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Divisions: Department of Psychiatry

Learn More About the Department of Psychiatry

Message from the Director

Headshot of Jill Williams

Welcome to the Division of Addiction Psychiatry. This is an exciting time to be working in the field of Addiction Psychiatry. Despite the enormous social and economic costs of substance use disorders, this is a time of opportunity. Many advances are being made in terms of understanding the neurobiology of addiction. These developments help to underscore that addiction is a medical disease that warrants recognition and evidence-based treatment in the healthcare spectrum.   This message is essential if we are to reduce the stigma that unfortunately still surrounds mental and substance use disorders.

I cannot remember any other time in my 25 year career as an Addiction Psychiatrist when there were so many open discussions of substance use and substance use disorders in public forums.  Innovations in therapies including medication-assisted treatments for opioid use disorders are more available now than ever.  The use of technology is increasing access to care and treatment paradigms are shifting to be more person-centered.  New behavioral therapies are translational and exciting, based on targets developed in the human laboratory.

Despite this progress, we know that more Americans will die this year of opioid overdoses than ever before.  More efforts are needed to equip communities with resources and education for naloxone overdose reversal and more people need access to legitimate treatment.  Despite some plateauing of opioid prescriptions, little is being done to address the misuse of many other prescribed medications including benzodiazepines.  States and communities are struggling with how best to handle drug legalization and decriminalization, but taking much-needed steps toward criminal justice reform. 

Tobacco still kills more individuals than any other substance and affects vulnerable populations including those with behavioral health comorbidity. Tobacco causes a staggering 50% of deaths in those with serious mental illness and kills more substance users than their primary substance. We now have considerable evidence that tobacco threatens recovery by negatively impacting finances, employability, housing, mental health symptoms, and abstinence from other substances.  Despite some progress in recognition of this problem, a new Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report of 2016 state data indicates that US mental health programs still only ask about tobacco 50% of the time. This underscores the need to fully implement tobacco treatment into behavioral health settings.

The Division of Addiction Psychiatry has been working to help people with substance use disorders for more than 20 years. Our work covers a broad span of disorders and population subgroups but has addictions at its core. This includes conducting epidemiological studies to identify the scope of addiction problems and populations most affected, developing new programs and treatment models, rigorously testing these in controlled conditions, and translating effective interventions into real-world settings through implementation. We are also committed to teaching others and putting science into practice, through extensive efforts with trainees at every level as well as continuing education.

Thank you for your interest in our division. This website is full of information about our clinical research team, educational activities, current projects, and ongoing clinical trials. We hope you will explore this site and find the information helpful.

Jill M. Williams, MD
Division of Addiction Psychiatry                                                              
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Department of Psychiatry

News and Announcements

Adult Smokers With Mental Illness Consume the Most Caffeine in the U.S.

In a study published in the journal Psychiatry Research, Jill M. Williams, director of the division of addiction psychiatry at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, found not only do adult smokers with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia drink the most caffeine, they are at the highest risk of negative health consequences.

Faculty and Staff

Faculty

Nina Cooperman, PsyD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
cooperna@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Anna Kline, PhD
Adjunct Associate Professor
anna.kline@rutgers.edu

Anna Konova, PHD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
anna.konova@rutgers.edu

Marilyn Piccirillo, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
marilyn.piccirillo@rutgers.edu

Marc L. Steinberg, PhD
Professor
marc.steinberg@rutgers.edu

Jill M. Williams, MD
Professor
jill.williams@rutgers.edu

Staff

Patricia Dooley Budsock, MA, LPC
Program Manager
dooleypc@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Kelley Hamilton, MPH
Health Educator III
khamilton@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Katherine Kneisel, BS, CHES
Health Educator
katherine.kneisel@rutgers.edu

Dina Mattern-Gales, MS
Research Coordinator
dm1215@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Thanusha Puvananayagam, MPH
Research Coordinator
puvanath@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Taylor Scott, MSW
Research Coordinator
taylor.m.scott@rutgers.edu

Jennifer Sorensen, LCSW, LCADC, CPS, CPRS
Training and Consultation Specialist
jns116@rwjms.rutgers.edu

 

Research Interests

Since its establishment, the Division of Addiction Psychiatry has grown rapidly and continues to lead the way in several specific areas of research. A list of our ongoing projects and studies can be found below.

