Ezra Susser, M.D., Dr.P.H., is Professor and Chair of the Department of
Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University,
Professor of Psychiatry, and Head of the Department of Epidemiology of Brain
Disorders at New York State Psychiatric Institute. He has developed and tested a
culturally appropriate HIV intervention for minority homeless mentally ill men
that is highly focused, uses skills training methods that have proven effective
in schizophrenia, targets critical barriers to behavior change, takes into
account patterns of sexual relationships, and addresses the relationship between
psychiatric symptoms and risky sexual behaviors. He has been a key participant
in several large scale efforts to introduce HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention in
Africa, and he has advocated for the integration of expertise on mental health
into the global campaign against HIV.
Dr. Susser continues with his primary research on the epidemiology of mental
disorders and on the role of early life experience in health and disease
throughout the life course. Seeking to identify hypothesized neurodevelopmental
etiologies of schizophrenia, Dr. Susser and colleagues have used longitudinal
studies of unique birth cohorts, such as that exposed to the Dutch Hunger Winter
of 1944-45 and that defined by the Child Health and Development Study of 1959-66
to determine if there is an interaction between genetic predisposition to
schizophrenia and early prenatal exposures such as maternal nutrient deficiency
and maternal infection. He recently established The IMPRINTS Center, a
collaborative birth cohort research program in which epidemiologists seek to
uncover the causes of a broad range of disease and health outcomes, including
psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, obesity, cardiovascular disease,
reproductive performance, and breast and ovarian cancers.
EDUCATION
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Columbia University School of General Studies, New York, NY
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B.A.
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1977
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Premedical |
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Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons and School of Public
Health, New York, NY
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M.D./M.P.H.
|
1982
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Medicine/Public Health |
|
Columbia University, School of Public Health, Psychiatric Epidemiology Training
Program, New York, NY
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Dr.P.H.
with distinction |
1992
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Psychiatric Epidemiology Training program in Psychiatry |
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
| 1993-1998 |
Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and
Clinical Public Health, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New
York, NY |
| 1994-1998 |
Director of Epidemiology and Community Psychiatry Division in the Psychobiology Department, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY |
| 1994-1998 |
Associate Director of NIMH-funded HIV Center, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY |
| 1995-present |
Co-Director of Psychiatric Epidemiology Training, Columbia University, New York, NY |
| 1996-1998 |
Director of the Center for Urban Epidemiologic
Studies, The New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY |
| 1999-present |
Professor of Epidemiology and Psychiatry, Columbia
University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY |
| 1999-present |
Department Head, Epidemiology of Brain Disorders,
New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY |
| 1999-present |
Chairman, Department of Epidemiology, Columbia
University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY |
| 2004-present |
Anna Cheskis Gelman and Murray Charles Gelman
Professor and Chair, Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman
School of Public Health, New York, NY |
PUBLICATIONS
Susser, E., Valencia, E., & Conover, S.: Prevalence of HIV infection among
psychiatric patients in a New York City men's shelter. American Journal of
Public Health, 83:568-570, 1993.
Colson, P., Susser, E., & Valencia, E.: HIV and TB among people who are homeless
and mentally ill. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 17:157-160, 1994.
Jones, K., Colson, P., Valencia, E., & Susser, E.: A preliminary cost
effectiveness analysis of an intervention to reduce homelessness among the
mentally ill. Psychiatric Quarterly, 65:243-256, 1994.
Susser, E., Valencia, E., & Torres, J.: Sex, games, and videotapes: An
HIV-prevention intervention for men who are homeless and mentally ill.
Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 17:31-40, 1994.
Susser, E., Valencia, E., Miller, M., Tsai, W.Y., Meyer-Bahlburg, H.F.L., &
Conover, S.: Sexual behavior of homeless mentally ill men at risk for HIV.
American Journal of Psychiatry, 152:583-587, 1995.
