Iván C. Balán, PhD

Member, Bio-Behavioral Core
Associate Professor of Clinical Medical Psychology (in Psychiatry), Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Phone: (646) 774-6936
Email: ivan.balan@nyspi.columbia.edu

Iván C. Balán, PhD is a clinical psychologist and Research Scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He is also an Investigator with the HIV Center's Intervention Science Core.

Dr. Balán brings to his work extensive clinical experience, primarily with ethnic minority inner-city populations, which has informed the interventions he has developed for improving patient engagement and adherence in numerous NIH-funded studies.   

At the HIV Center, Dr. Balán has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on a number of studies exploring sexual risk behavior among men who have sex with men (MSM), both domestically and internationally. Currently, he is Principal Investigator of a study exploring how MSM and transgender women might use novel rapid HIV and syphilis tests in combination with a smartphone app to test their sexual partners and facilitate linkage to care among those who test HIV or syphilis positive. Dr. Balán is also a Co-Investigator in another study in this same line of research which is being conducted with MSM in New York City and San Juan, Puerto Rico and is assessing the effects of using an oral rapid HIV test with sexual partners on sexual risk behavior among high-risk MSM and transgender women. 

Dr. Balán is also currently involved in the HOPE study, which is being conducted by the Microbicide Trials Network and is assessing use of an intra-vaginal Dapivirine Ring among approximately 2,000 women in Sub-Saharan Africa. For this study, Dr. Balán developed, implemented, and monitors fidelity of a participant-centered adherence counseling intervention being delivered by over 50 counselors in the 14 study sites and across five countries and six languages. As part of this study, he oversees a team of eight fidelity raters in New York, five of whom are immigrants from the countries in which the study is being conducted, who are able to review sessions in the local languages.      

Dr. Balán has also written numerous Motivational Interviewing-based treatment manuals for NIH-funded research studies focused on engagement of Latino patients in anti-depressant treatment, gambling disorders, and linkage of dually-diagnosed patients into psychiatric care. An active member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT), Dr. Balán established and led the organizations International Advisory Committee and was selected twice to be part of the training teams for the Train-New-Trainers program.

EDUCATION

Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
BA - 1987 - Psychology

California School of Professional Psychology, Fresno, CA
MA - 1990 - Psychology

California School of Professional Psychology, Fresno, CA
PhD - 1996 - Clinical Psychology

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1991-1993: Psychology Intern, New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY

1993-1996: Staff Psychologist, St. Mary Hospital Community Mental Health Center, Hoboken, NJ

1994-2002: Psychologist, Department of Psychiatry, The New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY

1994-1996: Interviewer, HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY

1995-present: Research Scientist, HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY

1997-Present: Research Scientist, Anxiety Disorders Clinic, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY

2008-present: Member, Development Core, HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 

2014-present: Research Scientist V, HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute, NY

2017-present: Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology (in Psychiatry), Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons