Meet the Max Gray Fellows

The Max Gray Fund for Depression Research was established in October 2014 by Laurie Davis Gray, in loving memory of her son Max Gray. Since its inception, the fund to date has raised almost $400,000 and funded four Max Gray Fellows in the Adult and Child Mood Disorders Clinics at the Semel Institute at UCLA. The purpose of the Max Gray Fellowship is to inspire a new generation of innovative research in mood disorders. Please continue reading to learn about the first four fellows.

Emma Wall, BMBCh, M.D.

Emma started her Max Gray Fellowship on July 1, 2015 in the Adult Mood Disorders Clinic under the supervision of Dr. Michael Gitlin. At Columbia University, Emma graduated from the adult psychiatry program and finished her Child Psychiatry Fellowship. Now at the Mood Disorders Clinic, Emma employs her clinical skills while both encouraging patients and adding value to the clinic. Since her focus during the past two years has been on child psychiatry, this Fellowship also has allowed Emma to hone her skills in treating treatment-resistant mood disorders among adults.

Lisa O’Donnell, LMSW, Ph.D.

Lisa started her fellowship on February 1, 2016 in the Child and Adolescent Mood Disorders Clinic under the supervision of Dr. David Miklowitz. Lisa is a recent graduate of University of Michigan’s Clinical Psychology Program.  At the Child and Adolescent Mood Disorders Clinic, she is enhancing her skills in diagnostic interviews, diagnostic decision-making, and family-focused treatment for children and adolescents with bipolar and other mood disorders.

Elizabeth Horstmann, M.D.

Elizabeth is working in the Child and Adolescent Mood Disorders Clinic under the supervision of Dr. David Miklowitz for the 2016-2017 academic year. Elizabeth received her B.A. from Columbia University, then she embarked on a Post-baccalaureate Fellowship in the Department of Clinical Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health, followed by medical school at Harvard Medical School. Thereafter, she completed her residency in general psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital/New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University Medical Center. From New York she sojourned to UCLA where she has just completed a Child Psychiatry Fellowship. Now, concurrent with her Max Gray Fellowship, she is receiving specialty training in the care of children with bipolar and major depressive disorders at the Child and Adolescent Mood Disorders Clinic.

Alaina Burns, M.D.

Alaina is working in the Adult Mood Disorders Clinic under the supervision of Dr. Michael Gitlin for the 2016-2017 academic year. Alaina received her bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and continued her education at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine, receiving both her master’s degree in Public Health and her medical degree. After medical school, she completed her four-year residency in psychiatry at UCLA where, in her fourth year, she was the Chief Resident in the UCLA Psychiatry Residency Training Program. As a Max Gray Fellow, Alaina is administering psychiatric evaluation and treatment to medical students and residents in UCLA Health.

To support future fellows, please donate to the Max Gray Fellows fund online at: https://giving.ucla.edu/campaign/Donate-Max-Gray-Fund-for-Depression.

See previous coverage on the Max Gray Fellows.