Maria Tiamson-Kassab, MD

Maria Tiamson-Kassab, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist and the director of Moores Cancer Center's Patient & Family Support Services, which treats people who may be experiencing depression, anxiety, insomnia or other psychiatric symptoms that are either a result of the cancer experience or are interfering with cancer treatment. She can provide psychiatric assessment, treatment and medication management.

Prior to joining UC San Diego Health, Dr. Tiamson-Kassab was the associate chief of psychiatry at the San Diego VA Healthcare System and division director of Acute and Intensive Mental Health Services.

Dr. Tiamson-Kassab was the director of AIDS psychiatry and was a consultation liaison (LC) psychiatrist at the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, NY, and later joined the Hudson Valley VA Healthcare Center in New York as a CL psychiatrist and program manager. She was a clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at New York Medical College.

Dr. Tiamson-Kassab completed a fellowship in consultation-liaison psychiatry (now known as psychosomatic medicine) at the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, where she was an instructor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She completed a residency in psychiatry at the Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, New York.

She also completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, where she earned her medical degree. She is board-certified in psychiatry with added qualifications in psychosomatic medicine.

She a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a fellow of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. Dr. Tiamson-Kassab has co-authored two editions of Practical Guide to Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, and written book chapters and articles on various topics in psychosomatic medicine.

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For more information, see Behavioral and Mental Health.