Psychiatry Program Faculty
Dr. Denese Shervington
Assistant Dean, Graduate Medical Education
Professor and Chair, Psychiatry Department
Dr. Denese Shervington is the Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Charles Drew University School of Medicine. A graduate of New York University School of Medicine, she completed her residency in Psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco and is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Shervington also received a Masters of Public Health in Population Studies and Family Planning from Tulane University School of Public Health.
Dr. Shervington has an intersectional career in public health, clinical, and academic psychiatry. After Hurricane Katrina, she created a post-disaster emotional recovery and resilience division at the community-based non-profit public health organization that she founded, the Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies. She has also held academic appointments as Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University in NY and Tulane University in New Orleans. She previously served as Department Chair of Psychiatry at Meharry University and as Director of Psychiatry at Harlem Hospital. She also served as the Deputy Assistant for Population Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington DC.
In 2018, Dr. Shervington received the Award for Excellence in Service and Advocacy from the American Psychiatric Association. In 2012, she received the Jeanne Spurlock Minority award from the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Shervington is a member of the American College of Psychiatrists. She has authored several papers in peer-reviewed journals addressing health disparities, the social determinants of health and resilience in underserved communities. Dr. Shervington is the mother of two magnificent children and two amazing grandchildren.
Dr. Amy Woods
Program Director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship
Dr. Amy Woods is the founding Program Director for the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship program at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, CA. She is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry in the College of Medicine at the university.
Dr. Woods brings a wealth of experience to her role. She completed her Doctor of Medicine degree at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, followed by residency and fellowship training at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) San Fernando VA Program and Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, respectively. Her exceptional leadership abilities were recognized during her Chief Resident tenure in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship.
Dr. Woods is dedicated to addressing the mental health needs of youth, particularly in marginalized communities. Under her leadership as Program Director, she has developed a comprehensive training program that focuses on cultural humility, healing centered care, and social determinants of health. She has forged strong partnerships with community organizations and clinical institutions to ensure that the fellows receive a well-rounded and culturally relevant education.
Dr. Anish Dube
Program Director, Psychiatry Residency
Dr. Anish R. Dube serves as the program director of psychiatric residency training at Charles R. Drew University College of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry. He completed his general psychiatry residency training at the University of Connecticut, his child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Brown University, and his forensic psychiatry fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his Master of Public Health (MPH) from Brown University and his Master of Legal Studies (MLS) from UCLA. He also completed the certification course in MDMA Therapy Training offered by the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).
Dr. Dube is a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and currently serves as Chair of its Council on Children, Adolescents and their Families, in addition to being Deputy Representative for Area 6 of the APA's Assembly. He is also a member of the Publications Board and Arts and Humanities Committee of the Group for Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP). He is a distinguished fellow of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and also maintains membership in the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL).
Anish is interested in the intersection of human rights, public health, and psychiatry and the ethical issues that arise out of the ordinary practice of medicine and psychiatry. He has participated in discussions ranging from the nation-state’s role in psychic displacement and psychopathology to adolescent decision-making capacity, integrated care, false confession phenomenology, and the effects of parental separation on children and youth.
Dr. Nithya Ravindran
Associate Program Director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship
Dr. Anish R. Dube serves as the program director of psychiatric residency training at Charles R. Drew University College of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry. He completed his general psychiatry residency training at the University of Connecticut, his child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Brown University, and his forensic psychiatry fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his Master of Public Health (MPH) from Brown University and his Master of Legal Studies (MLS) from UCLA. He also completed the certification course in MDMA Therapy Training offered by the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).
Dr. Ravindran’s current areas of focus include integrated care, healing and wellness, and public mental health. She attends the Safe Health and Resilient Kids (SHARK) clinic at Rancho Los Amigos and Southern California Health and Rehabilitation Program (SHARP), training sites for second year CAP fellows
Dr. Ravindran draws inspiration from psychodynamic and attachment theories, narrative medicine, art, music and storytelling traditions, and Eastern healing and wellness practices. Her passions broadly involve creating and modulating health systems with an emphasis on equity and inclusion and training the next generation of psychiatrists to be compassionate, thoughtful, and just healers.
