Staff Directory

Trauma-Free NYC Co-Director

Professor of Population and Family Health

Columbia University Medical Center

Director of Child, Adolescent and Family Health Certificate

Virginia Rauh, ScD, has been a member of Columbia's faculty since 1984 and is Deputy Director of the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health. Her postdoctoral work in psychiatric epidemiology was supported by NIMH and a career development award from NICHD. Her work focuses on the adverse impact of exposure to air pollutants, including second hand smoke and pesticides on pregnancy and child health, and the susceptibility of individuals and disadvantaged populations to environmental hazards. Dr. Rauh is a perinatal epidemiologist by training, whose expertise is in the area of low birth weight and preterm delivery, particularly with respect to socioeconomically disadvantaged and minority populations. She has been principal investigator on numerous major research projects, including studies of the impact of organophosphorus insecticides and secondhand smoke on child neurodevelopment and brain abnormalities (MRI, fMRI), a randomized intervention trial for low birth weight infants, a multi-site study of lifestyles in pregnancy, a study of developmental outcomes of children born to inner-city adolescent mothers, a multi-level analysis of the impact of Head Start on New York City school children, a study of the effects of ambient air pollutants on pregnant women and their children, and a study of links between race, stressors, and preterm birth. She has worked with other Columbia faculty to study the effects of the World Trade Center disaster on pregnant women and newborns. Dr. Rauh serves on numerous national committees, including advisory groups at NIEHS, NICHD, and the Scientific Advisory Board for the Environmental Protection Agency.Virginia Rauh, ScD, has been a member of Columbia's faculty since 1984 and is Deputy Director of the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health. Her postdoctoral work in psychiatric epidemiology was supported by NIMH and a career development award from NICHD. Her work focuses on the adverse impact of exposure to air pollutants, including second hand smoke and pesticides on pregnancy and child health, and the susceptibility of individuals and disadvantaged populations to environmental hazards. Dr. Rauh is a perinatal epidemiologist by training, whose expertise is in the area of low birth weight and preterm delivery, particularly with respect to socioeconomically disadvantaged and minority populations. She has been principal investigator on numerous major research projects, including studies of the impact of organophosphorus insecticides and secondhand smoke on child neurodevelopment and brain abnormalities (MRI, fMRI), a randomized intervention trial for low birth weight infants, a multi-site study of lifestyles in pregnancy, a study of developmental outcomes of children born to inner-city adolescent mothers, a multi-level analysis of the impact of Head Start on New York City school children, a study of the effects of ambient air pollutants on pregnant women and their children, and a study of links between race, stressors, and preterm birth. She has worked with other Columbia faculty to study the effects of the World Trade Center disaster on pregnant women and newborns. Dr. Rauh serves on numerous national committees, including advisory groups at NIEHS, NICHD, and the Scientific Advisory Board for the Environmental Protection Agency.

Dr. Sonali Rajan’s research is focused on identifying patterns of risk behaviors among adolescent youth; implementing and evaluating school-based health education programs; and identifying environmental-level characteristics that influence health behaviors among urban youth and communities.  In line with the approach of the “whole child”, her research embraces a comprehensive definition of “health”, recognizing that the synergy between multiple health issues and the surrounding environments together inform long-term outcomes.  For the past several years, Dr. Rajan has worked on the implementation and evaluation of health education and behavioral health initiatives aimed to mitigate youth engagement in high-risk behaviors and promote positive youth development.  She has an emerging line of research in the area of aggression and violence prevention in schools and is focused on supporting efforts aimed at reducing the presence of firearms in K-12 school settings.  

