WilliamSBreitbartMD

Psycho-Oncology, Psychosomatic Medicine

Chairman, and the Jimmie C Holland Chair in Psychiatric Oncology, and Attending Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Vice Chair and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Weill Medical College of Cornell University; Attending Psychiatrist, New York Presbyterian Hospital

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Office
1275 York Ave
New York, NY 10021
Phone(646) 888-0020
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Education & Training

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterFellowship, Clinical Psychiatry, 1984 - 1986
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of MedicineResidency, Psychiatry, 1982 - 1984
Jacobi Medical CenterResidency, Internal Medicine, 1980 - 1982
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of MedicineResidency, Psychiatry, 1979 - 1980
Jacobi Medical CenterInternship, Internal Medicine, 1978 - 1979
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva UniversityClass of 1978

Certifications & Licensure

CT State Medical License 2021 - 2023
NC State Medical License 2020 - 2022
NJ State Medical License 2016 - 2023
NY State Medical License 1982 - 2023
American Board of Internal Medicine Internal Medicine
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology Psychiatry
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology Psychosomatic Medicine

Awards, Honors, & Recognition

New York Magazine: Top Doctors Castle Connolly, 2002-2020
America's Top Doctors Castle Connolly, 2002-2020
Top Doctors: New York Metro Area Castle Connolly, 2002-2020
America's Top Doctors for Cancer Castle Connolly, 2002-2020
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Clinical Trials

Spirituality, Religiosity, and Immune Functioning Start of enrollment: 2003 Sep 01
Completed
Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy in Advanced Cancer Start of enrollment: 2002 May 01
Completed
Phase 2
Psychosocial Support for Cancer Patients Start of enrollment: 2005 May 01
Completed
Depression Screening in Patients With Lung Cancer Start of enrollment: 2006 Apr 01
Completed
Not Applicable
Randomized Controlled Trial of Group Psychotherapy Interventions for Cancer Patients Start of enrollment: 2007 Jun 01
Active, not recruiting
Phase 3
Measuring Hope and Hopelessness in Cancer Start of enrollment: 2005 Jan 01
Completed
Depression, Cytokines and Pancreatic Cancer Start of enrollment: 2005 Nov 01
Completed
Understanding the Psychosocial Needs of Parents Who Have Lost a Child to Cancer Start of enrollment: 2009 Aug 01
Active, not recruiting
Trial of Individual Psychosocial Interventions for Cancer Patients Start of enrollment: 2011 Mar 01
Active, not recruiting
Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy Training for Cancer Care Providers Start of enrollment: 2015 Dec 11
Active, not recruiting
Psychotherapy Intervention for Latinos With Adv Cancer Start of enrollment: 2019 Jan 01
Recruiting
Not Applicable
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Publications & Presentations

