Our Faculty and Staff

We are particularly proud of the people who make up the faculty and staff of the Psychopharmacology Postdoctoral Training Program. The use of a distance format has allowed us to recruit on the basis of expertise and reputation rather than geographic location. Our faculty include nationally recognized experts in their fields of study.

Course Instructors
Regional Facilitators
Expert Presenters
Program Administration

Course Instructors

Dr. Grace Rossi received her Ph.D. from the City University of New York (Biopsychology Program) following her training in the Neuropsychology Laboratory with Dr. Richard J. Bodnar.  Her research involved the exploration of synergistic interactions among various brainstem regions. Through detailed microinjection studies, she documented the presence of interactions among various brainstem regions responsible for marked potentiation of opioid analgesia. Studies included neuroanatomical microsurgery and cannulae placements and correlation of various regions with activity. She then completed a 3 year post-doctoral fellowship in the Neurology Department at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, followed by a five year Research Associate position in the prestigious Sloan Kettering Institute. Her research has involved the study of the functional role of opiate receptors through the use of antisense strategies, which are based upon the molecular biology of cloned receptors.  In addition to these studies, Dr. Rossi continues to work with individuals at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she performs various antisense preparations on the neurological symptoms associated with paraneoplastic syndrome.  In 1996, Dr. Rossi received a 5 year Career Development Award from the National Institute of Health, and has been awarded numerous Research Monetary grants from Long Island University.  In 1999, she joined the graduate and undergraduate faculties of the Psychology Department at C.W. Post.  There she has taught courses in Biological Bases of Behavior, Neuroscience, Psychopharmacology, Neuroscientific Methods, Sensation & Perception, and Neuropsychology to both undergraduate and clinical graduate students. She continues to collaborate with scientists in the Neurology Departments at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Rockefeller University, and the Neuropsychology Department of Queens College of the City University of New York.

Lt Col Elaine Orabona Mantell received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Nova University in 1988. She completed her psychology internship at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio in that same year. She was enrolled in the Department of Defense Psychopharmacology Demonstration Project as a Psychopharmacology Fellow in the Department of Psychology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC. She was the first female to receive independent prescriptive authority in the Department of Defense (1997) and she has served as a prescribing psychologist in the United States Air Force without interruption since 1996. Lt Col Orabona Mantell has served as the director, and a fully-credentialed provider, for a 20-bed inpatient psychiatric facility at a USAF regional medical center in the Gulf Coast. Lt Col Orabona Mantell has prescribed from an unrestricted physician's formulary since 1999. During her career as a prescriber, she has served as an instructor for the University of Southern Mississippi, Alliant University, and New Mexico State University; a subject matter expert for the Psychopharmacology Examination for Psychologists (PEP); Chair of the RxP Subcommittee of the Committee for the Advancement of Professional Practice (CAPP); and has lectured and published on many topics in psychopharmacology.

W. Klugh Kennedy, Pharm.D., is currently a full-time clinical faculty member at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy based in Savannah, Georgia. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in pharmacy from the University of Georgia in 1985 and his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Idaho State University in 1998. Dr. Kennedy has been board certified in psychiatric pharmacy since 1997. He has held a number of positions including pharmacy department clinical coordinator and then pharmacy director at a 232-bed inpatient mental hospital, clinical pharmacist in critical care at a tertiary care level 1 trauma center and teaching hospital, and later Coordinator of Pharmacy Research and Education at that same hospital. His current areas of research and practice include schizophrenia, substance withdrawal, and the interface between physical illness and mental illness.

Morgan T. Sammons, Ph.D., received his undergraduate degree at Georgetown University and his doctoral degree in counseling psychology at Arizona State University. He is a graduate of the first cohort of the Department of Defense Psychopharmacology Demonstration Project, and has been a prescribing psychologist since 1994. He is a full-time clinician and head of the Mental Health Department, Naval Medical Clinic, Annapolis, Maryland. He remains on active duty as a Commander in the U.S. Navy. He has written, lectured, and consulted extensively on prescriptive authority for psychologists, as well as in the area of telehealth and other expansions to the scope of practice of psychologists. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Division 42), a member of APA's Committee on Rural Health, a member of the Board of Directors of the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology, and, in 2001-2002, president of the Maryland Psychological Association.

