OBH Department of Psychiatry Salutes our Residents

The OBH Brookdale and Interfaith campuses, Department of Psychiatry Adult Residency programs would like to extend a heartfelt congratulation to the OBH Psychiatry Residents who participated in the Annual Brooklyn Psychiatric Society Research presentation on April 19, 2023, that was hosted by the Psychiatry Residency Training Program at Interfaith Medical Center.  

This is a multi-system academic paper and poster presentation that is led by the leadership of residency training programs in our community, and our national professional organization, the American Psychiatry Association (APA).  Residents from Psychiatry Residency programs in Brooklyn including Maimonides, Downstate, Brookdale and Interfaith Medical Center presented their oral and poster presentations at the event. Dr. Ramaswamy Viswanathan, President-Elect of the APA, Interim Chair of Psychiatry at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences started the Brooklyn Psychiatry Society poster session in 1992. 

Ms. LaRay Brown, CEO of One Brooklyn Health gave the opening remarks at the event. The Brooklyn Psychiatric Society event was chaired by our own Tolu Olupona M.D., who is also the current president of the Brooklyn Psychiatry Society.   

Dr. Olupona thanked Ms. LaRay Brown, CEO of One Brooklyn Health and Mr. Charles Bove for their support for the event.  She also welcomed Dr. Ramaswamy Viswanathan, President-Elect of the American Psychiatric Association, judges for the event including Nitin Gogtay, M.D., APA Director of Research, Aparna Dole, M.D, Clinical Instructor of Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine and Dr. Jose Vito, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at NYU Langone Health.  Program Directors from Psychiatry Residency Programs were also welcomed to the event, including Dr. Sanila Rehmatullah, M.D., Program Director, Psychiatry Residency Training and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Training Program and Dr. Adela Gerolemou, D. O., Associate Program Director, Brookdale Campus. A special welcome was extended to the media team from APA, Program Directors, Faculty and Residents from various Psychiatry Residency programs in Brooklyn.  Special thanks were given to Dr. Jason Hershberger for his support for the event. 

She thanked planning committee including Linda Majowka, ED of Brooklyn Psychiatry Society; including the One Brooklyn Health IMC team who helped with planning including Selma Billey, Residency coordinator at Psychiatry Program at IMC, Patrice Fouron D.O., Associate Training Director at Psychiatry Residency Program and IMC Psychiatry Residents. 

Dr. Gogtay, APA Director of Research spoke with trainees about the research division of APA. 

First prize for oral presentation was awarded to Kunal Gandhi, M.D., of Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, received first prize for his oral presentation entitled, “Is Cannabis a Gateway Drug? A Retrospective Analysis of American Adolescents.”  

Second prize for oral presentation was awarded to Stanley Nkemjika, M.D. of Interfaith Medical Center for his research on “Wait Times: Disparity to Opioid Treatment”. 

First prize for poster presentation was awarded to Kelvin Oke, M.D., of Interfaith Medical Center, for his research on “Adolescent Crimes: Association of Multiple Substance Use with Arrests among Adolescents.” 

Honorable mention went to Dr. Nishat Kulkarni for his poster presentation ''Newly diagnosed PCOS in a young Hispanic Female with Severe Manic Psychosis''.  

This is a truly remarkable achievement and a true testament to the hard work, dedication, and talent of our Residents and our training staff. Their excellent performance in the BPS is a clear indication of their commitment to advance knowledge and innovation in the field of psychiatry. It is inspiring to see individuals who will become the next generation Psychiatrists pushing the boundaries and making contributions to the betterment of mental health in our OBH community. We are fortunate to have them as part of our training program and profession. Once again, our sincerest congratulations to these remarkable residents on their well-deserved success!   

From Left to the Right: Front row  Jason Hershberger M.D., Ramaswamy Viswanathan M.D., DrMedSc, LaRay Brown, CEO of One Brooklyn Health,  Kusum Viswanathan M.D., CMO, Brookdale campus, Linda Majowka ED Brooklyn Psychiatry Society 

2nd Row:  Muhammad Azam M.D., Kenneth Oforeh M.D., Gulsham Begum M.D., Victor Kekere M.D., Danish Qureshi M.D., Haroon Saeed M.D., Irina Kogan M.D., Christianah Ogunlesi M.D., Nkolika Odenigbo M.D.