Saez, H., Valencia, E., Susser, E., & Conover, S.: HIV and TB prevalence among
homeless men with mental illness [Letter to the editor]. American Journal of
Public Health, 86:1318-1319, 1996.
Susser, E., Miller, M., Valencia, E., Colson, P., Roche, B., & Conover, S.:
Injection drug use and risk of HIV transmission among homeless men with mental
illness. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153:794-798, 1996.
Susser, E., Valencia, E., Sohler, N., Gheith, A., Conover, S., & Torres, J.:
Interventions for homeless men and women with mental illness: Reducing
sexual risk behaviors for HIV. International Journal of STD and AIDS, 7:66-70,
1996.
Susser, M., & Susser, E.: Choosing a future for epidemiology: Part I. Eras &
paradigms. American Journal of Public Health, 86:668-673, 1996.
Susser, M., & Susser, E.: Choosing a future for epidemiology: Part II. From
black box to chinese boxes and eco-epidemiology. American Journal of Public
Health, 86:674-677, 1996.
McQuistion, H.L., Colson, P., Yankowitz, R., and Susser, E.: Tuberculosis
infection among people with severe mental illness. Psychiatric Services,
48:833-835, 1997. Collins, P.Y., Sohler, N.L., & Susser, E.S.: The potential of female-controlled
methods of HIV prevention for women with mental illness. The Health
Psychologist, 18:20-21, 1997.
Conover, S., Berkman, A., Gheith, A., Jahiel, R., Stanley, D., Geller, P.A.,
Valencia, E., & Susser, E.: Methods for successful follow-up of elusive urban
populations: An ethnographic approach with homeless men. Bulletin of the New
York Academy of Medicine, 74:90-108, 1997.
Susser, E., Bethne, P., Valencia, E., Goldfinger, S., & Lehman, A.: Injection
drug use among homeless adults with severe mental illness. American Journal of
Public Health, 87:854-856, 1997.
Susser, E., Colson, P., Jandorf, L., Berkman, A., Lavelle, J., Fennig, S.,
Waniek, C., & Bromet, E.: HIV infection among young adults with psychotic
disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154:864-866, 1997.
Susser, E., Valencia, E., Conover, S., Felix, A., Tsai, W.-Y., & Wyatt, R.J.:
Preventing recurrent homelessness among mentally ill men: A "critical time"
intervention after discharge from a shelter. American Journal of Public Health,
87:256-262, 1997.
Hoek, H.W., Brown, A.B., Susser, E.: The Dutch famine and schizophrenia spectrum
disorders. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 33:373-379, 1998.
Susser, E., Brown, A.S., Klonowski, E., Allen, R.H., Lindenbaum, J.:
Schizophrenia and impaired homocysteine metabolism: A possible association.
Biological Psychiatry, 44:141-143, 1998.
Susser, E., Desvarieux, M., & Wittkowski, K.: Reporting sexual risk behavior for
HIV: A practical risk index, and a method for improving risk indices. American
Journal of Public Health, 88:671-674, 1998.
Susser, E., Hoek, H.W., Brown, A.S.: Neurodevelopmental disorders after prenatal
famine: the story of the Dutch Famine Study. American Journal of Epidemiology,
147:213-216, 1998.
Susser, E., Matte, T.: Early antecedents of adult health. Journal of Urban
Health Bulletin, 75:240-245, 1998.
Susser, E., Valencia, E., Berkman, A., Sohler, N., Conover, S., Torres, J.,
Betne, P., Felix, A., & Miller, S.: Human Immunodeficiency Virus sexual risk
reduction in among homeless men with mental illness. Archives of General
Psychiatry, 55:266-272, 1998.
Wittkoski, K.M., Susser, E., & Dietz, K.: The protective effect of condoms and
nonoxynol-9 against HIV infection. American Journal of Public Health,
88:590-596, 1998.