Our research teams consist of Division faculty and staff working alongside Medical Students, Psychiatry Residents, Doctoral Psychology Interns, Ph.D. students in Clinical Psychology, Master of Public Health students, and outside collaborators. We take great pride in our research accomplishments in the following overlapping areas:

  • Behavior Therapy Development
  • Co-occurring Mental Illness and Addiction
  • Medication Clinical Trials
  • Opioid Use Disorders
  • Cannabis Use
  • Tobacco Use Disorder
  • Education and Implementation Studies
  • Mindfulness and Alternative Approaches
  • Motivational Interviewing

Current Projects and Studies

  • Jill Williams, M.D., Professor and Division Director:  The focus of Dr. Williams work has been in addressing tobacco in individuals with mental illness or other addictions through treatment and systems interventions. She has also done extensive work in co-occurring disorders and training health care professionals in treatment of substance use disorders.  Dr Williams has developed training curricula for behavioral health professionals and manualized treatments for treating tobacco in mental health settings.

    Dr. Williams has received research funding from sources including the National Institutes on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the State of New Jersey, Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services and various foundations. Her publications have appeared in numerous journals including  Nicotine and Tobacco Research, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and  the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.

    She has conducted research in nicotine intake, cigarette puffing and nicotine craving in individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as well as clinical trials to evaluate new treatments. Dr Williams is a certified buprenorphine prescriber and has received grants to provide training on the use of Medication Assisted Treatment to health care providers and the community. 

    Marc L. Steinberg, Ph.D., Associate Professor: Dr. Steinberg conducts research on tobacco use and dependence and cannabis use, particularly in vulnerable populations such as those with mental illness and low socioeconomic status.

    Dr. Steinberg is a clinical psychologist and is interested in psychosocial treatment development, proposed mediators of tobacco dependence treatment such as task persistence/ distress tolerance, and using motivational interviewing to encourage smokers to quit. Dr. Steinberg is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers and is active in the Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco (SRNT). He is currently Deputy Editor for the international peer-reviewed journal, Nicotine & Tobacco Research. Additional information on Dr. Steinberg's work can be found on the Tobacco Research and Intervention Lab website.

    Nina Cooperman, Psy.D., Associate Professor: Dr. Nina Cooperman is a clinical psychologist and Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Division of Addiction Psychiatry at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. For almost 20 years, her research has focused on developing and evaluating novel interventions for substance use and other health behaviors.

    Her earlier work included addressing medication adherence among people with HIV and developing tailored tobacco dependence treatment for individuals in methadone treatment for an opioid use disorder. Her current research focuses on evaluating mindfulness for opioid relapse prevention and chronic pain management among people in methadone treatment and peer recovery support for opioid overdose survivors in the emergency department.

    The National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, the state of New Jersey, and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation have funded Dr. Cooperman’s research.

    Anna Kline, Ph.D., Adjunct Associate Professor: Dr. Kline researches substance use and mental health, with a special focus on vulnerable populations. Her current research focuses on problems of opioid misuse, with studies examining both the epidemiology of opioid addiction in New Jersey as well as opioid users’ attitudes and behaviors that may contribute to overdose risk.

    Dr. Kline is also currently co-investigator on two clinical trials testing the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions, one to treat suicidality in military veterans and the other, chronic pain in methadone patients.

  • A Puff Topography Biofeedback Paradigm to Reduce Stress Precipitated Smoking Reinforcement (R21DA052723) 

    MPIs: Teresa Leyro / Samantha Farris 

    Co-Investigator: Marc L. Steinberg 

    The goal of this study is to evaluate the acute effects of a novel puff topography biofeedbackparadigm informed by autonomic psychophysiology to attenuate stress-precipitated smoking reinforcement in emotionally vulnerable smokers. 

    Status: Recruiting

    For More Information

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    Smartphone app to examine effects of cannabis use on driving behavior. (R21DA054614) 

    MPIs: Tammy Chung / Yingying Chen 

    Co-Investigator: Marc L. Steinberg 

    This exploratory study combines innovative smartphone monitoring of driving behavior with daily data collection (self-report, saliva sample) to examine effects of cannabis on driving behavior in real-world conditions among medical cannabis patients. The project focuses on medical cannabis patients due, in part, to greater access to information on cannabis content based on product labeling (THC, CBD). Study results have important public health implications for guiding efforts to prevent driving under the influence of cannabis. 