Randall L. Tackett, Ph.D. received his undergraduate degree at Jacksonville University in 1975. He then received an M.S. degree in Pharmacology at Auburn University and his doctorate in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Georgia in 1979. Following a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Medical College of South Carolina, he returned to the University of Georgia as an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology. He has served as the Director of Graduate Research and as head of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Currently, he is Professor and Graduate Coordinator of the Department of Clinical & Administrative Sciences. He has developed and teaches the Postgraduate Psychopharmacology Program in Georgia. He received the Georgia Psychological Association Distinguished Faculty Award in 1999 and the American Psychological Association Presidential Citation in 2000.

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Regional Facilitators

Phyllis MacDonald du Mont, R. N., Ph.D., received her baccalaureate degree in nursing from the Indiana University College of Nursing in 1976, and her M.S.N. from the University of Tennessee - Knoxville with a Mental Health Concentration in 1994. She also received her Ph.D. in Nursing from University of Tennessee - Knoxville in 1997. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the University of Tennessee College of Nursing, serving as the Concentration Coordinator for the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program. She also maintains a private practice that includes conducting inpatient admissions at Ridgeview Community Mental Health Center, as well as grief and caregiver support groups.

Lisa Edwards, PA-C, M.P.A.S., received her B.S. in Nursing from the University of North Florida in 1997, and her B. S. in Physician Assistant Studies from South University in 2002. She subsequently completed a psychiatry clerkship as part of her Master's in Physician Assistant Studies from the University of Nebraska. She is an instructor in the physician assistant program at South University, and serves as a physician assistant at Psychiatric Group of the Coastal Empire in Savannah, Georgia.

Karen Ann Dewitt, APRN, M.S.N., received her B.S. in Nursing from East Tennessee State University in 1978, her M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University in 1990, and her M.S.N. with a Family Nurse Practitioner Specialty from East Tennessee State University in 1995. She has since completed a Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Specialty Post Graduate Degree at University of Tennessee - Knoxville. She currently provides a combination of medical and counseling services to outpatients at Tri-Cities Christian Psychiatry and the Tri-Cities Christian Counseling Center.

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Representative Expert Presenters

Jesus Angulo, Ph.D. Department of Biology, Hunter College, City University of New York
Anita Brown, Ph.D. U.S. Army, Fort Eustis VA
Daniel J. Calcagnetti, Ph.D. Department of Psychology, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Christopher Capuano, Ph.D. School of Psychology, Fairleigh Dickinson University
James Gordon, Ph.D. Department of Psychology, Hunter College, City University of New York
John P. McDonough, Ed.D., CRNA, ARNP School of Nursing, Florida International University
Dianne S. Salter, Ph.D., J.D. Graduate School of Eduation, University of Pennsylvania
Alvin Terry, Jr., Ph.D. College of Pharmacy, University of Georgia

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Program Administration

Robert McGrath, Ph.D., Training Director to the program, received his undergraduate degree at Hartwick College, and his doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Auburn University. He is a Professor and former Clinical Director of the Ph.D. Program in Clinical Psychology in the School of Psychology at Fairleigh Dickinson. He is currently an Associate Editor of the Journal of Personality Assessment and Contributing Editor to Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. In addition to serving as the Academic Director of the Psychopharmacology Postdoctoral Training Program, Dr. McGrath is the current President of APA Division 55 (American Society for the Advancement of Pharmacotherapy). To access Dr. McGrath's personal web page at the university, click here.

Anita Brown, Ph.D., Curriculum Consultant to the program, received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in 1979, where she subsequently worked in the Center for Pain Evaluation and Treatment as well as the Institute for the Black Family. During 1991-1994 she held several staff positions in the American Psychological Association Practice and Education Directorates. During the period 1994-1996 Dr. Brown was enrolled in the Department of Defense Psychopharmacology Demonstration Project as a Psychopharmacology Fellow in the Department of Psychology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC. She continued to serve as a Major and prescribing psychologist in the United States Army until 1999. During this period Dr. Brown was also Chief of the Division of Mental Health Services for the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood TX. She then became Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology, Hampton University. Dr. Brown is now a prescribing clinician for the U.S. Army again at Fort Eustis, VA.

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