Brown, A., van Os, J., Driessens, C., Hoek, H.W., Susser, E.: Prenatal famine
and the spectrum of psychosis. Psychiatric Annals 29:145-150, 1999. Pilowsky,
D.J., Sohler, N., and Susser, E.: The parent disclosure interview. AIDS Care,
11(4):447-452, 1999. Neugebauer, R., Hoek, H.W., Susser, E.: Prenatal exposure to wartime famine and
development of antisocial disorder in early adulthood. Journal of American
Medical Association, 282:455-462, 1999.
Schwartz, S., Susser, E., & Susser, M.: A future for epidemiology? Annual
Reviews of Public Health, 20:15-33, 1999. Susser, E., Brown, A.S., and
Gorman, J.M. (Eds.). Prenatal Exposures in Schizophrenia. Washington, DC:
American Psychiatric Association Press, 1999. Selten, J.P., Brown, A.S., Moons, K.G.M., Slaets, J.P.J., Susser, E.S., Kahn,
R.S.: Prenatal exposure to the 1957 influenza pandemic and non-affective
psychosis in the Netherlands. Schizophrenia Research 38:85-91, 1999.
Susser, E.: Life course cohort studies of schizophrenia. Psychiatric Annals.
29:161-165, 1999.
Susser, E., Matte, T., Brown, A.: Prenatal factors and adult mental and physical
health. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 44:326-334, 1999.
Herman, D., Opler, L., Felix, A., Valencia, E., Wyatt, R.J., & Susser, E.: A
critical time intervention with mentally ill homeless men: Impact on psychiatric
symptoms. Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 188:135-140, 2000.
Pilowsky, D.J., Sohler, N., & Susser, E.: Reasons given for disclosure of
maternal HIV status to children. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New
York Academy of Medicine, 77:723-724, 2000.
Sohler, N., Colson, P., Meyer-Bahlberg, H.F.L., & Susser, E.: Reliability of
self-reports about sexual risk behavior for HIV among homeless men with severe
mental illness. Psychiatric Services, 51:814-816, 2000.
Terry, M.B., Neugut, A.I., Schwartz, S., & Susser, E.: Risk factors for a causal
intermediate and an endpoint: Reconciling differences. American Journal of
Epidemiology, 151:339-345, 2000.
Collins, P.Y., Geller, P.A., Miller, S., Toro, P., & Susser E.: Ourselves, our
bodies, our realities: An HIV preventive intervention for women with mental
illness. Journal of Urban Health, 78:162-175, 2001. Murray, R.M., Jones,
P.B., Susser, E., van Os, J., and Cannon, M. (Eds.). Epidemiology of
Schizophrenia. Cambridge, MA: University Press, 2002.
Jones, K., Colson, P., Holter, M., Lin, S., Valencia, E., Susser, E., & Wyatt,
R.: Cost-effectiveness of the Critical time intervention to reduce homelessness
among persons with mental illness. Psychiatric Services, 54:884-890, 2003.
Myer, L., Morroni, C., & Susser, E.: Commentary: The social pathology of the
HIV/AIDS pandemic. International Journal of Epidemiology, 32:189-92, 2003.
Myer, L., Ehrlich, R., & Susser, E.: Social epidemiology in South Africa.
Epidemiologic Reviews, 26:112-123, 2004.
Myer, L., Morroni, C., & Susser, E.: Commentary: The social pathology of the
HIV/AIDS pandemic. International Journal of Epidemiology, 32:189-192, 2003.
Pilowsky, D.J., Zybert, P.A., Hsieh, P.W., Vlahov, D., & Susser, E.: Children of
HIV-positive drug-using parents. Journal of the American Academy of Child
Adolescent Psychiatry, 42:950-956, 2003.
Berkman, A., Pilowsky, D.J., Zybert, P.A., Leu, C.-S., Sohler, N., & Susser, E.:
The impact of substance dependence on HIV sexual risk-reduction among men with
severe mental illness. AIDS Care, 17:635-639, 2005.
Carballo-Diéguez, A., & Susser, E.: Commentary: Sex trade involvement and rates
of HIV-positivity among young gay and bisexual men. International Journal of
Epidemiology, 30:1455-1456, 2001.