    Status: Not yet recruiting

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    OOPN

    PI: Nina Cooperman, Psy.D.

    Funded by the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Department of Health, the Opioid Overdose Prevention Network (OOPN) initiative receives real-time, statewide information about drug overdoses from the state’s police fusion center. The purpose of this project is to distribute naloxone to communities and train community members on recognizing opioid overdose, rescue breathing, and naloxone administration.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    NIDA R01 DA056537

    PI: Nina Cooperman, Psy.D.

    Implementation and Effectiveness of Mindfulness Oriented Recovery Enhancement as an Adjunct to Methadone Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder. The purpose of this project is to evaluate mindfulness-oriented recovery enhancement effectiveness and implementation strategies for chronic pain and opioid use in methadone treatment.

     ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    NIDA R01 DA057631

    PI: Nina Cooperman, Psy.D.

    Motivational Interviewing and Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement for Tobacco Dependence and Other Drug Use in Methadone Treatment. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of motivational interviewing and mindfulness-oriented recovery enhancement for opioids, tobacco, and other drug use in methadone treatment.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    New Jersey Household Survey of Drug Use and Health and Family of Studies

    PI: Anna Kline, Ph.D.

    This NJ Department of Health-funded grant includes funding for the following five studies:

    1. Statewide epidemiological telephone survey of substance use and abuse among New Jersey residents
    2. Risk factors for opioid overdose
    3. Factors affecting community re-entry among prisoners with substance abuse problems
    4. Use and misuse of opioid pain medication by student-athletes
    5. Medical and recreational marijuana use in New Jersey.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement in Methadone Treatment for Chronic Pain Management and Opioid Use (NCCIH, R21/33)

    PI: Nina Cooperman, Psy.D.

    Co-PI: Anna Kline, Ph.D.

    Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is the most effective intervention for an opioid use disorder (OUD), and methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) is the most commonly prescribed MAT; however, approximately half of people who begin MMT discontinue within a year, and a half of people retained in MMT have an opioid relapse within six months. Chronic pain, affecting most people on MMT, could be contributing to relapse in this group. Novel behavioral interventions that address both chronic pain and opioid relapse among people on MAT are needed.

    This study, funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), aims to evaluate the impact of a novel intervention, Mindfulness Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE), on opioid use and chronic pain among individuals receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT). This study involves a 2-arm individually randomized controlled trial design that compares MORE and MMT as usual (TAU) among people with chronic pain and in MMT.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Emergency Department Peer Recovery Support for Opioid Overdose Survivors

    PI: Nina Cooperman, Psy.D.

    Co-Investigator: Anna Kline, Ph.D.

    In response to the national opioid epidemic, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provided funding to states for opioid prevention and treatment, with an emphasis on enhancing access of people with an opioid use disorder to medication assisted treatment (MAT; i.e., standard of care treatment). The NJ Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) leveraged this funding to expand its peer support program, an innovative emergency department (ED)-based program that employs people in recovery to engage overdose survivors in MAT and other services. Although ED-based peer recovery programs are becoming widely implemented nationally, there have been no formal evaluations of their effectiveness.

    This study was funded by Arnold Ventures to evaluate the effectiveness of peer recovery support and other ED-based programs in New Jersey in terms of preventing overdoses and facilitating the entry of people with an opioid use disorder to MAT and other treatment. This evaluation is taking place at hospitals throughout the state.

    This study is funded by the John and Laura Arnold Foundation.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Preventing Suicide in Military Veterans (HSR&D IIR 12-134-3)

    PI: Alejandro Interian, Ph.D.

    Co-Investigator: Anna Kline, Ph.D.

    This is a Veterans Administration-funded study.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Continuation and Analysis of Enhanced Tobacco Use Measures and Intensive Training in New York

    PI: Jill M Williams, MD

    Funding Agency: Pfizer Inc. 

    This is a data analysis project to analyze tobacco use measures in a large statewide database. No subjects are being recruited.  

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Online Residency Training in Tobacco Use Disorders

    PI: Jill M Williams, MD

    Funding Agency: American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

    This project develops and tests an online curriculum on Tobacco Use Disorders developed specifically for psychiatry residents. The study is complete and results are currently being analyzed. No subjects are being recruited.  

