ACGME Clinical Fellowship Leadership
George S. Alexopoulos, M.D. is the S.P. Tobin and A.M. Cooper Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, Professor of the Weill-Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, and Director of the Weill-Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Dr. Alexopoulos received his medical degree from the National University of Athens, Greece. He was initially trained at New Jersey Medical School and completed his psychiatric residency at Cornell University Medical College, where he also had his research fellowship in Psychobiology.
Dr. Alexopoulos research focuses on: 1) Neurobiological disturbances preventing response to antidepressants; 2) Novel treatment development; and 3) Improvement of clinical practice. With structural and functional neuroimaging and electrophysiology studies, he identified distinct syndromes of late-life depression (e.g. depression-executive dysfunction syndrome of late life, vascular depression) and described their biosignatures. He used his findings to develop and test novel treatments targeting behavioral or brain circuitry abnormalities of subtypes of depression. Examples of such therapies are problem solving therapy for executive dysfunction, personalized intervention for major depression in COPD, ecosystem focused therapy for post-stroke depression, and Engage. He served as the coordinating principal investigator of the multi-center, NIMH-supported PROSPECT Study, which developed and tested a care management system for reducing suicidal ideation and depression in older primary care patients. He has reported his findings in more than 400 articles and book chapters.
For his contributions, Dr. Alexopoulos has received four consecutive Center Grant Awards from the National Institute of Mental Health and numerous individual (R01) grants. He has been the Director of the T32 NIMH Research Fellowship in Geriatric Mood Disorders since 1989 and the primary mentor of eight scientists who received NIH Career K-Awards.
Dr. Alexopoulos has served on the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Institute of Mental Health. He is a fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, a fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Alexopoulos has received a Presidential Commendation by the American Psychiatric Association, the Research Award by the International College of Psychoneuropharmacology, the Greenberg Award of the American Psychiatric Association, the Geriatric Research Award of the American College of Psychiatrists, the Joseph Zubin Research Award of the American Psychopathological Association, the Distinguished Psychiatrist Lecturer Award of the American Psychiatry Association, and the Senior Investigator’s Award of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. He is the Editor for the Western Hemisphere and Japan of the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Jimmy N. Avari, MD is the Director of the Clinical Fellowship in Geriatric Psychiatry and the supervisor of the outpatient rotation of the Fellowship.
Dr. Avari had his psychiatry residency at Brookdale University Medical Center and also served as the chief resident. He completed the Weill Cornell Clinical Fellowship in Geriatric Psychiatry under the mentorship of Dr. George Alexopoulos and joined the Weill Cornell faculty upon his graduation. Initially, he worked in the inpatient service and later became the Associate Director and then the Director of the Clinical Fellowship. His areas of interest include geriatric psychopharmacology, psychosomatic medicine, geriatric depression, and psychopharmacological management in the treatment of treatment-refractory schizophrenia. Dr. Avari has authored many peer reviewed papers. He is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry and Geriatric Psychiatry and by the American Board of Addiction Medicine in Addiction Medicine. He is a member in the American Psychiatric Association and American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Dr. Avari teaches and supervises geriatric fellows, psychiatry residents and medical students and is a lecturer in the geriatric psychiatry didactic curriculum.
Nabil Kotbi, M.D. is the Associate Director of the Clinical Fellowship in Geriatric Psychiatry. Dr. Kotbi is a graduate of the Weill Cornell Clinical Fellowship of Geriatric Psychiatry during which he had been mentored by Dr. Alexopoulos. He is now an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and the Chief of “The Haven”, an inpatient psychiatric unit at the Westchester Division of New York Presbyterian Hospital. The Haven specializes in complex psychiatric disorders with neurological, medical and substance use disorder co-morbidities. Because of its clinical excellence and cultural sensitivity, the “Haven” treats has large a local, national and international patient base. Dr Kotbi is quadruple board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry, Geriatric Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine and by the American Board of Addiction Medicine in Addiction Medicine. His clinical expertise and interests include geriatric mood disorders, treatment resistant depression, addiction disorders, personality disorders, ECT and rTMS. He also serves a consultant for New York Presbyterian International/Global services. Dr. Kotbi has received many awards and published peer reviewed articles.
