Dr. Maria Antonia Oquendo, MD

Maria A. Oquendo, M.D. is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University, Vice Chair for Education, Director of Residency Training at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Her areas of expertise include the diagnosis, pharmacologic treatment and neurobiology of Bipolar Disorder and Major Depression, with a special focus on suicidal behavior as well as cross-cultural psychiatry. Dr. Oquendo graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University in 1980 and received her M.D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in 1984. She completed her residency in Psychiatry at the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic in the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Oquendo is the principal investigator on several NIMH funded projects: a prospective study of suicidal behavior in patients with affective disorders, a training grant for Translational Neuroscience and a training grant in Global Mental Health. She is also a co-investigator on four other NIMH-funded …research studies examining the neurobiology of suicidal behavior or mood disorders. Dr. Oquendo teaches at Columbia University. Dr. Oquendo is a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and a member of American Society of Hispanic Psychiatry, American College of Psychiatrists, Association of Women Psychiatrists and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She is on the Scientific Advisory Council of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. She has authored or co-authored over 220 peer-reviewed articles. She is the recipient of many awards. Examples include Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (1993); Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill for Commitment to Multicultural and Underserved Communities (2002); Gerald Klerman Award from the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (2005); National Hispanic Medical Association Hispanic Health Leadership Award (2009); Sociedad Espanola de Psiquiatria, Miembro de Honor (2009); Simon Bolivar Award, American Psychiatric Association (2010);Rafael Tavares Award, Association of Hispanic Mental Health Providers (2010) and she was named Honorary Professor, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru in 2011.