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    NYC Behavioral Health Tobacco Cessation Training and Implementation Center Proposal

    PI:  Nancy Covell, PhD

    Co-I:  Jill M Williams, MD

    Funding Agency: NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)

    This project provides training and technical assistance on Tobacco Use to Behavioral Heatth clinical practice sites in New York City.

Opioid Overdose Prevention Network

In 2020, nearly 80,000 thousand people in the United States died from an opioid overdose. The Opioid Overdose Prevention Network (OOPN) was developed by the NJ Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services in partnership with the Division of Addiction Psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School to combat this crisis. The program receives real-time, statewide information about drug overdoses from the state’s police fusion center. This allows OOPN to deploy prevention interventions including training and distribution of naloxone to impacted areas.

  • Prevent opioid overdose deaths by empowering community members to respond appropriately to opioid overdose situations.

  • Provide free education and free naloxone kits to allow community members to recognize and respond to an opioid overdose.  

  • Since the program's inception in 2017, we have provided training and naloxone kits to over 25,000 professionals, students, and community members in New Jersey.

  • We offer free Public Naloxone Presentations six times per month (see below). Training attendees must be age 18 and above and resides, works, or attends school in New Jersey. Each attendee will receive a free Narcan kit after the training.

    The Naloxone Presentation is 60 minutes long and held live online via Zoom. Please register for your preferred date below and the Zoom link will be sent out the day before the event. Registration is capped at 25 participants per session and the Narcan kit will be shipped out (via UPS) within five business days of the presentation. 

    Link to Flyer

    Registration is required.  Please contact:

    PreventOverdose@rwjms.rutgers.edu
    732-235-4341

  • We offer free private training for organizations, community groups, treatment and recovery facilities, and many other entities. Training attendees who are 18 years of age and older will also receive a free naloxone kit after attending the training. 

    View Our Flyer

    Our 60-minute naloxone trainings are offered both in-person, as well as live online virtual trainings via Zoom.  We will coordinate with you/your agency facilitator for the distribution of naloxone kits, whether they are picked up at an in-person training or shipped out within 5 business days of the virtual presentation.

    To schedule a private training for your organization or group, please contact:

    PreventOverdose@rwjms.rutgers.edu
    732-235-4341

  • "They did an awesome job explaining everything and we are really grateful to move forward with the knowledge you have provided us in the event we will ever have to use it." - Collaborative Support Programs of NJ

    "Thanks again for your fabulous training last Friday. People raved about how helpful it was and how relevant it is to their work." - Mental Health Association of New Jersey

    "It was wonderful to meet you and your team today! The presentation was great and provided us with valuable lifesaving information." - Covenant House

    "On behalf of West Bergen, we wanted to express our appreciation for the Naloxone training. It was extremely informative, and everyone really enjoyed your presentation." - West Bergen Mental Healthcare

  • Division of Addiction Psychiatry
    317 George Street, Suite 105
    New Brunswick, NJ 08901
    Phone: (732) 235-4341
    Fax: (732) 235-4277

CHOICES and Learning About Healthy Living

Consumers Helping Others Improve Their Condition by Ending Smoking

CHOICES was founded in 2005 by Dr. Williams and Marie Verna through a partnership with the Mental Health Association of NJ and the Legacy Foundation, along with ongoing support from the NJ Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services. CHOICES is a consumer-driven initiative to reach smokers with mental illness in the community.

Learn More About CHOICES

Learning About Healthy Living (LAHL)

We developed Learning about Healthy Living (LAHL) as a tool to work with clients with behavioral health conditions who use tobacco. Despite a historic low of cigarette smoking rates in the US, disparities persist, with rates that are 2-3 times higher in individuals with behavioral health comorbidity. LAHL is a 20-session group treatment approach. The goal of the intervention is to increase an individual’s awareness about the risks of tobacco use, and treatment options, enhance motivation to address tobacco and begin by making other healthy life choices.

LAHL has been in use in mental health treatment programs in New Jersey since 2004. The LAHL treatment approach supports the current focus on wellness and recovery within the mental health field and is being used in treatment programs with great success.

A pilot implementation study of Learning about Healthy Living in New Jersey outpatient and partial hospital sites indicated good attendance, and high levels of interest and participation. Clinicians felt the program was easy to implement with limited training (Williams et al., 2009). LAHL was also implemented and evaluated in 9 psychosocial rehabilitation clubhouses in North Carolina, where it was felt to be feasible and well-received by members and staff. (Lee et al., 2011).

