, she partners with kids and their families for a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment and emphasizes culturally competent care and high-quality evidence based psychotherapeutic interventions in her work.
Dr. Zarrinnegar has co-authored a book chapter and given presentations on Cultural Psychiatry, as well as mental health treatment for refugees and immigrants. As a clinical educator, Dr. Zarrinnegar is the leader of psychotherapy seminars for child & adolescent psychiatry fellows and is a co-director of Child Psychiatry clinic rotation for Psychiatry residents.
7. Early Career Psychiatrist:
Anandam Hilde, MD
Ana attended medical school at OHSU as an MD MPH candidate and took an alternate route (she tends to be a bit unconventional) with a four-year leave, completing her MPH and then engaging in public health research with a focus on substance use treatment effectiveness. She eventually went back to finish her final year of medical school and then spent four lovely years in Honolulu, Hawaii in general
psychiatry residency. She was a chief resident and was active in the GME counsel, particularly related to resident wellbeing. She returned to Portland to pursue training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at OHSU. Ana was the chief fellow and, in that role, had the opportunity to participate on the OCCAP executive committee. She loved collaborating with colleagues from around the state and advocating for
policy changes. She has also been active with the executive committee for the Oregon Society of Addiction Medicine.
After completing fellowship, Ana worked at the Native American Rehabilitation Association providing outpatient psychiatric care to youth at their child and family program. She also worked at their youth residential treatment program. After four amazing years she has transitioned to working with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde at their Opiate treatment programs, Great Circle Recovery, in Salem and Portland. She is excited about this new role and tasked with creating a youth program at the Portland site. Ana has also been focused on expanding medical training in substance use and youth, supervising fellows in child and adolescent psychiatry and addiction medicine at her clinical sites. In
addition, she has been trying to help educate the community and care providers across the state with presentations on fentanyl and youth. She is super excited to be the lead faculty for OHSU substance use ECHO program with a brand-new ECHO on substance use in adolescents.
Ana’s passion is working with youth who are struggling with substance use and mental health concerns particularly with underserved populations and more specifically Native communities. She is committed to providing exceptional patient care but also to advocated for statewide policy changes and improving and building the systems of care for adolescents with substance use disorders.
On a personal note, Ana loves to spend time with her husband, 10-year-old daughter and their Husky, Skyler. During this time of year, they go up to the mountain to ski/snowboard as much as possible. She also enjoys baking, playing soccer and basketball and working on puzzles.
Pari Faraji, MD
Dr. Faraji trained at OHSU for adult psychiatry residency and child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship and graduated in 2019 and has been working at OHSU since then. She is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She is the director of the Pediatric Psychosis Clinic at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and also sees patients at Child and Adolescent Psychiatry outpatient clinic. Dr. Faraji has a special interest in Early Psychosis and Integrative Psychiatry. In addition to her clinical responsibilities, Dr. Faraji is a clinical educator who is involved in training and supervision of general Psychiatry residents and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellows. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, Ikebana, poetry, and spending time with her family and friends.
Krin Walta, DO
*Candidate bio not provided.
Anandam Hilde, MD
Ana attended medical school at OHSU as an MD MPH candidate and took an alternate route (she tends to be a bit unconventional) with a four-year leave, completing her MPH and then engaging in public health research with a focus on substance use treatment effectiveness. She eventually went back to finish her final year of medical school and then spent four lovely years in Honolulu, Hawaii in general
psychiatry residency. She was a chief resident and was active in the GME counsel, particularly related to resident wellbeing. She returned to Portland to pursue training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at OHSU. Ana was the chief fellow and, in that role, had the opportunity to participate on the OCCAP executive committee. She loved collaborating with colleagues from around the state and advocating for
policy changes. She has also been active with the executive committee for the Oregon Society of Addiction Medicine.
After completing fellowship, Ana worked at the Native American Rehabilitation Association providing outpatient psychiatric care to youth at their child and family program. She also worked at their youth residential treatment program. After four amazing years she has transitioned to working with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde at their Opiate treatment programs, Great Circle Recovery, in Salem and Portland. She is excited about this new role and tasked with creating a youth program at the Portland site. Ana has also been focused on expanding medical training in substance use and youth, supervising fellows in child and adolescent psychiatry and addiction medicine at her clinical sites. In
addition, she has been trying to help educate the community and care providers across the state with presentations on fentanyl and youth. She is super excited to be the lead faculty for OHSU substance use ECHO program with a brand-new ECHO on substance use in adolescents.
Ana’s passion is working with youth who are struggling with substance use and mental health concerns particularly with underserved populations and more specifically Native communities. She is committed to providing exceptional patient care but also to advocated for statewide policy changes and improving and building the systems of care for adolescents with substance use disorders.
On a personal note, Ana loves to spend time with her husband, 10-year-old daughter and their Husky, Skyler. During this time of year, they go up to the mountain to ski/snowboard as much as possible. She also enjoys baking, playing soccer and basketball and working on puzzles.