Susser E, Bresnahan M: Origins of epidemiology. Annals New York Academy of
Sciences, 954:6-18, 2001.
Susser E, Terry MB: A conception-to-death cohort. Lancet 361: 797-798, 2003.
Susser E: Eco-epidemiology: Thinking outside the black box. Epidemiology
15:519-520, 2004.
Malaspina, D., Reichenberg, A., Weiser, M., Fennig, S., Davidson, M., Harlap,
S., Wolitzky, R., Rabinowitz, J., Susser, E., and Knobler, H.Y.: Paternal age
and intelligence: implications for age-related genomic changes in male germ
cells. Psychiatric Genetics, 15:117-125, 2005.
Mojtabai, R., Herman, D., Susser, E., Sohler, N., Craig, T., Lavelle, J.,
and Bromet, E.: Service use and outcomes of first-admission patients with
psychotic disorders in the Suffolk County Mental Health Project. American
Journal of Psychiatry, 162:1291-1298, 2005.
Berkman, A., Pilowsky, D.J., Zybert, P.A., Leu. S.C., Sohler, N., and
Susser, E.: The impact of substance dependence on HIV sexual risk-reduction
among men with severe mental illness. AIDS Care, 17(5):635-639, 2005.
Brown, A.S., and Susser, E.: Homocysteine and Schizophrenia: From prenatal
to adult life. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacololgy & Biological Psychiatry,
29:1175-1180, 2005.
Berkman, A., Cerwonka, E.R., Sohler, N.,and Susser, E.: A randomized trial
of a brief HIV risk reduction intervention for men with severe mental illness.
Psychiatric Services, 57:407-409, 2006.
McClellan, J., Susser, E., and King, M.C.: Maternal famine, de novo
mutations and schizophrenia, Journal of the American Medical Association,
296:582-584, 2006.
Reichenberg, A., Gross, R., Weiser, M., Bresnahan, M., Silverman, J.M.,
Harlap, S., Rabinowitz, J., Shulman, C., Malespina, D., Lubin, G., Knobler,
H.Y., Davidson, M., and Susser, E.: Advancing paternal age and autism. Archives
of General Psychiatry, 63:1026-1032, 2006.
Lamb, M., Taylor, S., Liu, X., Wolff, M., Borrell, L., Matte, D., Susser,
E., and Factor-Litvak, P.: Prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs) and postnatal growth: a structural analysis. Environmental Health
Perspectives, 114(5):779-85, 2006.
March, D., and Susser, E.: Taking the search for causes to a different
level: schizophrenia and eco-epidemiology. American Journal of Epidemiology,
163:979-981, 2006.
Schwartz, S., and Susser, E.: What can epidemiology accomplish?
International Journal of Epidemiology, 35:587-590, 2006.
Herman, D.B., Brown, A.S, Opler, M.G., Desai, M., Malespina, D., Bresnahan,
M., Schaefer, C.A., and Susser E.: Does unwantedness of pregnancy predict
schizophrenia in the offspring? Findings from a prospective birth cohort study.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatric Epidemiol, 41(8):605-10, 2006.
Herrell, R., Henteri, I.D., Mojtabai, R., Bartko, J.J., Venabel, D.,
Sussser, E., Merikangas, K.R., and Wyatt, R.J.: First psychiatric
hospitalizations in the US military: the National Collaborative Study of Early
Psychosis and Suicide (NCSEPS). Psychological Medicine, 36:1405-1415, 2006.
Susser, E., Schwartz, S., Morabia, A., and Bromet, E.: Psychiatric
Epidemiology: Searching for the Causes of Mental Disorders. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2006.
Pilowsky, D.J., Berkman, A., Leu, C.-S., Sohler, N. & Susser, E. (in press).
High risk sexual behaviors in dually diagnosed and severely mentally ill
homeless men. AIDS Care. |