This 2024 update of LAHL reflects the changing landscape of new and emerging nicotine products as well as innovations in treatment. There are new sessions on topics of harm reduction, e-cigarettes and vaping, and changes to treatment including new approaches for reduce to quit and use of first line medication algorithms. Mindfulness meditation is added as a coping strategy, and we have revised guidelines for healthy eating and activity. Another change is a major design revision to make the materials more appealing.

This version of the LAHL manual is available as a free resource in the public domain. We hope you find this version helpful in your work. As always your feedback is welcomed (jill.williams@rutgers.edu) . If you plan to publish about this experience using the LAHL materials, we would ask that you cite the source and contributing authors.

More Information on Learning About Healthy Living

Addiction Psychiatry Contributes to CDC Meeting

Faculty and staff from the Division of Addiction Psychiatry presented at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's meeting of the Interagency Committee on Smoking and Health, which comprises 21 members from eight federal agencies, including the United States Surgeon General, who chairs the committee, and five public members. Jill M. Williams, MD, professor and chief of addiction psychiatry, along with Deidre Stenard, a peer counselor with NJ CHOICES, a program of the division, presented during an afternoon session, "Notes From the Fields: Promising Practices." Patricia Dooley Budsock, MA, LPC, CTTS, mental health clinician, also was in attendance.

The meeting was focused on “Behavioral Health and Tobacco Control,” to identify federal actions to address disparities in tobacco use among behavioral health populations.

RIOT

Rutgers Interdisciplinary Opioid Trainers

The Rutgers Interdisciplinary Opioid Trainers (RIOT) program provides a FREE 1-hour training to community members to educate them about the opioid epidemic in NJ, how to manage an overdose, and Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD).

Who We Are

We are Graduate Students at Rutgers University from these schools:

  • Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
  • School of Public Health
  • Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy
  • School of Social Work
  • Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology
  • School of Health Professions
  • Graduate School in Biomedical Science

Our supervisor is Dr. Jill Williams from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Division of Addiction Psychiatry.

We are committed to increasing education and reducing stigma about Opioid-Use Disorder and medication-assisted treatment.

RIOT is sponsored by a grant from the NJ Department of Human Services, Division of Mental Health & Addiction Services. 

 

What We Do

We provide a FREE 1-hour educational talk on the Opioid Crisis. Our target audience is community members in the state of New Jersey. This talk gives a broad overview of the current US Opioid Crisis and includes a discussion of Opioid Use Disorder, Overdose Management, and Medications for Opioid Use Disorder.

Our Resources

Contact Us

317 George Street, Suite 105
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Phone: 732-235-4341
Fax: 732-235-4277
Patient Appointment Line: 732-235-7647

Message from the Director

Headshot of Wun Jung Kim

I’m glad you are interested in child and adolescent psychiatry. It is an exciting and rapidly growing field addressing both society’s needs and scientific advances. More than 20% of American children suffer from mental disorders but only 20 to 40% of them receive professional attention for evaluation and treatment.

Even among those receiving professional attention, only a fraction of them have access to child and adolescent psychiatrists’ expertise due to the limited availability/number of child and adolescent psychiatrists. The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry division provides the important functions of education, clinical services, and research within the medical school and in the larger community of New Jersey.

Wun Jung Kim, MD, MPH
Professor
Chair
Program Director
Email: wk138@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Education

The missions of the division are:

  1. To educate the future generation of physicians through medical student education and ensure an understanding of children’s mental illnesses no matter what specialty training they undertake after medical school.
  2. To train adult psychiatry residents in caring for youth.
  3. To train specialists in child and adolescent psychiatry for expert care of young patients and consultation with other professionals, pediatricians, psychologists, social workers, nurses, teachers, etc.

