Staff

Under the leadership of Dr. Igor Galynker, M.D., Ph.D., The Family Center for Bipolar is a unique partnership of mental health professionals, caregivers and patients who are deeply committed to providing the highest quality care to both patients and caregivers affected by bipolar illness. The Family Center is a multidisciplinary team of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses and volunteer advocates for patient and caregiver needs. Both multi-cultural and multi-lingual, we tailor interventions to the sociocultural values and needs of our patients.

Igor Galynker, MD, PhD.,  Director

Dr. Galynker is Associate Chairman of Psychiatry, Chief of the Division of Psychiatric Brain Imaging, and Director of the Division of Biological Psychiatry at Beth Israel Medical Center. He specializes in Affective Disorders, including Major Depressive Disorders, Bipolar Mood Disorder, and Dysthymia.

Dr. Galynker was Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology, Psychiatry in 1993. He attended Medical School at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx where he is now a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry. His residency training in psychiatry was at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.

Dr. Galynker is also the author of the richly acclaimed book Talking to Families About Mental Illness: What Clinicians Need to Know 

(212) 420-4535

Claire Bernard, MSW, Family Therapist

Claire Bernard is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who works as a psychotherapist at the Beth Israel Medical Center and in private practice. She holds a Masters Degree in Dance Therapy and Creativity Development from Pratt Institute and a Masters in Social Work from Adelphi University. She has also trained at the Ackerman Institute for Family Therapy.

She has 25 years experience working with various patients and their families, with emphasis on Mood Disorders, Trauma, Crisis Intervention and Geropsychiatry.

(212) 420-4446

Dimitry Aniskin, MD

Dr. Aniskin graduated with honors from Moscow Medical Academy in 1992, and worked extensively as an attending psychiatrist in Moscow from 1994 until 2002. He did his residency training in Psychiatry at Beth Israel Medical Center - Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in New York City from 2003-2007. In 2008 he completed a Fellowship in Addiction Psychiatry at  Beth Israel Medical Center. Dr. Aniskin specializes in addiction psychiatry, Bipolar Mood Disorder and other mood disorders as well as family issues related to substance abuse in families with Bipolar Illness.

(212) 844-1740

Allison M. R. Lee, MD

Allison M. R. Lee, M.D. is an Attending Psychiatrist at the Family Center for Bipolar . She completed her psychiatry residency and was an ECRIP Research Fellow at Beth Israel Medical Center, and is currently a psychoanalytic candidate at the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, and Psychology. She studied Cognitive Science at Vassar College and graduated with Distinction in Psychiatry Research from Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

(212) 844-1884

Zimri Yaseen, MD

Zimri Yaseen, M.D. is a psychiatrist at the Family Center. Dr. Yaseen treats patients in the CUBSS program. Other special interests include Relational Psychotherapy and Hypnosis. He speaks Hebrew and Spanish. He completed his psychiatry residency and was an ECRIP Research Fellow at Beth Israel Medical Center, where he studied suicide and the interactions between attachment and depression. Dr. Yaseen is a graduate of the Sackler School of Medicine, and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago where he majored in mathematics and philosophy.

212-420-3481

Reuben Portnoy, MD

Dr. Portnoy conducts the evaluations of children and adolescents at the Family Center for Bipolar. He is a Spanish-speaking Board Certified Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. He is currently an Attending Psychiatrist at the Deptartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Beth Israel Medical Center. In addition Dr. Portnoy is also an Assistant Professor at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine.
 

Jena Bobish

Jena is the Program Coordinator at the Family Center for Bipolar. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Marymount Manhattan College.

(212) 420-2204

Deimante McClure

Deimante is a Research Coordinator currently working on a study entitled "Family Inclusive Treatment and the Role of Stress in Bipolar Spectrum Disorders" at the Family Center for Bipolar. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania.

(212) 844-1742

Sally Blanco-Lutzen

Sally is the Marketing Coordinator for the Family Center for Bipolar. A graduate of New York University, Sally has worked in development and fundraising for non-profits, and is currently helping to spread awareness of the family-inclusive treatment offered at the Family Center to enable more patients and their families access to the quality help they need. 

(212) 420-2302

Psychiatry Residents

Beth Israel Medical Center psychiatry residents are supervised by the staff of The Family Center for Bipolar. They provide both psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatment and support for patients with bipolar illness and their families.

 
Volunteers

Graduate and undergraduate Volunteers at The Family Center for Bipolar assist with patient care and with research.