Carlos Blanco, M.D., Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, New York. The focus of his research is on the commonalities and treatment of substance abuse and problem gambling with and without co-occurring disorders, and on the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders.

Dr. Blanco completed his psychiatry residency and research fellowship at Columbia University. His work has been funded by NIMH, NIDA, the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, as well as several private foundations. Dr. Blanco also holds Masters degrees in Health Resource Management and Biostatistics. He has over 60 peer-reviewed publications. Since 1998 he has been Director of the Gambling Disorders Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

Iván Balán, Ph.D., a bilingual and bicultural Latino psychologist, completed his doctorate in 1996. In 1994 he became a staff psychologist at the Department of Psychiatry at the Presbyterian Hospital of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. His work there focused on providing individual and group psychotherapy to a variety of patients as well as clinical supervision of psychology interns and unlicensed psychologists.

In 2002, Dr. Balán joined the staff at the Hispanic Treatment Program of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic. As a Research Scientist, his work at the HTP focused on exploring culturally-based syndromes and patterns of treatment adherence and retention in Hispanics, developing culturally-congruent assessments and interventions, and coordinating a treatment program for Hispanics who remain affected by the events of September 11, 2001. Over the past two years, Dr. Balán has been providing treatment to patients in the Gambling Disorders Clinic. Bringing to his work extensive experience with addictive disorders, Dr. Balán's work at the clinic focuses on providing treatment and on developing manualized interventions for treating problem gambling.

Michael McKee, Ph.D. is a counselor in the Gambling Disorders Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, and Assistant Clinical Professor of Medical Psychology (in Psychiatry) at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. Trained in the use of cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT) by leaders in the field such as Dr. Gail Steketee, Dr. Richard Heimberg, and Dr. Marsha Linehan, among others, Dr. McKee currently specializes in CBT for problem gambling.

Dr. McKee is also a cognitive-behavioral research therapist for National Institute of Mental Health-funded projects studying the effectiveness of CBT in the treatment of social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and hypochondria. In addition, he supervises the work of pre-doctoral trainees and postdoctoral fellows at the Anxiety Disorders Clinic.

Dr. McKee has extensive experience with the treatment of a range of behavior problems, and maintains a private practice in Scarsdale, New York.

Formerly, Dr. McKee was Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, treating patients and teaching trainees in the ambulatory services department at the Westchester Division of New York Presbyterian Hospital from 1993 to 2000.

Oriana Vesga-Lopez, B.A. is a bilingual counselor in the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS)-funded treatment program, providing psychotherapeutic treatment to patients with a problem gambling disorder at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. She received her MD from Pontificia Javeriana University, School of Medicine in Bogota, Colombia. Before completing her medical education in Colombia, she completed a psychiatric clinical clerkship at the Connecticut Mental Health Center and the Hispanic Clinic associated with Yale University School of Medicine. Under the supervision of Esperanza Diaz, MD, she collaborated in the National Institute of Mental Health-funded research project examining "Medication Adherence in Latinos."

Donna Vermes, MS, NPP, B.C. is the Administrator of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI), and Instructor in Clinical Nursing in the Department of Nursing at Columbia University School of Nursing. Donna graduated from Columbia University School of Nursing Graduate School in 2000.

Donna has been working in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic since 1993. She was involved in conducting training workshops for clinicians in the treatment of PTSD. She is a therapist for Prolonged Exposure Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Cognitive Behavior Group Therapy (CBGT) groups for Social Phobia, Individual Psychotherapy, and Problem Gambling Behavior Therapy. She is currently a gambling counselor in the Gambling Disorders Clinic.