Pari Faraji, MD
Dr. Faraji trained at OHSU for adult psychiatry residency and child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship and graduated in 2019 and has been working at OHSU since then. She is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She is the director of the Pediatric Psychosis Clinic at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and also sees patients at Child and Adolescent Psychiatry outpatient clinic. Dr. Faraji has a special interest in Early Psychosis and Integrative Psychiatry. In addition to her clinical responsibilities, Dr. Faraji is a clinical educator who is involved in training and supervision of general Psychiatry residents and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellows. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, Ikebana, poetry, and spending time with her family and friends.
Krin Walta, DO
*Candidate bio not provided.
8. Rural Representative:
David Rettew, MD
David Rettew, MD is a child & adolescent psychiatrist who currently works as the Medical Director of Lane County Behavioral Health in Eugene and is a clinical faculty member at OHSU. Before moving to Oregon, he worked as a tenured associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Vermont Medical Center and was Medical Director of the child and families division of the Vermont Department of Mental Health. He was also past president of the Vermont Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Rettew was previously the Training Director of UVM’s child psychiatry fellowship program. He is the author of 2 books and over 50 peer reviewed journal article on a variety of mental health topics. He currently is the co-chair of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry’s (AACAP) Health Promotion and Prevention committee and was previously on their journal’s (JAACAP’s) editorial board. Dr. Rettew did his general psychiatry and child & adolescent training at the combined Massachusetts General/McLean Hospital programs.
David Rettew, MD
David Rettew, MD is a child & adolescent psychiatrist who currently works as the Medical Director of Lane County Behavioral Health in Eugene and is a clinical faculty member at OHSU. Before moving to Oregon, he worked as a tenured associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Vermont Medical Center and was Medical Director of the child and families division of the Vermont Department of Mental Health. He was also past president of the Vermont Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Rettew was previously the Training Director of UVM’s child psychiatry fellowship program. He is the author of 2 books and over 50 peer reviewed journal article on a variety of mental health topics. He currently is the co-chair of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry’s (AACAP) Health Promotion and Prevention committee and was previously on their journal’s (JAACAP’s) editorial board. Dr. Rettew did his general psychiatry and child & adolescent training at the combined Massachusetts General/McLean Hospital programs.
9. Member at Large:
Cindy Smith, MD, MPH
Dr. Cindy Smith has lived in the Pacific Northwest for nearly 30 years but is originally from Cincinnati with Kentucky roots. She graduated from Purdue University, and completed her medical degree at Wright State University. The North Cascades then exerted their gravitational pull leading to general and child psychiatry training and a master’s degree in public health at the University of Washington.
She has a special interest in suicide and self-injury prevention, is extensively trained in Dialectic Behavior Therapy and co-founded one of the earliest adolescent DBT programs in the country in 1995. Since then, she has constantly trained and led DBT teams and worked with seriously self-harming and suicidal teens. Recently, she has been fired up by the tools the Zero Suicide Project has offered for working at organizational and community levels to prevent suicide.
Dr. Smith has worked for Trillium Family Services since 2003 and is the Co-Chief Medical Officer for their Children’s Farm Home and Mid-valley programs. She loves working with interdisciplinary teams and teaching and believes that mostly we learn with a lot of deliberate practice. Trauma is the fault line upon which so much of psychiatric work rests and Dr. Smith continues to be keenly interested in both addressing trauma that clients and families have suffered as well as implementing models to address organizational and caregiver trauma including the Sanctuary Model.
Dr. Smith, her husband and two college-age children all love sci fi and chocolate. Dr. Smith also loves hiking and cross-country skiing and believes poetry and psychotherapy are close cousins. She aspires to someday have a poem published on a billboard or bus.
Cindy Smith, MD, MPH
Dr. Cindy Smith has lived in the Pacific Northwest for nearly 30 years but is originally from Cincinnati with Kentucky roots. She graduated from Purdue University, and completed her medical degree at Wright State University. The North Cascades then exerted their gravitational pull leading to general and child psychiatry training and a master’s degree in public health at the University of Washington.
She has a special interest in suicide and self-injury prevention, is extensively trained in Dialectic Behavior Therapy and co-founded one of the earliest adolescent DBT programs in the country in 1995. Since then, she has constantly trained and led DBT teams and worked with seriously self-harming and suicidal teens. Recently, she has been fired up by the tools the Zero Suicide Project has offered for working at organizational and community levels to prevent suicide.
Dr. Smith has worked for Trillium Family Services since 2003 and is the Co-Chief Medical Officer for their Children’s Farm Home and Mid-valley programs. She loves working with interdisciplinary teams and teaching and believes that mostly we learn with a lot of deliberate practice. Trauma is the fault line upon which so much of psychiatric work rests and Dr. Smith continues to be keenly interested in both addressing trauma that clients and families have suffered as well as implementing models to address organizational and caregiver trauma including the Sanctuary Model.
Dr. Smith, her husband and two college-age children all love sci fi and chocolate. Dr. Smith also loves hiking and cross-country skiing and believes poetry and psychotherapy are close cousins. She aspires to someday have a poem published on a billboard or bus.