PubMed

Measuring hopelessness in advanced cancer: a secondary analysis of the Hopelessness Assessment in Illness questionnaire (HAI).
Leah E. Walsh, Barry Rosenfeld, Leah Feuerstahler, Hayley Pessin, William Breitbart> ;Psychology & Health. 2021 Oct 22
1 citations
Fighting racism in research.
Gil Goldzweig, Allison J. Applebaum, Gian Domenico Borasio, Juhee Cho, Harvey Max Chochinov, Mayumi Ishida, Matthew Loscalzo, William Breitbart> ;Palliative & Supportive Care. 2021 Oct 1
Interventions to Improve Prognostic Understanding in Advanced Stages of Life-Limiting Illness: A Systematic Review.
Login S. George, Konstantina Matsoukas, Daniel C. McFarland, Jennifer M. Bowers, Meredith Doherty, Young Suk Kwon, Thomas M. Atkinson, Elissa Kozlov, Biren Saraiya, Ho...> ;Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2021 Sep 9
Potential use of albumin and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio to guide the evaluation and treatment of cancer-related depression and anxiety
Daniel C. McFarland, Allison J. Applebaum, Erik Bengtsen, Yesne Alici, William Breitbart, Andrew H. Miller, Christian J. Nelson> ;Psycho-oncology. 2021 Sep 4
1 citations
Meaning-Centered Pain Coping Skills Training: A Pilot Feasibility Trial of a Psychosocial Pain Management Intervention for Patients with Advanced Cancer.
Joseph G. Winger, Katherine Ramos, Sarah A. Kelleher, Tamara J. Somers, Karen E. Steinhauser, Laura S. Porter, Arif H. Kamal, William Breitbart, Francis J. Keefe> ;Journal of Palliative Medicine. 2021 Aug 12
1 citations
Development and preliminary evaluation of EMPOWER for surrogate decision-makers of critically ill patients.
Wendy G. Lichtenthal, Martin Viola, Madeline Rogers, Kailey E. Roberts, Lindsay Lief, Christopher E. Cox, Chris R. Brewin, Jiehui Cici Xu, Paul K. Maciejewski, Cynthia...> ;Palliative & Supportive Care. 2021 Jul 8
Comments on the letter: "Role of religious and spiritual aid in quarantine hospitalization due to SARS-COV-2" - What about existential needs of for those who are witho...
Guida da Ponte, Sílvia Ouakinin, William Breitbart> ;Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. 2021 Jul 6
1 citations
Delirium in supportive and palliative care.
Soenke Boettger, William Breitbart> ;Palliative & Supportive Care. 2021 Jun 1
Meaning-centered group psychotherapy in Portuguese cancer patients: A pilot exploratory trial.
Guida da Ponte, Sílvia Ouakinin, Jorge Espírito Santo, Afolabi Ohunakin, Domingos Prata, Inês Amorim, Zita Gameiro, Estêvão Soares Dos Santos, William Breitbart> ;Palliative & Supportive Care. 2021 May 27
5 citations
A COVID-19 Obituary.
William Breitbart> ;Palliative & Supportive Care. 2021 Feb 1
1 citations
The Impact of Matching to Psychotherapy Preference on Engagement in a Randomized Controlled Trial for Patients With Advanced Cancer.
Allison Marziliano, Allison J. Applebaum, Anne Moyer, Hayley Pessin, Barry Rosenfeld, William Breitbart> ;Frontiers in Psychology. 2021 Jan 1
2 citations
Prognostic implications of depression and inflammation in patients with metastatic lung cancer.
Daniel C. McFarland, Rebecca M. Saracino, Andrew H. Miller, William Breitbart, Barry Rosenfeld, Christian J. Nelson> ;Future Oncology. 2021 Jan 1
3 citations
Health Information Preferences and Curability Beliefs Among Patients With Advanced Cancer
Rebecca M. Saracino, Laura C. Polacek, Allison J. Applebaum, Barry Rosenfeld, Hayley Pessin, William Breitbart> ;Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2021 Jan 1
Adapting meaning-centered psychotherapy for World Trade Center responders - CORRIGENDUM.
Melissa Masterson-Duva, Peter T. Haugen, Aditi Werth, Alyce L. Foster, Emily Chassman, Kailey E. Roberts, Jonathan DePierro, Massielle Morales-Miller, Sandra Lowe, Hay...> ;Palliative & Supportive Care. 2020 Dec 1
Trust in the age of COVID-19.
William Breitbart> ;Palliative & Supportive Care. 2020 Dec 1
The Redeemer of Grand Street.
William Breitbart> ;Palliative & Supportive Care. 2020 Dec 1
1 citations
The Sickness Behavior Inventory-Revised: Sickness behavior and its associations with depression and inflammation in patients with metastatic lung cancer
Daniel C. McFarland, Leah E. Walsh, Rebecca M. Saracino, Christian J. Nelson, William Breitbart, Barry Rosenfeld> ;Palliative & Supportive Care. 2021 Jun 1
Love in the age of COVID-19.
William Breitbart> ;Palliative & Supportive Care. 2020 Oct 1
3 citations
The desire for death in Portuguese home-care palliative patients: Retrospective analysis of the prevalence and associated factors.
Miguel Julião, Maria Ana Sobral, Paula Calçada, Bárbara Antunes, Daniela Runa, Catarina Samorinha, Harvey Max Chochinov, William Breitbart> ;Palliative & Supportive Care. 2021 Aug 1
3 citations
Measuring positive psychosocial sequelae in patients with advanced cancer.
Allison J. Applebaum, Allison Marziliano, Elizabeth Schofield, William Breitbart, Barry Rosenfeld> ;Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. 2020 Sep 3
Prognosis in metastatic lung cancer: vitamin D deficiency and depression—a cross-sectional analysis
Daniel C. McFarland, Madalyn Fernbach, William Breitbart, Christian J. Nelson> ;BMJ. 2020 Aug 27
Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy and Cancer: Finding Meaning in the Face of Suffering.
Wendy G. Lichtenthal, Kailey E. Roberts, Hayley Pessin, Allison J. Applebaum, William Breitbart> ;The Psychiatric times. 2020 Aug 1
14 citations
Neuroleptic strategies for terminal agitation in patients with cancer and delirium at an acute palliative care unit: a single-centre, double-blind, parallel-group, ran...
David Hui, Allison De La Rosa, Annie Wilson, Thuc Nguyen, Jimin Wu, Marvin Omar Delgado-Guay, Ahsan Azhar, Joseph Arthur, Daniel E. Epner, Ali Haider, Maxine de la Cru...> ;Lancet Oncology. 2020 Jul 1
1 citations
Life and Death in the Age of COVID-19.
William Breitbart> ;Palliative & Supportive Care. 2020 Jun 1
5 citations
Depression and Inflammation in Patients With Lung Cancer: A Comparative Analysis of Acute Phase Reactant Inflammatory Markers.
Daniel C. McFarland, William Breitbart, Andrew H. Miller, Christian J. Nelson> ;Psychosomatics. 2020 Sep 1
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Press Mentions

Press ReleasesJanuary 13th, 2017
Psychosocial Oncology: Helping Patients Manage Stress During Pancreatic Cancer TreatmentNovember 19th, 2018
'Magic Mushroom' Psychedelic May Ease Anxiety, DepressionDecember 1st, 2016
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Grant Support

Individual Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy In Advanced Cancer PatientsNational Cancer Institute2010–2011
Meaning-Centered Group Psychotherapy In Advanced CancerNational Cancer Institute2007–2011
Depression, Cytokines, And Pancreatic CancerNational Cancer Institute2005–2006
Depression/Desire For Death In Terminal Cancer PatientsNational Institute Of Nursing Research2000–2003
Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy In Advanced CancerNational Center For Complementary &Alternative Medicine2001–2002
Desire For Death Among Terminally Ill Patients With AIDSNational Institute Of Mental Health1998–2001
Network ProjectNational Cancer Institute1992–2001
Psychostimulants For Fatigue In The HIV Infected PatientNational Institute Of Mental Health1995–1997
Pain In The Ambulatory AIDS PatientNational Institute Of Mental Health1992–1994
The Network ProjectNational Cancer Institute1993
Pharmacological Management Of AIDS DeliriumNational Institute Of Mental Health1989–1991