Shivangi is a longstanding health advocate and vector-borne pathogen researcher commencing her final year at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health as a master’s student majoring in epidemiology. Her background in animal physiology, immunology, and as a volunteer for medically vulnerable patients at York University in the city of Toronto has propelled her interests in medical advocacy in epidemiology at Columbia University. Shivangi’s interest in medical advocacy was exemplified in her recent role as a graduate intern at Sexual Violence Response at Columbia University. She was on the forefront of an NYHD certified rape and crisis centre meant to guide and advocate for victims on and off-campus. Her role as the Events Chair for TFNYC-SAG at Mailman ties into her drive to educate and raise awareness of the impacts that trauma has on physical and mental well-being. In a prior role as Communications Director at Colorectal Cancer Canada in York University she similarly advocated for colorectal health awareness and education on campus. Shivangi’s humanitarian passions extended to her undergraduate honours thesis work on the environmental impacts that rising salinity levels have on the proliferation of midges and mosquitoes in North American freshwater ecosystems. As an independent researcher, Shivangi was able to conclude key findings that tie into the spread of vector-borne diseases such as malaria and advocated for a more robust solution to the vector-borne epidemic observed in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia. Shivangi is an ambitious, dedicated professional eager to make changes in vaccine development for vulnerable populations and aid in medical advocacy for victims and susceptible individuals.

Ms. Yanosy has been a keynote and featured speaker on trauma and organizational culture at both domestic and international conferences and has published extensively on the implementation and impact of trauma responsive practice. Ms. Yanosy’s career has integrated clinical social work, education and administration, which developed her expertise in trauma treatment, program and curriculum development as well as program evaluation and replication. 

She currently serves as Director of Consulting and co-founder of Creating PRESENCE, a trauma responsive training and organizational intervention program. She also teaches at the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service, provides coaching through service-learning projects for students at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, consults with nonprofit human service organizations and practices psychotherapy in her home state of NY. 

Ms. Yanosy has developed nationally available collegiate leadership programming, and previously served as the founding Director of the Sanctuary Institute.  In her role as Director, Ms. Yanosy oversaw the development, training and implementation of a system-wide, holistic, trauma informed organizational model. The resulting social movement built around this practice grew to over 350 organizations, including residential care, addiction treatment, domestic violence, supportive housing, juvenile justice, hospital, community based and school settings across the United States and seven other countries. 

Ms. Yanosy received her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Cornell University and Smith College respectively, and has completed post graduate programs at New York University, Fordham University and Columbia Business School.

Associate Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology

Columbia University

Nim examines brain development underlying emotional behavior in humans. Her research has highlighted fundamental changes in brain circuitry across development and the powerful role that early experiences, such as caregiving and stress, have on the construction of these circuits. She has authored over 80 journal articles and book chapters. She is a frequent lecturer both nationally and internationally on human brain and emotional development.

Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Education

Teachers College, Columbia University

As a neuroscientist and board-certified pediatrician, Kim Noble directs the Neurocognition, Early Experience and Development (NEED) lab, where she and her team study how socioeconomic inequality relates to in children's cognitive and brain development.  Her work examines socioeconomic disparities in cognitive development, as well as brain structure and function, across infancy, childhood and adolescence. She is particularly interested in understanding how early in infancy or toddlerhood such disparities develop; the modifiable environmental differences that account for these disparities; and the ways we might harness this research to inform the design of interventions. Along with a multidisciplinary team from around the country, with funding from NIH and a consortium of foundations, she is currently planning the first clinical trial of poverty reduction to assess the causal impact of income on children’s cognitive, emotional and brain development in the first three years of life. Dr. Noble received her undergraduate, graduate and medical degrees at the University of Pennsylvania, completed postdoctoral training at the Sackler Institute of Developmental Psychobiology of Weill Cornell Medical College, and completed her residency in pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center / Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York - Presbyterian. She was awarded a 2017 Association for Psychological Science Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions. Her work linking family income to brain structure across childhood and adolescence has received worldwide attention in the popular press.

Beginning his 2nd year of at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Kevin Liu is hoping to continue as a scholar in neuroepidemiology by specializing in epidemiology and comparative effectiveness outcomes research. Previously a cognitive science student at the University of Rochester, Kevin has discovered neuroepidemiology as a newfound passion as concepts from both public health and cognitive science intersect. He has acquired practical skills as a FORWARD Community Action Fellow during his summer internship through working as a project manager at a small non-profit organization in South Bronx. Kevin incorporated public health tools in the work by learning how the non-profit organization operated, and coordinated/communicated the value of analytical tools and how to effectively utilize them to support the work of the organization. Further, Kevin has delved deep into mental health research from natural history studies on rare neurological diseases, neuroepidemiology of toxicants, and uncovering the underlying cognition of the Autistic community and how they process the world differently. At his core, Kevin is partner, advocate, and a devotee to mental health. As the Vice President for Trauma Free-NYC student organization Kevin is applying public health skills to further the mission of TFNYC, and to help spread awareness of trauma and its effects throughout communities and local organizations.