Dr. Daniel Cho
Associate Program Director, Psychiatry Residency
Dr. Daniel Cho, the psychiatry program’s associate residency training director, is also the Chief of Medical Staff, Behavioral Health, and an inpatient psychiatrist at Kedren Community Health Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Cho has a strong interest in the interaction and overlap between psychiatric and traditional “medical” illnesses. As such, he completed his residency training in West Virginia and is double board-certified in internal medicine and psychiatry and neurology.
Dr. Cho’s other interests include academic medicine, trainee wellness, and healthcare systems improvement; however, his passion has always been in advocacy for underserved and minority populations. He was elected to the Gold Humanism Honor Society in 2014 and was the recipient of a prestigious APA/APAF Leadership Fellowship. In his first year of fellowship, he served as the Chair of Leadership Development and Council Experience. The following year he was elected as the Chair/President of APA/APAF Leadership Fellowship. He has served on the APA’s Council on Advocacy and Government Relations (2018-2020), the APA Board of Trustees (2019-2020), and most recently on the President’s Ad Hoc Work Group on Bed Capacity (2020-2021).
Dr. Kathryn Murray
Associate Program Director, Psychiatry Residency
Kathryn Murray, MD, has been dedicated to serving the greater Los Angeles community since entering the Charles Drew/UCLA Medical Education Program, that ultimately culminated in her becoming a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist. Her professional goal includes continuing to work with children, adolescents, and adults to advocate for and provide excellent quality and compassionate care to clients that are in underserved/under-resourced areas. Since 2010, Dr. Murray has held committee chairs in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Tau Tau Omega Chapter and she has received awards, honors, and scholarships from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Systems of Care, Association of Black Women Physicians, and the U.S. Academic Achievement National Collegiate Award.
Dr. Murray has served as a Supervising Mental Health Psychiatrist with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health since 2015. Most recently, Dr. Murray accepted the honor of becoming an Associate Program Director for the Department of Psychiatry at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.
Shahrzad Bazargan-Hejazi
Faculty and Vice-Chair of Research, Psychiatry Department
Shahrzad Bazargan-Hejazi, Ph.D., is a Professor of Medical Sociology in the Department of Psychiatry in the College of Medicine at CDU and UCLA. She is the Vice-Chair of Research in the Psychiatry Department and Director of Research Education in the College of Medicine at CDU. Since 2017 she has been a member of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) Collaborator Network, participating in quantifying the mitigation of disease factors worldwide. Dr. Bazargan-Hejazi is also a member of the world suicidology network. Her research interest includes all components related to the social aspects of the disease, illness, and well-being, particularly among those affected by the burden of substance use and mental illness. Since 2006 she has mentored nearly 500 undergraduate, graduate, Ph.D., medical students, residents, and junior faculty in developing and conducting health disparity research. Her peer-reviewed publications exceed 160, of which nearly half she collaborated with her mentees.
Dr. Bazargan-Hejazi has years of hands-on and executive editorial experience. She has been a reviewer on the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) Global Health Workforce Panel to review fellowship applications of the next talent of Global Health Experts through the Public Health Institute/CDC Global Health Fellowship Program. She is originally from Iran and earned her B.S., MS, and Ph.D. from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo.
Dr. Diane St. Fleur
Faculty, Psychiatry Department
Dr. St. Fleur, MD is a triple board-certified psychiatrist. She is board-certified in the following specialties: adult psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, and forensic psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She is passionate about serving children and their families, including those that suffer from trauma, addiction, and disrupted community cohesiveness.
She has been trained in Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Deconstructive Dynamic Psychotherapy (DDP) and Motivational Interviewing. She is suboxone waivered. She has published a chapter in integrating treatment for substance use and had presented on topic of trauma’s impact on the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis and the association between ADHD and obesity in an international study.