Lisa Harris, MD
Primary Care Physician, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics
Diagnosed with Metabolic Syndrome
Rochester, NY

Lisa Harris, MD, was born in Oneida, New York, the eldest child and only daughter of the honorable Judge Roy and Mrs. Lucille King. Dr. Harris attended Monroe Jr. Sr. High School and then furthered her education at the University of Rochester, where she received a B.S. in neurosciences.  Later, she attended Morehouse School of Medicine where she received her medical degree. Her training was completed at the Detroit Medical Center in Detroit, MI.  Dr. Harris is boarded in two specialties, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, allowing her to care for both the adult and pediatric populations. Currently, Dr. Harris is in private practice.

Laurel C. Milberg, PhD
Behavioral Science and Education Development Director
Forbes Family Practice Residency Program
Pittsburgh, PA

Dr.Milberg is a counseling psychologist, Associate Professor of Family Medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine and Clinical Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the U. of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, where, for the past 30 years she has developed curricula, trained clinical faculty and fellows and directed core courses in medical interviewing.  Currently, she serves as Education Development Director for the Institute for Doctor-Patient Communication at the U. of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine.  Dr. Milberg is Director of Behavioral Science and Education at the Forbes Family Practice Residency Program, where she trains family physicians in communication skills and therapeutic use of the doctor patient relationship, using Balint groups.  A founding member, past president, and chair of the credentialing coordinating committee of the American Balint Society, Dr Milberg has directed and served as faculty for numerous courses designed to train Balint group leaders all over the US and in the UK.  She has published and co-authored articles on the Balint group method and its leadership skills; teaching family systems through behavioral pediatrics consultations; and faculty development for teaching women's health in a family practice residency program.  A member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, she has chaired its nominating committee and served as chair for both the Conference on Families and Health and the NE Regional Conference. 

Eric D. Caine, MD
John Romano Professor and Chair
Department of Psychiatry
University of Rochester Medical Center
Rochester, NY

Dr. Caine joined the faculty of the University of Rochester in 1978, following medical school at Harvard, residency training at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center and National Institute of Mental Health, and further postdoctoral research at NIMH.  He says he became fascinated with the relationships between organized brain functioning and behavioral disorders. In addition to his residency, he pursued additional training in neuropsychology and neurology as a means of exploring neuropsychiatry.

Dr. Caine's early research dealt with Huntington's disease, Tourette's syndrome and, to a lesser extent, Alzheimer's disease.This led to studies of depression and to the interface between mood disorders and general medical conditions. Since the late-1980s Dr. Caine, together with colleagues in what now has become the University of Rochester Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide, has carried out research to understand the risk factors that lead to suicide, and has worked collaboratively with investigators in the U.S. and internationally to develop new public health and therapeutic approaches for suicide prevention.

Gregory K. Brown, PhD
Research Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry
Co-Director, Center for Treatment and Prevention of Suicide
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

Dr. Brown is a Research Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He currently serves as the Co-Principal Investigator of the National Institute of Mental Health-funded Center for the Treatment and Prevention of Suicide at the University of Pennsylvania. His research has focused on developing, evaluating, and disseminating targeted, psychotherapy interventions for individuals who are indicated as being at high risk for suicide. Currently, he is investigating the effectiveness of cognitive therapy for adult patients who recently attempted suicide, for adult drug dependent patients with suicidal ideation, and for suicidal older men. These clinical trials focus on training therapists and case managers in community mental health and addiction treatment. In addition to his treatment research, Dr. Brown has conducted studies to develop and evaluate assessment measures of risk factors for suicide attempts and completed suicide. He currently serves on several national scientific boards related to suicide prevention. He is the winner of the 2007 Edwin Shneidman Award for outstanding contributions in suicide research from the American Association of Suicidology.

Martha L. Bruce, PhD, MPH
Professor of Sociology in Psychiatry
Associate Vice-Chair for Research, Department of Psychiatry
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
New York, NY

Martha L. Bruce, Ph.D., M.P.H. is Professor of Sociology in Psychiatry at Weill Medical College and the Clinical Epidemiology Program at the Graduate School of Medical Sciences, and Associate Vice-Chair for Research in the Department of Psychiatry.  A sociologist and psychiatric epidemiologist, Dr. Bruce conducts community-based services research aimed at improving access to quality mental health among vulnerable older adults suffering from depression.  Dr. Bruce has been the Principal Investigator of an NIMH-funded Interventions and Practice Research Infrastructure Program award (R24), that works in partnership with community-based agencies to develop research aimed at improving the treatment and outcomes of depression in elderly patients receiving home health services.  She is Principal Investigator of a New York State contract to assess residents of Adult Homes (i.e., Board and Care) serving elderly adults and adults with chronic and severe mental illness. She is also Principal Investigator of the Cornell subcontract of the NIMH funded (to U. Penn) R01 to investigate the impact of depression treatment on mortality in the NIMH-funded, multi-site Prevention of Suicide in Primary Care Elderly: Collaborative Trial (PROSPECT), and Co-Director of the Ithaca-based Cornell Institute for Translation Research on Aging. Currently, Dr. Bruce chairs the NIMH Services Research Review Group (SRV; now SRNS) and is chair of the Board of Directors of the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation. She serves on the External Advisory Board for VNSNY Center for Mental Health Services.

Seamus McCarthy
Special Guest
Producer of the film "Seeing Our Way Through"

Seamus McCarthy is the producer of the film "Seeing Our Way Through", a thirty-minute documentary about the loss of his father to suicide, the effects the suicide had on his family over a ten year period and their journey toward healing.  Seamus says that the loss of his father by suicide has had a deep and profound impact on his life; "It was through losing my father and the deep pain that went with it that I learned to love myself."  Seamus believes that choosing a healing process is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves and that the quality of our lives going forward from a tragic event is largely dependent on our choice to heal.  Seamus is currently enrolled in a graduate program at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology where he hopes to obtain his PhD in Transpersonal Psychology.