Dr. Emily Wood grew up north of Seattle and attended the University of Washington for undergrad. She completed the Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD) at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. The research for her doctoral training in Neuroscience was primarily located at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland and focused on developing novel magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy techniques as biomarkers of neurodegeneration. She completed her general residency and child & adolescent fellowship training in psychiatry at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. She also completed advanced training and research with the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART), the UCLA Neuromodulation and TMS Service, and with the UCLA TIES for Families program which is dedicated to optimizing the growth and development of foster/adoptive children and their families. Her research utilized functional MRI and MRS methods as part of a multimodal approach to better understand resilience to trauma in individuals with autism spectrum disorder and with a history of early life adversity.
In 2021, she departed from academia to work with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health in the Juvenile Halls. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science where she teaches neuroscience didactic courses to Psychiatry Residents & Fellows.
Emily emerged from clinical training in 2020 and connected with the SCPS Diversity and Culture Committee. There, she found a collegial network of like minds to champion equitable, diverse and inclusive mental health care and delivery. She serves on the SCPS council and GAC committee as the Early Career Psychiatrist representative and as chair of a new SCPS committee on Alternative Crisis Response.
She believes that, as physicians, especially psychiatrists, we are afforded great privilege to both witness and alleviate suffering in our community. Our professional strength comes through supporting each other and holding ourselves accountable for shaping our health care systems to meet the needs of all patients. She’s very excited to be learning from so many experienced psychiatrists and advocates at CSAP. Emily has a husband and 2 sons ages 15 and 11. She enjoys food, biking, and audiobooks.
