Lawrence V. Amsel

Career

Lawrence V. Amsel is an American psychiatrist with expertise in various areas, including personal injury psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, grief and wrongful death, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury, product liability and psychiatry, psychiatric malpractice, public health psychiatry, psychological sequelae of terrorism, suicide, medical decision-making, and behavioral economics in health care.

He serves as an expert witness in matters related to psychiatry, with a focus on PTSD, suicide, grief, medical decision-making, hospital psychiatric care, appropriate evidence-based standards of care, and malpractice. His expertise around the interface of legal and psychiatric issues is based on 28 years of experience in clinical practice, academic psychiatry, research, and public health.

Areas of Expertise

• Personal Injury Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Grief and Wrongful Death
• PTSD
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Product Liability and Psychiatry
• Psychiatric Malpractice
• Public Health Psychiatry
• Psychological Sequelae of Terrorism
• Suicide
• Medical Decision-Making
• Behavioral Economics in Health Care

9/11 and Trauma Studies

After the 9/11 attacks, Dr. Amsel co-directed the Trauma Studies and Services Division at the New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University. He has been extensively involved in treating victims of 9/11 and their families, researching the effects of the attacks on survivors and first responders, and training clinicians on cutting-edge treatments for PTSD and Complicated/Traumatic Grief. He also works with veterans and their families to ensure they receive appropriate medical and psychiatric care.

Medical Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics

Dr. Amsel was one of the early champions of applying Decision Science, Game Theory, and Behavioral Economics to medical decision-making. He has applied these techniques to psychiatric research, including suicide prevention.

Current Positions

• Research Psychiatrist, Child Psychiatric Epidemiology Group, Columbia University (since 2008)
• Research Psychiatrist, NY State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University (since 2001)
• Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University (since 1995)
• Attending Psychiatrist, New York Presbyterian Hospital (since 1995)
• Course Director, Psychiatry for Epidemiology Columbia University School of Public Health (since 1993)

Fellowships

• 1992-1994: National Institute of Mental Health Fellowship in Mental Health Statistics and Psychiatric Research Methods at Columbia University School of Public Health
• 1994-1995: Freedom Forum Center Fellow, Research Topics: Analysis of healthcare reform, and journalistic representations of the reform process
• 1999-2000: NIMH Research Fellow, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University

Education and Certification

• BA, Mathematics, Columbia College, Columbia University, 1979
• MD, Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, 1988
• MPH, Public Health/Biostatistics, School of Public Health - Columbia University, 1998
• Board Certified in Psychiatry, 1992