Members
Charissa Hosseini (Chair, Listserv Moderator) A recent graduate of Palo Alto University’s PhD program completed her pre-doctoral training at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial VA Medical Center also known as the Loma Linda VA. Currently she is completing her post-doctoral residency at the San Francisco VA Medical Center within the Geropsychology Fellowship. Her research interest include adapting evidenced based practices for older adults as well as understanding the interaction between trauma and aging.
Leander Mitchell, PhD (Website Coordinator) is a Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Neuropsychologist who completed her Doctor of Psychology and PhD at the University of Queensland (UQ). Leander is currently the Clinic Manager of the UQ Psychology Clinic where she has oversight of the training of postgraduate psychology trainees completing their first placement. She also sees patients privately both for therapy and assessment. Her research interests lie in working with people with Parkinson’s disease and dementia in particular, as well as the broader topics of memory and cognitive impairment in older adults. Her PhD looked at the topic of wisdom and is also an area she is keen to explore further.
Brenna Renn (Newsletter Editor) is an Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington, having recently completed a research fellowship in geriatric mental health services research in the same department. She earned her PhD at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (home of the Pikes Peak model!) and spent internship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. Her research interests include late-life depression, the comorbidity of depression and chronic disease, and improving access to mental health care, such as expanding the mental health workforce in primary care. Although she misses the sunshine of her home state of Hawaii, she and her growing family love the mix of the outdoors and cosmopolitan offerings that makes Seattle such a special place to live.
Elissa Kozlov (Newsletter Editor)
Patricia Bamonti, PhD (Social Media Overseer) is a staff psychologist in the Geriatric Mental Health Outpatient clinic at the Boston VA Healthcare System (VABHS) and an instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from West Virginia University in 2015. She completed internship and a clinical fellowship specializing in geropsychology at the Milwaukee VAMC. She provides individual and group psychotherapy and serves as a major supervisor within the Geropsychology training program supervising psychology interns and fellows. Dr. Bamonti’s research is broadly focused on mitigating the impact of chronic illness and disability on mental health outcomes in older adults. Her current research is focused on comorbid mental health conditions in older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and intervention development in this area. She currently serves as secretary for the Council of Professional Geropsychology Training Programs (CoPGPT) and the Social Media Overseer for SCG and Diplomatic Liaison between SCG 12/II and CoPGPT.
For further information regarding the Communications Committee, please contact Charissa Hosseini, Committee Chair: chosseini@paloaltou.edu
