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Faculty Bios
John P. O’Reardon, MD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
Director, TMS Treatment Program
John O’Reardon, MD is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn, he is the Director of the Treatment Resistant Depression Clinic and the transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) Treatment Program for Mood Disorders. He also directs clinical programs in vagus nerve stimulation, (VNS), and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for the treatment of severe depression.
Dr. O’Reardon received his medical degree from University College Cork, in Ireland. He initially trained in primary care and is board certified in family medicine in Ireland and the UK. He completed his residency training in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, and subsequently fellowships in psychopharmacology and in cognitive therapy. He was a Van Ameringen fellow at the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and is a founding fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. Dr. O’Reardon is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
Dr. O’Reardon’s clinical and research interests include treatment resistant mood disorders, the development of novel neuromodulation therapies in psychiatry such as TMS, VNS, and deep brain stimulation (DBS), cognitive therapy, and the night eating syndrome. He has served as an investigator in numerous clinical trials of therapeutic interventions including medications, cognitive therapy, TMS & VNS. He has made many contributions to the literature in his areas of interest in leading specialty journals including the Archives of General Psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, and the American Journal of Psychiatry. He has been a principal investigator at Penn in multicenter clinical trials of TMS and VNS in treatment resistant depression.
Michael Thase, MD
Professor of Psychiatry
Chief, Division of Mood and Anxiety Disorders Treatment & Research Program
Dr. Thase joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 2007 as Professor of Psychiatry after more than 27 years at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.
Dr. Thase’s research focuses on the assessment and treatment of mood disorders, including studies of the differential therapeutics of both depression and bipolar affective disorder.
A 1979 graduate of the Ohio State University College of Medicine, Dr. Thase is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, a member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology, and Vice Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. Dr. Thase has been elected to the membership of the American College of Psychiatrists and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.
Dr. Thase has authored or co-authored more than 500 scientific articles and book chapters, as well as 15 books.
Pilar Cristancho, MD
Fellow in Mood Disorders and Neuromodulation
Dr. Cristancho completed her residency education in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. During her residency, Dr. Cristancho was a member of the clinical scholars research program at Penn and has focused her research interests in the field of brain stimulation therapies. In 2007, she was recognized by the American Association of Directors of Residency Education and was awarded an International Medical Graduate Fellowship in Psychiatry.
Dr. Cristancho has published on a range of developing therapeutic approaches in the field of neuromodulation or brain stimulation, including TMS, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). She has dedicated herself to helping patients with severe depression and other mood disorders which have not responded to conventional treatment. She is an Instructor in the department of psychiatry at Penn and is a Fellow in Mood Disorders and Neuromodulation.
Amanda Helmer, RN
Program Coordinator & TMS Administrator
Amanda Helmer is a Registered Nurse and graduate of the Methodist Hospital School of Nursing, A division of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has been awarded The Fulton's Surgical Award and The Outstanding Nurse Award. Amanda has an extensive background in phase I - IV clinical research trials as a research nurse and research coordinator.
Amanda works closely with the Director of the TMS Clinical Program at Penn, John P. O'Reardon MD, and has been closely involved with the program since its launch in July, 2008. She coordinates all aspects of the TMS program which include scheduling, billing and the delivery of TMS treatments. Amanda can be reached at 215-573-8582 or at penntms@mail.med.upenn.edu.