Sarah M. Szymkowicz, PhD, ABPP

Sarah
M.
Szymkowicz
PhD, ABPP
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Division of Psychology

Sarah M. Szymkowicz, PhD, ABPP, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She earned her PhD in Clinical & Health Psychology from the University of Florida and completed her clinical psychology / neuropsychology internship at the Tampa VA and postdoctoral residency / fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Dr. Szymkowicz is board certified in clinical neuropsychology through the American Board of Professional Psychology.

Dr. Szymkowicz is currently the faculty advisor for the Association of Neuropsychology Students in Training (ANST) Aging Focus Group and was a previous Early Career Psychologist Leadership Development Fellow for the Tennessee Psychological Association (TPA).

Dr. Szymkowicz investigates the underlying cognitive and neural correlates of emotion processing and neuropsychiatric symptoms in healthy aging and neuropsychiatric conditions (such as late-life depression and Parkinson's disease).

Her current work focuses on using non-pharmacological approaches to improve cognition in late-life depression. See www.vumc.org/laci/cog-d-study

For a list of publications, please see: www.researchgate.net/profile/Sarah_Szymkowicz

Representative Publications

Szymkowicz, S. M.*, Gerlach, A. R.*, Homiack, D., & Taylor, W. D. (2023). Biological factors influencing depression in later life: Role of aging processes and treatment implications. Translational Psychiatry, 13, 160. doi: 10.1038/s41398-023-02464-9. *Denotes co-first authors.

Szymkowicz, S. M., Ryan, C., Elson, D. M., Kang, H., & Taylor, W. D. (2023). Cognitive phenotypes in late-life depression. International Psychogeriatrics, 35(4), 193-205. doi: 10.1017/S1041610222000515.

Szymkowicz, S. M., Taylor, W. D., & Woods, A. J. (2022). Augmenting cognitive training with bifrontal tDCS decreases subclinical depressive symptoms in older adults: Preliminary findings. Brain Stimulation, 15, 1037-1039. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2022.07.05.

Szymkowicz, S. M., Jones, J. D., Timblin, H., Ryczek, C. A., Taylor, W. D., & May, P. E. (2022). Apathy as a within-person mediator of depressive symptoms and cognition in Parkinson’s disease: Longitudinal mediation analyses. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 30(6), 664-674. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2021.11.007.

sarah.szymkowicz@vumc.org

Dr. Szymkowicz sees referrals for outpatient adult and geriatric neuropsychological evaluations for a range of neurological, psychiatric, and medical conditions. She has special interests in depression, memory and movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, and cognitive functioning in the context of complex medical conditions (including end-stage organ failure).

Christman, Taylor article published in Translational Psychiatry

September 21, 2020
Fourth-year resident in General Psychiatry Seth Christman, MD, and James G Blakemore Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Warren Taylor, MD, MHSc, recently published the article "Accelerated brain aging predicts impaired cognitive performance and greater disability in geriatric but not midlife adult depression" in the journal Translational Psychiatry.

Article on psychosis in youth published in American Journal of Psychiatry

September 17, 2020
Several Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences faculty recently contributed to a new published article in the American Journal of Psychiatry. The article, "Thalamic Nuclei Volumes in Psychotic Disorders and in Youths with Psychosis Spectrum Disorders," was produced by Anna S. Huang, Ph.D., Baxter P. Rogers, Ph.D., Julia M. Sheffield, Ph.D., Maria E. Jalbrzikowski, Ph.D., Alan Anticevic, Ph.D., Jennifer Urbano Blackford, Ph.D., Stephan Heckers, M.D., and Neil D. Woodward, Ph.D.

McHugo heads paper on early psychosis published in Translational Psychiatry

September 9, 2020
Maureen McHugo, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, was lead author on a new article published in the journal Translational Psychiatry. "Hippocampal volume in early psychosis: a 2-year longitudinal study" was created by Hugo as well as fellow Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences faculty and staff members Kristan Armstrong, LMSW; Maxwell J. Roeske; Neil D. Woodward, Ph.D.; Jennifer Blackford, Ph.D.; and Stephan Heckers, M.D., MSc.

Representative Publications from Addiction Division Faculty and Trainees

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

Margaret Achee

Margaret
Achee
PhD
Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Division of Psychology
margaret.achee@vumc.org

Graduate School: University of Tulsa

Post Doctorate Track: Psychotic Disorders Track

Clinical Interests: First episode psychosis, Promoting recovery and resilience in individuals with psychosis, Intersection of trauma, substance use, and psychosis.

Tyler Toledo

Tyler
Toledo
Ph.D.
Post-Doctorate Fellow

Graduate School: University of Tulsa

Internship: University of Washington, School of Medicine - Harborview Medical Center

Clinical Interests: Chronic Pain, Emotion Regulation, Coping with Chronic Illness

Lenie Torregrossa

Lenie
Torregrossa
Ph.D.
Post-Doctorate Fellow

Graduate School: Vanderbilt University

Internship: Sharp HealthCare

Clinical Interests: Psychosis, Early Psychosis, Prodromal Psychosis, Serious Mental Illness, Psychosis Recovery, CBT, ACT.

Haley Potts, PhD

Haley
Potts
M.A., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Division of Psychology
haley.potts@vumc.org

Dr. Haley Potts is a licensed clinical psychologist who joined the faculty in 2024 as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Her work focuses on psychological assessment in the criminal and civil legal systems. She is a member of the Vanderbilt Forensic Evaluation Team, where she conducts forensic evaluations for the Davidson County court systems. She also welcomes private referrals for all types of forensic mental health evaluations and is particularly interested in evaluating potential psychological injuries in civil cases. 

Dr. Potts earned her undergraduate degree at Sewanee: The University of the South (YSR!). She completed a master's degree in forensic psychology from the University of Denver, where she gained experience in the treatment and evaluation of sexual offenders. Dr. Potts continued her education at the University of Alabama, where she earned a Ph.D. and a second master's degree in clinical psychology with a focus on psychology and law and worked extensively in Alabama’s state psychiatric hospitals. In 2022, she matched with Vanderbilt’s Forensic Psychiatry Clinic as their first-ever doctoral intern and was hired the following year to stay on as Vanderbilt’s inaugural postdoctoral fellow in forensic psychology. In addition to her clinical and research duties, Dr. Potts serves as the program director of the American Psychological Association’s continuing education sponsorship of Vanderbilt.

Dr. Potts’s research interests include the treatment of psychosis in restoring competency to stand trial, the role of criminal defense attorneys in the forensic mental health system(s), as well as the causes/effects of public mental health policy amid the United States’s “competency crisis.”

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