Faculty and Staff

Faculty

Wun Jung Kim, MD, MPH
Professor, Chair, Program Director
wk138@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Shawen Ilaria, MD
Assistant Professor, Assistant Program Director
si175@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Theodore Petti, MD, MPH
Professor
pettita@ubhc.rutgers.edu

Sherie Novotny, MD
Assistant Professor
novotnsl@ubhc.rutgers.edu

Staff

Dawn Dunn
Program Coordinator
Child & Adolescent Fellowship Program
dmd472@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Fellowship

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship

The program provides the opportunity to go beyond the training in general psychiatry to become a highly skilled provider of comprehensive medical care to children and adolescents suffering from psychiatric disorders. To achieve this goal, the training includes a carefully selected array of clinical and didactic experiences that ensure that the trainee will have the knowledge and skill to function with confidence in the wide variety of settings in which today’s child and adolescent psychiatry practices. 

Explore More About the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship

Clinical Services

The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic provides psychiatric evaluations, treatments, and the pharmacologic management of childhood mental disorders. It accepts referrals from other physicians and mental health professionals for the consultation and/or joint management of cases. Fellows and residents in training provide care under the direct supervision of the attending physician/faculty member.

The faculty and trainees also provide clinical services in various settings, inpatient, outpatient, partial hospitalization, and pediatric consultation/liaison services at University Behavioral Health Care (Rutgers), Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Somerset Medical Center, University Correctional Health Care- Juvenile Justice Commission (UBHC/Rutgers), Children’s Specialized Hospital and others. The services emphasize multimodal and multidisciplinary evaluation and treatment, and collaboration with the family, school, and community.

Research

The division participates in many research programs including learning disorders, autism, asthma, etc.  We also strive to participate/collaborate with researchers at Rutgers University, such as the Department of Genetics, Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, etc.

Message from the Director

Headshot of Matthew Menza

The primary focus of the Psychopharmacology Clinic is medication treatment and ongoing medication management for patients. Our goal is to achieve and maintain the best possible reduction in symptom severity for each patient. We also hope to educate patients and their families about mental illness and medication compliance and help them maintain the skills necessary to enhance the quality of their lives.

We provide these services to patients with a wide range of difficulties, including depression, anxiety, bipolar illness, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia, among others. Our physicians are experts in the latest developments in psychopharmacology and we also provide access to ongoing clinical trials with medications in development. Our clinic is staffed by the faculty of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School who provide comprehensive diagnostic assessment and individualized treatment planning and follow-up care.

Matthew Menza, MD
Program Director

Faculty and Staff

Contact Us

University Behavioral HealthCare
671 Hoes Lane West, Room D-338
Piscataway, NJ 08854
Phone: 732-235-7647

 

Message from the Director

Thank you for your interest in our division. Our website is full of information about our clinical team and educational programs. We hope you will explore our website and find the information provided helpful.

Our team of board-certified psychiatrists has expertise in Psychosomatic Medicine, and care for the medically infirmed who are experiencing active, co-occurring psychiatric and psychological illness. Under my direction, the Division of Consultation Psychiatry is committed to the evaluation and management of patients at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and the Bristol Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ.   

Anthony Tobia, MD
Division of Consultation Psychiatry

About the Division

The Division of Consultation Psychiatry provides diagnosis and treatment to patients referred by other physicians who have complex or severe medical or surgical problems exacerbated by mental illness.

We provide consultations to the medical and surgical inpatient services at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Our goals are to provide diagnosis and treatment recommendations while working with the primary medical/surgical teams to achieve the best treatment outcomes and assist the patients' transition to appropriate outpatient care.

Faculty and Staff

Faculty

Viwek Bisen, DO
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Email: bisenvs@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Nina Cooperman, PsyD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Email: cooperna@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Anthony Tobia, MD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
Email: tobiaat@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Adam Trenton, DO
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Email: trentoaj@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Staff

Andrea Gill
Supervisor Clinic Services
Email: gillan@rutgers.edu
Phone: (732) 235-7647

Vaness Nievess
Clinic Services Rep II
Email: nievesva@rutgers.edu
Phone: (732) 235-7647

Veronica Williams
Clinic Services Rep I
Email: williavc@rutgers.edu
Phone: (732) 235-7647

Affiliations and Collaborations

Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
195 Little Albany Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08903-2681
Phone: 732-235-CINJ (2465)

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
1 Robert Wood Johnson Place
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Phone: (732) 828-3000

University Behavioral Health Care-Acute Psychiatric Services
671 Hoes Lane
Piscataway, NJ 08854 
Phone: 1-855-515-5700

Contact Us

Clinical Academic Building
125 Paterson Street, Suite 2200
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Phone: (732) 235-7647 
Fax: (732) 235-7677