Department of Psychiatry

Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship

Faculty

PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Dr. Alison Heru is an Associate Professor of Medicine at National Jewish and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at University of Colorado Denver. Her professional interests include the development of family-centered treatment in psychiatry, teaching trainees how to work with families and the role of relational factors in medical and psychiatric illness. She is board certified in psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine.

Dr. David Bekelman is Assistant Professor in the Department of General Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado Denver.  His clinical interests include innovative ways of using palliative care practices with patients suffering from various severe, chronic medical illnesses.  He conducts research on measuring and improving quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure.  He is board certified in internal medicine, palliative care medicine, psychiatry, and psychosomatic medicine.

Dr. Thomas Beresford is Professor of Psychiatry and internationally known for his systematic clinical research in liver transplant and alcoholism. His clinical research includes identifying and addressing the prognostic factors that support continued abstinence post-transplant, the neuropsychiatric complications following transplant, including specific forms of delirium related to the immunosuppressant agents, and clinical issues in the evaluation of living donors, especially psychiatric contraindications. Dr. Beresford is currently investigating the prognostic aspects of psychological adaptive mechanisms in respect to cancer treatment and survival. Using systematic prospective study he and his co-investigators report that psychological adaptive mechanisms, not depressive symptom frequency, predict cancer survival.  He is board certified in psychiatry and addiction psychiatry.

Dr. Robert House is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Vice-chairman representing Denver Health for the Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine Center. He is the Director of Service for Behavioral Health, Denver Health Medical Center. Professional interests include consultation to solid organ transplantation programs, trauma surgery services, and correctional care programs. Academic interests include consultation-liaison education and consultation in a Public Hospital setting.  He is board certified in psychiatry.

Dr. Frederick Wamboldt is a Professor of Medicine and Head of the Division of Psychosocial Medicine at National Jewish.  His professional pursuits include patient- and family-centered clinical efforts with persons suffering from chronic respiratory, allergic, and immune illness, and research interests in the area of psychosocial factors influencing treatment adherence and outcome in patients and families dealing with chronic medical illness, as well as systems change within healthcare practice and public health policy.  He is board certified in psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine. 

Dr. Philippe Weintraubis an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at The University of Colorado Denver with major clinical and teaching responsibilities in consultation-liaison psychiatry at Denver Health Medical Center, which averages 150 consultations per month.  His professional interests include the relationship between family factors and adherence to medical treatment in adult and pediatric populations and the impact of co-morbid psychiatric illness, particularly depression, on clinical course and outcome in diabetes.  He currently is involved in a multi-site study examining the prevalence of depression in adult pulmonary hypertension as well as the impact of depression on the clinical course of the disorder.  In addition, he has an interest in the assessment of decisional capacity in complex clinical circumstances and is part of a multi-site group studying clinical and ethical considerations in cases involving requests for withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment by young adults with recent-onset high quadriplegia.  He is board certified in psychiatry, child psychiatry, and psychosomatic medicine.