People

Dr. Mamah is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Director of WERC. He graduated from Semmelweis Medical School in Budapest, Hungary and completed his psychiatry residency at Washington University. He did an NIMH research fellowship in psychiatric epidemiology and biostatistics at Washington University, where he obtained the degree of Master of Psychiatric Epidemiology (MPE).

Dr. Mamah was the founding President of the Missouri Psychiatric Association and a past President of the Eastern Missouri Psychiatric Society. He has previously served on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fifth Edition (DSM-5) Task Force, overseeing the development of DSM-5. He is a recipient of multiple grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a NARSAD Young Investigator Award recipient, and the Biobehavioral Award for Innovative New Scientists (BRAINS) recipient from the NIMH. Dr. Mamah is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (DFAPA).

Staff

ShingShiun (Selena) Chen

Neuroimaging Engineer

Selena graduated from Chung Yuan Christian University in Taiwan with her B.S. in Electronic Engineering and obtained her M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University. She is interested in Digital Signal and Image Processing, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Data Analysis. Her work currently focuses on the development of biomarker identification for psychotic disorders (such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) via machine learning techniques to develop new clinically validated diagnostic techniques.

Masoomeh Faghankhani

Graduate Student Research Assistant

Masoomeh Faghankhani, an MPH student specializing in Mental and Behavioral Health Sciences, is working with Dr. Mamah as a graduate student research assistant at WERC. She received her Medical Degree from Tehran University of Medical Sciences. After graduation, she served as a primary care provider and public health practitioner in low-access areas with less advantaged populations in the south of Iran for two years. Then, she worked as a research scholar at the Mental and Behavioral Health Research Center for several years. Her past works focused on studying the integration of Evidence-Based Medicine and Public Health principles in studying mental and behavioral health issues, including psychotic, mood, and anxiety disorders. She is contributing to the Psychosis Risk Outcomes Network (ProNET) project aiming to better understand the causes and course of the earliest stages of psychosis. She is interested in reducing the disparity and collateral damage of psychotic disorders through early recognition and quality management of the diseases. She is also interested in studying the dissemination and implementation sciences in public mental and behavioral health to achieve mental and behavioral health equity through evidence-informed policies and the built environment. She is so excited to be part of WERC research team which is providing her with the opportunity to learn more about the clinically high-risk population (CHR or UHR) for psychosis, their concerns, and their needs.

Malana Kanallakan

Clinical Research Coordinator I

Malana is a graduate from Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville Illinois. She is a Certified Medical Assistant and has over 15 years of combined experience working in the fields of pediatric and adult medicine, as well as clinical research. She wants to make an impact on the lives of others in a positive way and has a passion for working closely with people and has empathy for all. In her free time, she loves to travel and enjoys doing anything outdoors or sports related.

Aakash Patel

Neuroimaging Engineer

Aakash graduated with B. E. in Mechanical Engineering from LDRP Institute of Technology and Research in India and obtained his M. S. in Mechanical Engineering from State University of New York at Buffalo. His thesis at Canon Stroke & Vascular Research Center (UB) was focused on creating a novel methodology to segment Intracranial Aneurysm (IA) from localized CTA images using Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). He is passionate about developing end-to-end pipeline focused on finding insights from medical image data using Signal and Image Processing, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Data Analysis.

Sedina Rahmanovic

Administrative Coordinator I

Sedina is the Administrative Coordinator for the Washington Early Recognition Center. Sedina received an Associate’s Degree in Medical Administration from Missouri College in 2004 and has used these skills for almost two decades from various medical environments to WERC. Sedina is skilled in coordination of care and brings empathy and compassion to every patient she interacts with. Sedina is fluent in several languages including English, Bosnian, French, Swedish, and Serbian. When Sedina isn’t providing exceptional coordination at WERC, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and searching for the perfect cup of coffee.

Megan Sneed

Professional Rater II

Megan graduated from Logan University in chesterfield Missouri with a bachelor’s of science in human biology. She is a certified clinical laboratory assistant with a background in a clinical research as well as has been a nationally registered Emergency Medical Technician since 2015. Her time in emergency medicine made her discover her passion for mental health and she brings her skills and experience to where research and psychiatric disorders meet.