Joshua is a biostatistician providing a technical perspective to global children’s health. He grew up homeschooled and loved to work through math problems, build websites from scratch, and read anything he could get his hands on. His interest in brain health also began early, by reading books about neuroplasticity and taking online courses in neurobiology and epigenetics. He received his Associate’s Degree at age 17 before pausing school for volunteering, then proceeding to finish his Bachelor’s in Statistics from Brigham Young University in just one year. He worked for two years as a statistical programmer in the pharmaceutical industry, and he is now more than halfway through his Masters in Biostatistics with an emphasis in Public Health Data Science at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

To contrast his analytical side, Joshua likes to spend as much time as possible with his feet on the ground helping people. He volunteered briefly for Crisis Text Line, served for one year as a board member for the Cincinnati chapter of Habitat For Humanity Young Professionals, and spent 18 months as a missionary in Argentina for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He became directly involved in trauma research after reading Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk’s well-known book, “The Body Keeps the Score,” which inspired him to dedicate his career to mitigating childhood trauma. As part of a class on trauma-informed care, he worked with the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice on a state level analysis of adverse childhood experiences data, and he now serves as President of the Trauma-Free NYC–Student Advocate Group. His other current projects include eradicating childhood malnutrition in Argentina, promoting kangaroo mother care through a new medical device, and researching the genetic transmission of obesity from mother to baby.

Jordan is a second-year student in the Population and Family Health department with a concentration in epidemiology of chronic disease. Her educational background in anthropology, biology, and public health has informed her interests in health equity, destigmatizing mental health research, and volunteerism. 

Her passion for trauma-informed care and volunteerism began in early adolescence where she worked at food pantries in Buffalo, NY with family members in her free time. Jordan previously served as an AmeriCorps member in a community health center in Queens, NY. With a trauma-informed lens, she provided health education and health literacy services to community members on HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, diabetes management, and cancer screenings. She also served as a referral specialist between patients and specialty care offices connecting individuals with accessible and affordable healthcare services across all five boroughs in NYC.

Jordan is a lifelong health advocate for mental health disparities in underserved communities. Her focus on serious mental illness, substance use disorders, and housing instability has informed her work in a variety of research settings across New York State and Brazil. These interests are exemplified in her graduate intern role at RedeAmericas through Columbia University designing and implementing research methods to evaluate the effectiveness of Housing First programs across Brazil.

As the Events Chair for Trauma-Free NYC Student Advocate Group, Jordan is connecting students to trauma-informed specialists to further the group’s mission of promoting the integration of scientific advances in this field and advocating for the well-being of New Yorkers.

Sackler Institute Professor of Developmental Psychology (in Psychiatry)

Columbia University Medical Center

Dr. Gingrich and his group use a systems approach to better understand normal and abnormal brain function; in particular, the mechanisms that underlie neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety disorders. Their goal is to understand how genetic and epigenetic factors affect behavior and intervening systems such as circuitry, anatomy, and physiology. The lab exploits the ability to genetically modify mice–either to mimic known human susceptibility factors or to use conditional gene modifications–to further investigate our hypotheses regarding circuitry and physiology. Towards that end, Dr. Gingrich is pursuing several lines of research related to the role of serotonin-signaling in the cortex. These studies have demonstrated an important role for cortical influence on behaviors related to schizophrenia and anxiety. His lab also has an active program examining the role of the neurotransmitter serotonin on the development of brain circuits that modulate affective and anxiety states. Additionally, the group has developed a mouse model of epigenetic effects of paternal age on behavior and brain function.

