Psychology Staff & Psychology Fellows
Stella Bitran, Ph.D.
Stella Bitran is a Clinical and Research Fellow in the Depression Clinical and Research Program (DCRP) at Massachusetts General Hospital and a Clinical Fellow at Harvard Medical School. Stella earned a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Boston University under the mentorship of David H. Barlow, Ph.D., Stefan G. Hofmann, Ph.D., and Michael W. Otto, Ph.D. She completed her clinical internship at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein School of Medicine in Bronx, NY. Stella’s research interests include psychosocial interventions for anxiety and depression, unified treatments for the emotional disorders and the assessment of emotion regulation processes. Dr. Bitran provides cognitive-behavioral therapy and conducts assessment interviews for several on-going treatment studies at the DCRP.
Michele Candrian, Ph.D.
Michele Candrian is currently a doctoral candidate in Psychology at the University of Zurich, and is expected to earn her Ph.D. in April 2007. She received a B.A. from the School for Occupational Therapy, Zurich, Switzerland in 1990, and a M.A. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Zurich in 1996. Before joining the DCRP, she worked as a Mental Health Counselor at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison on a study investigating the effects of various treatments (e.g., parent-infant dyadic therapy, individual psychotherapy) on outcome in mothers suffering from postpartum depression and their infants. She is a certified Professional Counselor in the State of Wisconsin. At the DCRP she has been primarily involved in (1) the STAR*D study (Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression) and its ancillary Child STAR*D project, and (2) the Depression Trial Network (DTN) study. Currently, she serves as clinical interviewer for a large study aimed to investigate the efficacy, safety, tolerability of an alternative therapy for depression (S-adenosyl-l-methionine, SAMe). Her main research interests include understanding the effects of Personality Disorders, stress, and cognitive vulnerability on treatment outcome in depression.
Amy Farabaugh, Ph.D.
Dr Farabaugh is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School (HMS). She joined the DCRP full-time in 2001 after completing the DCRP fellowship, and in 2006, she was appointed the Director of Psychotherapy Research for the DCRP. She has received the New Investigator award through the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to attend the NCDEU 44th Annual Meeting and to participate in the New Investigator Program. She was invited to participate in The Fifth Annual Career Development Institute For Psychiatry, which incorporates a workshop on launching and maintaining a career in mental health research. She was funded in 2003 through a Kaplen Fellowship (HMS) to examine the prevalence rate of MDD in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and the feasibility of the CBT approach in the treatment of depression in patients with PD. In 2007, she was awarded a K-23 mentored award from NIMH to further investigate CBT for depression in PD. In 2008, she was awarded the NARSAD Young Investigator Award to study whether QEEG predicts response for psychotherapy compared to pharmacotherapy in depression. Her research initiatives have been productive, as she has presented at national conferences, such as APA and for the MGH Psychiatry Academy, and has authored and co-authored more than 18 original publications. She is the Co-Chair of MGH’s Psychiatry Grand Rounds Committee. She provides CBT for outpatients with anxiety and depressive disorders.
Greg Feldman, Ph.D.
Greg Feldman is a clinical and research fellow in the Depression Clinical and Research Program (DCRP) at Massachusetts General Hospital and an assistant professor of psychology at Simmons College. Greg earned a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Miami and completed his clinical internship at Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School. His research interests include psychosocial interventions for stress and depression and the assessment of emotion regulation processes. Dr. Feldman provides cognitive-behavioral therapy and conducts assessment interviews for several on-going treatment studies at the DCRP.
Joel Pava, Ph.D.
Dr. Pava is currently Director of Psychotherapy Services in the Depression Clinical and Research Program, Associate Psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He received a B.A. in Psychology from Yale College and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from New York University. He completed his clinical internship at McLean Hospital, followed by a research fellowship in the MGH Cognitive Therapy and Research Program. He is a certified cognitive therapist, Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, and has served as a study therapist on several cognitive therapy trials. Dr. Pava is currently Project Director of a NIDA funded study exploring the relationship of smoking cessation treatments to depression. His research interests are in the areas of cognitive therapy, relapse prevention and integrating pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy in the treatment of depression. Dr.Pava is a clinical supervisor for both the MGH Psychology Internship and MGH-McLean Psychiatric Residency Training Programs. He has enjoyed busy hospital-based and private clinical practices for over fifteen years.
Paola Pedrelli, Ph.D.
Dr. Pedrelli is an Instructor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School and an Assistant in Psychology at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Pedrelli received a B.A and a M.A. in Psychology from the University of Bologna, earned a Ph.D in Clinical Psychology from the Joint Doctoral Program at University of California San Diego (UCSD) and San Diego State University (SDSU), and she completed her clinical internship at the University of Washington School of Medicine. In these settings she has been extensively trained in the application of empirically supported treatments such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Motivational Interviewing (MI). Dr. Pedrelli has experience working with a range of patient populations and currently she administers direct clinical services to patients with a range of symptomatologies including Major Depressive Disorder, Alcohol Use Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, and Borderline Personality Disorder. Her program of research focuses broadly on investigating the etiology, assessment, and treatment of comorbid Affective Disorders and Alcohol Use Disorders. In July 2008 she received the Zinberg Fellowship Award from the Harvard Medical School to study psychosocial interventions for college students with binge drinking and depressive symptoms. She is also the Co- Investigator of a NIH funded study investigating innovative technologies for the assessment of depressive symptoms.