Balkrishna Kalayam, MD

Dr. Bem Atim is an Assistant Attending Psychiatrist and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine. He earned his M.D. from Weill Cornell Medical College. He then completed his psychiatry residency at New York University School of Medicine, where he served as chief resident in his last year, and then subsequently completed a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine. Dr. Atim then worked as an inpatient attending psychiatrist at NYU Tisch Hospital, on a voluntary-only unit treating patients with acute psychiatric conditions. In 2021, he became the unit chief and medical director of this unit. In addition to his clinical activities, Dr. Atim was an active educator: he joined the undergraduate medical education team as the Associate Clerkship Director of Psychiatry, and earned numerous teaching awards during his tenure at NYU both in resident and medical student education.

Dr. Saenger received her undergraduate degree in history from Columbia College of Columbia University. She went on to receive her medical degree from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons where she was awarded an NIH medical student research fellowship. After completing her training in general psychiatry at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, Dr. Saenger completed a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center/Weill Cornell Medical Center. She supervises and teaches residents at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

Leah Susser, MD, is a Reproductive Psychiatrist and is Program Director for NYP/WCM Ambulatory Reproductive Psychiatry.She obtained her M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and she completed psychiatry residency training at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell. In residency, she specialized in women's mental health and in perinatal psychiatry through the Payne Whitney Womens Program.Since completing residency in 2016, she has dedicated her career to providing people with specialized reproductive mental health care and consultation. This includes people who are planning to get pregnant, pregnant, expecting a child, postpartum/new parents, who have experienced perinatal loss, who are experiencing infertility, who are in the menopausal transition, and who are experiencing mental health symptoms related to the menstrual cycle. She has published numerous articles and presents at national conferences on topics related to reproductive psychiatry. She provides specialized consultations to inpatient, outpatient, and partial hospital teams as well. She teaches trainees and other clinicians about this specialty field, and she is the director of the Journal Club for the Payne Whitney Women's Program and co-director of the WBHC Reproductive Psychiatry Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship. She believes in understanding symptoms in the context of a persons life circumstances, and she understands the importance of collaboration with other clinicians. She is empathic and uses an evidence-based approach to treatment that includes non-pharmacologic wellness strategies, psychotherapy, and/or medications to alleviate psychiatric distress, when appropriate. She also offers one-time reproductive psychiatry consultations related to pregnancy/postpartum, the menstrual cycle, and the perimenopausal period.