With an educational background in psychology, public health, and ethical leadership, Emily is currently a second year MPH student at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. Originally from Tennessee, Emily was acutely aware of the role that social cohesion and social determinants of health affected the post disaster resilience of her community. Furthering her interests in disaster behavioral health, Emily has served as a crisis counselor and has conducted psychological research on coping dimensions during COVID-19. A long-time dancer, her academic interests also include the embodiment of trauma and the psychotherapeutic role of dance and movement therapies for affected communities. Her focus on child development and the life course approach to public health has informed her work in a variety of early childhood development settings in Tennessee, Washington, D.C, and Denmark. She is also a member of the International Association of Emergency Managers Children and Disaster Caucus. Emily has worked in government roles in the Mayor’s Office of Nashville as well as in DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (DCHSEMA). During her time with DCHSEMA, she was detailed to Building Blocks DC- Gun Violence Prevention Emergency Operations Center where she served as key operational planning support for efforts emphasizing gun violence as a public health crisis. Invigorated by the integration of research to practice, since moving to New York Emily has also aided in implementation science research for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Programming for refugee and migrant women in South America. In addition to her role as the co-president of TFYNC-SAG, Emily is currently a graduate research assistant with the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia Climate School and is the incoming 2023-2024 John D. Solomon Fellow for American Red Cross of Greater New York.  

Emily is a second-year student in the Sociomedical Sciences Department with a concentration in infectious disease epidemiology. Prior to Mailman, Emily completed her undergraduate studies at Duke University and published her thesis in 2019— “Global Health Diplomacy: The Ethical and Legal Implications on the Protection of Health Workers”. In her thesis, Emily drew connections between her experiences in global health diplomacy, her interest in the ethics of war, and prior experience working in international humanitarian law in Geneva, Switzerland.

Her interest in infectious disease began while working in global health diplomacy research at the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health at Vanderbilt University as an undergraduate. Emily has worked extensively with historical records related to the creation and implementation of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program.

Following her graduation from Duke, Emily transitioned into a clinical role as an ophthalmic technician in rural Tennessee and Kentucky. Her experience as a care provider inspired Emily to pursue graduate studies in public health to understand barriers to healthcare delivery including how to improve provider-patient communication.

Emily was drawn to the work of Trauma-Free NYC due to its focus on adverse childhood experiences (ACES) and how they impact health. She hopes the organization can improve clinical competency in two main ways: giving providers tools to approach the challenges of trauma-informed care so that they can improve as clinicians, and helping patients feel more empowered to recognize the impact of past experiences on their health and have a larger role in the creation of their own care plan.

For fun, Emily likes to write music, go for long runs and she is on an Olympic lifting team in NYC. She tries to spend as much time as she can with her family in Nashville, including her younger brother and her dog, Bella (who sadly couldn’t make the trip to NYC).

Director, Programs

Trauma-Free NYC, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University

Dr. Kassow is a research scientist and leader in the early childhood/early learning field, with extensive experience on both the east and west coasts. She began her career as a special education public high school teacher in a rural and high-risk community in upstate New York. The challenges her students faced during the years leading to adulthood inspired her to think deeply about the criticalness of early childhood and the key factors children need to thrive and succeed across the lifespan. Dr. Kassow went on to obtain a doctoral degree in Educational Psychology & Methodology and has devoted her career to the well-being of children, families, and communities. She has been a called upon as an early childhood and parenting expert by many media outlets, and her publications on parent-child attachment and early literacy remain popular. Dr. Kassow previously served as the Executive Director of Strategy & Policy for the Division of Early Childhood Education at the New York City Department and launched her own consulting firm in 2010. In 2016, her consulting services were retained by the Mailman School of Public Health to launch a new initiative, Trauma-Free NYC, a university-based program focused on identifying and promoting trauma-informed practices and policies in New York City. She was later asked to join the team full-time in 2019. Dr. Kassow is also a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, a form of somatic education. Dr. Kassow aims to bridge her extensive knowledge of early childhood and adverse childhood experiences with health, healing practices, and lifelong wellbeing.

Anna Cheskis Gelman and Murray Charles Gelman Professor of Epidemiology
Chair, Department of Epidemiology

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Dr. Branas has conducted research that extends from urban and rural areas in the US to communities across the globe, incorporating place-based interventions and human geography. He has led win-win science that generates new knowledge while simultaneously creating positive, real-world changes and providing health-enhancing resources for local communities. His pioneering work on geographic access to medical care has changed the healthcare landscape, leading to the designation of new hospitals and a series of national scientific replications in the US and other countries for many conditions: trauma, cancer, stroke, etc. His research on the geography and factors underpinning gun violence has been cited by landmark Supreme Court decisions, Congress, and the NIH Director. Dr. Branas has also led large-scale scientific work to transform thousands of vacant lots, abandoned buildings and other blighted spaces in improving the health and safety of entire communities. These are the first citywide randomized controlled trials of urban blight remediation and have shown this intervention to be a highly cost-effective solution to persistent urban health problems like gun violence. He has worked internationally on four continents and led multi-national efforts, producing extensive cohorts of developing nation scientists, national health metrics, and worldwide press coverage.

