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It seems as though anxiety picks the worst times to torment us. But it’s important to recognize…
Alies Muskin 1956-2015
Alies began her career at ADAA in 2001, serving as chief operating officer before being named executive director in 2010. The ADAA staff and Board of Directors remain committed to realizing Alies’s vision and following the path she set forth for the future, but she will be greatly missed by the entire ADAA community.
She worked tirelessly to offer hope and to improve the quality of life for the millions of children and adults who suffer from anxiety, depression, OCD, PTSD, bipolar, and related disorders. “So many people tell us that just knowing that they are not alone is empowering,” she said.
She believed that the stigma about mental health issues could change for the better with input from patients, families, loved ones, clinicians, and researchers. She positioned ADAA as the leading organization dedicated to the prevention, treatment, and cure of these illnesses through education, training, and research — never wavering in promoting the message that the illnesses are treatable.
Her commitment to improving the lives of affected individuals extended to ensuring that over the years ADAA supported numerous research projects from young and established investigators. “Understanding the basic science,” she said, “gives us hope that advances in neuroscience can impact how we diagnose and treat anxiety and mood disorders.” A key element of the ADAA mission in Alies’s eyes was helping improve patient outcomes by promoting scientific innovation, encouraging translation and implementation of research into practice, and providing continuing education of evidence-based treatments across disciplines.
Survivors in her immediate family include her husband Alfie Rosenberger; daughters Emily (and her husband Matt Geramita) and Melanie; her brother Philip Muskin, his wife Marlene, and their son Matthew; and her sister Marci Muskin, her husband Richard Geisenberger, and their children Dana and Harry.
As Alies said many times, “Everyone is able to make a difference in the lives of those they love.”
