About Our Team

Penelope Carter, MD, Medical Director
Psychiatrist, Medical Director

Dr. Carter is a clinical psychiatrist and the Medical Director of Penn Center for Women’s Behavioral Wellness.  She also works with the broader Penn Medicine system, as a perinatal psychiatrist with the Richard D. Wood Jr. Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment (CFDT), and as a child and adolescent psychiatrist with the CHOP Center for Advanced Behavioral Healthcare.  She received her medical degree from University of Virginia School of Medicine.  She completed her adult psychiatry residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She completed Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, during which she was the inpatient chief fellow. Dr. Carter has academic interests in investigating the impact of trauma exposures on mental and physical health. 

Lauren Dubner, MD

Dr. Dubner is a clinical psychiatrist in the Penn Center for Women’s Behavioral Wellness and in the Penn Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic. She has specific interest and expertise in perinatal and postpartum psychiatric disorders including mood and anxiety disorders, perimenopausal mood disorders, preconception counseling on psychiatric medication management during pregnancy, and PMDD. Dr. Dubner received her medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University, where she received membership into the national Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. She completed her adult psychiatry residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, during which she served as Outpatient Chief Resident. During residency, Dr. Dubner also served as co-leader of the women’s mental health certificate program, for which she continues to serve as a mentor for residents interested in the field. During residency, she received an American Psychiatric Association Resident Recognition Award, as well as The Association of Women Psychiatrists Alexandra Symonds Fellowship Award, which is awarded to female psychiatry residents/fellows who have demonstrated potential for leadership and contribution in women’s health.

Megan Johnson LCSW
Clinical Social Worker

Megan is a licensed clinical social worker with training in cognitive-behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction.  She holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania.  Prior to joining PCWBW in October 2021, Megan spent five years at Thomas Jefferson University’s Family Center, where she delivered psychotherapy to pregnant and parenting women struggling with both perinatal mental health concerns and substance use disorders. Megan has special interest and experience with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, infertility and assisted reproduction, pregnancy after loss, traumatic delivery, and parental adjustment. Megan’s approach focuses on helping patients understand how their past experiences, environment, relationships impact their emotional health while also empowering them to move forward with self-compassion.

Esha Khurana, MD
Psychiatrist

Dr. Khurana is a psychiatrist at Penn who specializes in women's behavioral health, integrated health, trauma-focused medicine, as well as psycho-oncology and palliative care. She completed her medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania, and her residency training in psychiatry from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Her experience providing medical management and therapy for patients with perinatal mood disorders, PTSD, fertility issues, and substance use across the age spectrum and in diverse populations at varying levels of care, acuity and setting contributes to her whole-person-centered approach. 

Sara Kornfield, PhD, Clinical Director
Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Kornfield is a licensed clinical psychologist, the Clinical Director of PCWBW, and leads the Maternal Wellness Initiative (MWI).  The MWI is a perinatal care-mental health integration program which seeks to enhance health care service delivery in obstetrical settings for pregnant and postpartum women with mental health problems.  As part of this initiative, Dr. Kornfield provides psychotherapy at the Helen O. Dickens Center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.  As a clinical psychologist at the PCWBW, she provides clinical consultation and ongoing psychotherapy related to women’s behavioral health across the lifespan at 3535 Market Street in University City.  She is also trained and certified to provide mental healthcare to the transgender community. Dr. Kornfield’s research focuses on posttraumatic stress disorder during pregnancy, development of a brief psychotherapeutic treatment that can be delivered in primary care or prenatal care settings, and improving access to perinatal mental health care. See her publications here.

Reid Mergler, MD

Dr. Mergler is a clinical psychiatrist at the Penn Center for Women’s Behavioral Wellness, who specializes in Reproductive Psychiatry and women’s mental health. She recently completed her adult psychiatry residency training at Tufts Medical Center in Boston in June 2023. She received her medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and completed her first year of residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Montefiore Medical Center. She is the co-founder of the National Reproductive Psychiatry Trainee Interest Group, and she was awarded the Association of Women Psychiatrists Symonds Fellowship in 2021. She is an active member of the American Psychiatric Association Women’s Mental Health Committee, Marce of North America and the Association of Women Psychiatrists. She has a special interest in trauma-informed care, polycystic ovary syndrome and perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. In her academic clinician role at the University of Pennsylvania, she supervises physicians in training, and teaches medical students with interests in behavioral health.

Sheila Shanmugan, MD, PhD
Reproductive Psychiatrist

Sheila Shanmugan MD, PhD, is a reproductive psychiatrist at the Penn Center for Women’s Behavioral Wellness. Her clinical expertise includes perinatal and postpartum psychiatric disorders, perimenopausal mood disorders and cognitive dysfunction, menopausal hormone therapy, and PMDD. In Women’s clinic at the Outpatient Psychiatry Center, she supervises senior resident physicians who treat patients with hormone-related psychiatric symptoms. She is also a physician-scientist with research funding from the NIH and Brain and Behavior Research Foundation. Her work has been published in top journals including the American Journal of Psychiatry and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Lindsay Sortor, PsyD
Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Sortor is a clinical psychologist with expertise in reproductive and perinatal issues as well as psycho-oncology. Her specific areas of interest include infertility, perinatal mood disorders, parental adjustment, and NICU support.  Dr. Sortor also offers support to women at various stages of cancer diagnosis and treatment, and is available to see patients at 3535 Market Street in University City.

Caren Kelman, LCSW

Caren is a licensed clinical social worker and is certified in perinatal mental health, and has completed additional training in cognitive behavior therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, Brazelton Touchpoints and Circle of Security. She received her Master’s of Social Work from Columbia University.  Caren currently works as psychotherapist at Penn Center for Women’s Behavioral Wellness, as well as a behavioral therapist with the Perinatal Resources for Opioid Use Disorder (PROUD) program, and as a MSW adjunct lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice. Caren specializes in maternal mental health, including Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders, birth trauma, pregnancy grief, loss, and fertility challenges as well as with relationships issues and life transitions. In her current role, Caren fosters strong parent-child relationships and enjoys working with current and expectant parents who are managing the everyday stresses and adjustments to their parenting role.