Reuben N. Robbins, PhD

Associate Professor of Clinical Medical Psychology (in Psychiatry), Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

Research Scientist, New York State Psychiatric Institute

Email: rnr2110@cumc.columbia.edu
Phone: (646) 774 - 6968

Reuben N. Robbins is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medical Psychology (in Psychiatry) at Columbia University and a former postdoctoral fellow at the HIV Center. As a clinical- and neuro-psychologist, Dr. Robbins has expertise in neurocognitive functioning, mental health, psychotherapy, and social determinants of health across the lifespan both domestically and in low- and middle-income countries. Dr. Robbins’ research is primarily focused on improving the health, outcomes and quality of life of people living with HIV. Over the past decade, he has contributed to and completed numerous research projects examining neurocognitive functioning, mental health, sex and drug risk behaviors, and adherence to HIV medical treatment in HIV-infected and -affected populations, as well as populations at risk for acquiring HIV. Furthermore, Dr. Robbins has been at the forefront of developing and testing technology-based clinical tools and interventions for resource-limited settings. For example, as Principal Investigator (PI) on several internal-, external- and NIH-funded grants, He created an easy-to-use, highly automated tablet application to quickly assess neuropsychological functioning and screen for neurocognitive impairment (NeuroScreen), the goal of which is to make neurocognitive testing more accurate (i.e., rigorously adapted for and normed on different cultures and languages) and more accessible to wider segments of society (i.e., non-expert personnel can easily administer the tests – must for settings that do not have access to psychologists and neuropsychologists). In fact, NeuroScreen is one of the first tablet apps to be adapted for and used in low- and middle-income countries. He has been evaluating the acceptability and feasibility of its use, as well as its validity to detect neurocognitive impairment, most recently, in perinatally HIV-infected adolescents in South Africa (R01 HD095256, PI: Robbins), Thailand (R21 HD098035; PI: Robbins), and Uganda (R21 TW011683; PI: Robbins), as well as school aged children in Uganda (R21 TW012104; PI: Robbins). While the app was developed to assess the neurocognitive domains most affected by HIV (executive functions, processing speed, learning, memory, motor speed, and working memory), it has great potential to be used to examine neurocognition across diseases and populations. For example, it is being adapted for use to assess neurocognition in a population-based study of adolescents (mostly HIV-uninfected) in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa (TW011228; PI: Davidson and Desmond), which will lead to the generation of population-level norms for the app. Similarly, it has been validated for use to detect neurocognitive impairment in young adults with psychosis in Uganda. Dr. Robbins is also a Co-Investigator on NIH-funded studies to develop cognitive remediation interventions for adults with HIV and neurocognitive problems in South Africa (R34 MH126702; PI: Gouse) and one of the longest (now in its 20th year), longitudinal cohort studies of children and adolescents (now young adults) with perinatally acquired HIV in New York (R01 MH069133; PI: Mellins).

EDUCATION

Goddard College, Plainfield, VT
BA - 1997 - Human Development

Naropa University, Boulder, CO
MA - 2000 - Counseling Psychology

Fordham Bronx, NY
PhD - 2008 - Clinical Psychology

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2005-2007: Predoctoral Research Fellow, CNS HIV Antiretorviral Therapy Effects Research (CHARTER) and Manhattan HIV Brain Bank (MHBB) studies, Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY

2008-2011: Postdoctoral Fellow, HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, New York, NY

2011-Present: Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY