We are pleased to announce that Alice Medalia, Ph.D. has joined the CPI team and will work with us to increase awareness about cognitive health throughout New York State.

Dr. Medalia is Clinical Director, Cognitive Health Services for the New York State Office of Mental Health. She is also Professor of Psychology at Columbia University Medical Center, a member of the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons Academy of Clinical Excellence and the founding director of the Lieber Recovery and Rehabilitation Clinic, a comprehensive psychiatric rehabilitation program for individuals with persistent mental illness. Dr. Medalia has been instrumental in raising awareness about the need to address cognition as a central aspect of health related to functional outcome. Difficulties with memory, attention and information processing speed are common, treatable symptoms of many psychiatric disorders. Left untreated, cognitive symptoms hamper effective functioning at work, school, and in social and living venues.

 

Dr. Medalia is a NIMH funded researcher, prolific author and the recipient of numerous prestigious awards. Her primary research interests are in treating cognition, improving motivation, and facilitating recovery among people with mental illness. She was the first person to identify the role of intrinsic motivation in neuroplasticity based cognitive training for people with psychiatric disorders. Dr. Medalia identified the need for the treatment of cognition to move beyond theories of neuroplasticity, to embrace an understanding of how people learn. She developed the widely used Neuropsychological & Educational Approach to Remediation (NEAR) model of cognitive remediation, which has been disseminated worldwide and is offered in OMH outpatient clinics in the CR2PR ( Cognitive Remediation to Promote Recovery) programs.

 

Dr. Medalia brought the concept of Cognitive Health to the field of Psychiatry. Traditionally cognitive health has been seen as relevant only to older individuals, but Dr. Medalia has advocated that it be considered a central aspect of health for all individuals. With the website www.teachrecovery.com, annual conference,  www.cognitive-remediation.org , publications and lectures Dr. Medalia has been instrumental in creating awareness about how psychiatric illnesses impact cognition, and the ways cognitive health can be addressed to improve functional outcome. We welcome her to the CPI leadership team.