Staff

Director and Psychiatric Consultant of the UIC Clinical Services in Psychopharmacology Program

Psychiatric Consultant

Psychiatric Consultant

Fedra Najjar, MD, is the director of the neurodevelopmental disorder psychopharmacology clinic at University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). She is also the associate medical director of the comprehensive assessment and treatment unit (CATU), an inpatient psychiatric unit at UIC treating adolescents who are in state custody.

Prior to joining UIC staff, doctor Najjar, was on faculty at University of Chicago as the director of the psychopharmacology clinic where she treated psychiatric disorders in child and adolescents and supervised other clinicians.

Doctor Najjar came to the University of Chicago, after graduating from the child and adolescent training program at Brown and having joined their clinical psychiatry staff for some time. For her undergraduate degree, Fedra Najjar graduated from the American University of Beirut, in Beirut Lebanon with a bachelor of science in biology, and medical doctor degree. Doctor Najjar then pursued residency in psychiatry and completed general psychiatry training at the University of Rochester, New York, before specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry.

Psychiatric Consultant
Dr. Mathias Lillig is the Medical Director of the Pediatric Mood Disorders Clinic and the Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Program at UIC. Dr. Lillig is board certified in Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He specializes in treating children and adolescents with depression and bipolar disorder.

Psychiatric Consultant
Dr. Romba is a board-certified adult and child and adolescent psychiatrist. She received her undergraduate degree from Elmhurst University and her medical degree from Rush Medical College. She completed residency in adult psychiatry at Rush Medical Center, followed by fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Lurie Children’s Hospital. Her interests include early childhood mental health, pediatric anxiety and depression and medical education. She is a member of both the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Associate Director responsibilities

The Associate Director is in charge of the daily operations of the consultation team, assessing data related to medication consent requests, preparing consultation reports for the CSP Consultants, and relaying their recommendations to the DCFS authorized agents. In addition, the Associate Director monitors and preserves an efficient operating system by producing productivity reports, research projects, and coordinating all special projects related to consultation data and service.

Nurse Consultants responsibilities

The CSP Nurses ensure that the research associates and the retrieval of clinical data via the DCFS consent procedure provides pertinent information that the CSP consultants require to proficiently evaluate each medication request. The RN triages consultation information between the CSP consultants, research associates, and the field, and reports recommendations to the DCFS Authorized Agent. When needed, they provide education and instruction to DCFS authorized agents regarding the psychotropic consultation process. The RN also assists prescribers in understanding the process of obtaining psychotropic medication consent and facilitates communication between the field and UIC consultants.
Email: CSPNursesGroup@UIC365.onmicrosoft.com

Nurse Consultant
Sandra M. George, RN, MSN, Staff Specialist in Nursing brings 21 years of inpatient child and adolescent psychiatric nursing experience to the UIC Clinical Services in Psychopharmacology team. She joined the CSP team in 2007 with the desire to advocate for the best psychiatric treatment and psychotropic medication regimes for youth involved with DCFS. Providing this assistance has proven extremely rewarding. She seeks to expand her overall wellness via learning about nutrition, practicing meditation and staying active with long distance cycling.

Nurse Consultant
Alice Gottschalk RN, BSN is a Research Nurse with the Clinical Services in Psychopharmacology Program and is responsible for assisting her team to provide consultation to the Department of Children and Family Services on safe and effective psychotropic medication management. She is responsible for training and supervising the Research Assistants and Specialists, providing nursing consultation, assuring good data management and analysis and being a liaison for Illinois DCFS, Illinois HFS, YouthCare Illinois, placements and clinicians to promote safe and efficient psychotropic medication management of youth in care. She has over thirty years of experience in Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing through her work on an inpatient psychiatric unit and her work at the CSP.

Nurse Consultant
Jill Jaeger, RN, brings over 16 years of psychiatric nursing experience to the Clinical Services in Psychopharmacology team. She has worked in psychiatric hospital inpatient settings and outpatient and residential young adult psychiatric services settings with youth in care.
Jill is proud to be part of the process of ensuring safe and effective psychotropic medication utilization for DCFS youth in care.

Research Specialist
Clinton Sanchez received a BA in Psychology from Dominican University in 2015 and a MA in Counseling from DePaul University in 2019. He has 8+ years of research experience and 1.5 years of counseling experience in the child and adolescent populations. His goal is to do both clinical and research work focusing on trauma and resilience factors in minority, adult and adolescent populations.

Research Specialist
Haley Vartanian received her MA in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago and her BA from North Carolina State University. She has over 8 years of academic research experience and 4 years of experience working with children and adolescents. In the future, she hopes to be able to combine her passion for children, mental health, and displaced populations by working with refugee youth. When she’s not at work, she likes to read, rock climb, and listen to live music.

Senior Research Specialist
Matthew graduated from the University of Arizona in May of 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychological Science. Matthew participated in many different labs during his time at the university of Arizona but is proud to be a member of a professional staff working within the field of child welfare. Matthew is currently pursuing an MS degree in Business Analytics, while working full-time at the Clinical Services in Psychopharmacology lab. In his spare time Mathew enjoys watching basketball as he is a die-hard Boston Celtics fan.

Research Specialist
Vanessa graduated from UIC with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Psychology with a minor in Sociology in May of 2023. She has previous research experience from volunteering with a neuropsychology lab at RUSH working on digital interventions. In the future her goal is to be accepted into a law program. She’s currently a full-time research associate with the Clinical Services in Psychopharmacology Program.

Research Associate
Isabel O’Connor works as a full-time research associate for the Clinical Services in Psychopharmacology lab, since December 2023. Isabel received her Bachelor of Arts and Science degrees in Sociology and Psychology in May 2023. Before joining the lab, Isabel began clinical work with children and adolescents possessing an Autism diagnosis and receiving Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy at RUSH Kids Pediatrics, a joint venture affiliated with Select Medical. Isabel collects ongoing work and research experiences with adolescents, children, trauma-impacted and marginalized groups, Domestic Violence survivors, and intellectually disabled clients.

Research Associate 
Anvi Divekar graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Science degree in Clinical/Community Psychology and minors in Chemistry and Criminology in May of 2024. She served as a Paraprofessional for her institution’s Counseling Center, and programmed service events through her affinity-based service sorority as Vice President. Her prior and ongoing experience focuses on eating disorder patients, the homeless, children in the grief process, and cultural minorities. Her future goals are to attend medical school and serve the mental and physical needs of her community.

Research Associate 
Brynn Noonan graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with a Behavioral Neuroscience concentration and a minor in Animal Sciences. She worked for UIUC’s Neuropsychopharmacology Lab, researching adolescent substance use and its impact on the brain and behavior using rat models. She also has experience providing direct services to youth and young adults with serious mental illness and substance use disorders. Her goal is to further ongoing research surrounding at-risk youth and their families, focusing on early intervention and trauma-informed care.

Research Associate II
Kate Rooney graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development in Context in June 2024. She worked with Northwestern’s Culture, Brain, and Human Development Lab, where she contributed to research examining sociocultural impacts on adolescent development. She also has experience with DePaul University’s The Cities Project lab, serving as a youth mentor and assistant program facilitator for middle school student in Chicago Public Schools. In this role, she implemented trauma-informed, school-based mentoring interventions. She currently also supports the lab’s clinical research efforts. Her research interests center on building sustainable, culturally responsive frameworks that integrate mental health interventions into school systems. Kate works part-time currently for the CSP.

IT Team responsibilities

IT Technical Associate