Dr. Janina Scarlet is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, author, TEDx speaker, and a full-time geek. A Ukrainian-born refugee, she survived Chernobyl radiation and persecution. She immigrated to the United States at the age of 12 with her family and later, inspired by the X-Men, developed Superhero Therapy to help patients with anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Dr. Scarlet is the recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award by the United Nations Association for her work on Superhero Therapy.

Dr. Lediya Dumessa earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Mississippi State University, her M.A in Clinical Psychology from Western Carolina University, and her B.A. in Psychology from University of Tennessee. She completed her pre-doctoral internship training at Johns Hopkins University Counseling Center. Prior to that, she trained in various settings including specialty outpatient clinics, residential treatment programs, substance use units, and inpatient hospital. Prior to joining the Washington Anxiety Center of Capitol Hill, Dr.

Tamar graduated from Brandeis University in 2017 with a background in behavioral neuroscience research. After graduating, Tamar worked on several translational research studies examining the various underpinnings of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) at Boston Children’s Hospital. Here, Tamar helped develop a successful yoga and mindfulness program for IBD patients. She is excited to potentially improve patient quality of life through utilizing various non-traditional therapeutic approaches.

Ifrah Sheikh, MSc, MA, is a Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student at Georgia State University. Her research is focused on the relationship between racial oppression and trauma symptomatology, with special emphasis on how culturally-salient factors like racial identity may be protective for those who experience multiple marginalization, such as migrant, refugee, and racially minoritized groups. Clinically, she is interested in the conceptualization and assessment of PTSD and the impact of oppression on mental and physical health outcomes.

Jonathan E. Alpert MD PhD is the Dorothy and Marty Silverman University Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience and Pediatrics. His academic interests include innovative treatments for difficult to treat mood disorders, childhood onset depression, depression comorbid with other medical illnesses, multi-cultural mental health, health disparities, drug-drug interactions, behavioral health integration, ethical issues in the conduct of human studies, and medical education. Dr.

Dr. Sameer Sheth is currently Associate Professor, Cullen Foundation Endowed Chair, Vice-Chair of Research, and McNair Scholar in the Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. He also holds joint appointments in the Department of Neuroscience and Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Baylor, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in Physics and Astronomy.

James Cowart is a psychologist, with a PhD in Applied Behavior Analysis from Western Michigan University and an MSW degree from the University of Michigan School of Social Work, in Socio-behavioral practice. As a part of his training at the University of Michigan, he honed his skills in treating patients using Systematic Desensitization in actual fear-provoking situations (later called Exposure Therapy). After receiving his Ph. D., he was Director of several large, non-profit outpatient clinics and co-founded an anxiety self-help group.