Bruce Shapiro is Executive Director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, a project of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism encouraging innovative reporting on violence, conflict and tragedy worldwide. Shapiro is recipient of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies for "outstanding and fundamental contributions to the social understanding of trauma." 

An award-winning reporter on human rights, criminal justice and politics, Shapiro is a contributing editor at The Nation and U.S. correspondent for Late Night Live on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio National. He is also teaches ethics at Columbia Journalism School, where he is adjunct associate professor and Senior Advisor for Academic Affairs.  His books include Shaking the Foundations: 200 Years of Investigative Journalism in America and Legal Lynching: The Death Penalty and America's Future.

In the final phase of graduate education, Bhavik Patel emerges as an earnest master's candidate pursuing a specialization in epidemiology with a focus on population mental health at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Having earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota, Bhavik's unwavering commitment to the realms of psychiatry and mental well-being has manifested not only through academic accomplishments but also through distinctive clinical and research experiences. Within clinical settings, Bhavik has worked as a constant observer for suicidal patients, alongside his role as a dedicated health aide for individuals coping with dementia. These roles underscore Bhavik's empathy and hands-on experience in critical healthcare domains. Bhavik's intellectual curiosity shines through his research experiences, spanning from investigating the psychological aftermath of cardiovascular surgery and exploring the potential of psychedelics in depression treatment, to studying the effects of ostracism among children. Presently, Bhavik holds the position of a FORWARD Community Action Fellow, undertaking comprehensive research into social determinants of health, adverse childhood experiences, and the use of eco-art therapies in patients with PTSD. Additionally, he assumes the role of co-president within the Trauma-Free NYC student organization. As Bhavik nears the culmination of his academic journey, his aspirations within the healthcare landscape and his fervor to catalyze transformative impacts in the spheres of psychiatry and neurology continue to grow.

Dr. Alwyn Cohall is a Professor of Public Health and Pediatrics at the Columbia University Medical Center and the Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Cohall's main areas of research interest include adolescent health; sexual and reproductive health; access to healthcare, particularly for young men of color; using media/technology to enhance health communication/health promotion; and, integrating trauma-informed care into clinical practice.  In addition to his research interests, Dr. Cohall is board-certified in both pediatrics and adolescent medicine and has a private practice in adolescent and young adult health. Dr. Cohall serves as the director of the Harlem Health Promotion Center which is devoted to reducing health disparities in communities of color. He is also the director of Project Stay (Services to Assist Youth), which is a New York State Department of Health funded program that provides confidential health services to young people affected by or infected with HIV/AIDS.  With support from the NYCDOHMH, he is leading an initiative to educate and link youth to care for PEP and PrEP services. Further, he is the Principal Investigator of the NYC CDC STD Prevention Training Center which focuses on enhancing the skills of primary care providers to manage patients with sexually transmitted diseases.

Additionally, in his role as Co-Principal Investigator at the New York Presbyterian site, he is involved with an NIH funded research project called “Link2Care” which designed to improve screening for STIs/HIV and substance use and subsequent linkages to health care services for Justice Involved Youth at high-risk for HIV. Dr. Cohall is Co-Director of the Washington Heights/Inwood Youth Opportunity HUB – a program funded by the NYC District Attorney’s office to reduce youth involvement in the justice system. Finally, he is a medical consultant for the Primary Care Development Corporation on projects related to HIV care.

He is a member of several professional organizations including: the American Public Health Association, the Society for Adolescent Health in Medicine, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. In recognition of his tireless efforts to improve the health of adolescents and their families, Dr. Cohall has been honored by: the New York Urban League, the New York Civil Liberties Union, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Public Health Association of New York City, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Society for Adolescent Health in Medicine.