David A. Graeber, MD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
Vice Chair for Community &
Children’s Programs
Education and Honors:
1985, B.S., Biomedical Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM; 1989, M.D.,
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM; 1992 General Psychiatry Residency, Duke
University, Durham, NC; 1994, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship, University of New
Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.
Research Interests:
My research interests have primarily focused on the pairing of evidence-based treatments to
individuals with significant mental health and substance use disorders guided by the overarching
belief in models of resiliency and recovery. I am currently a Co-PI on a project with Steve
Adelsheim, M.D. from the Department of Psychiatry and Kent Keihl, Ph.D from the MIND
Research Network which is funded from both private donations and the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation. The project’s overarching goal is to identify youth at risk for developing primary
psychotic disorders (such as Schizophrenia and severe mood disorders with psychotic features)
who are manifesting initial and sometimes subtle signs of impending psychosis and provide them
with rapid treatment modalities with the hope of preventing actual “conversion” to psychosis.
There are three major components to this process including outreach, screening/assessment and
treatment strategies. Outreach includes aggressive outreach and education to community
settings including schools, primary care providers, juvenile justice systems and families.
Individuals referred from these settings will be assessed for early signs of psychosis and this also
includes a variety of anatomical and functional imaging studies. Individuals identified as being in
the prodromal state will be offered immediate treatment. Therapeutic modalities include
supportive educational and employment programs, multifamily group therapy and medication
management.
Our study is entitled the “Early” project and is one of a six multisite study
examining the feasibility and efficacy of this screening and treatment strategy.
Selected Publications:
1. Graeber DA, Moyers TB, Griffith G, et al. A pilot study comparing motivational interviewing
and an educational intervention in patients with schizophrenia and alcohol use disorders.
Community Ment Health J. 2003 Jun; 39(3): 189-202.
2. Schnierow BJ, Graeber, DA. Manic Symptoms Associated With Initiation of Risperidone.
American Journal of Psychiatry, 1996; 153: 1235-1236.
3. Escalona PR, Adair JC, Roberts BB, Graeber DA. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Following Bilateral Globus Pallidus Infarction: A Brief Report. Biological Psychiatry, 42: 410412, 1997.
4. Canive JM, Lewine JD, Edgar JC, Graeber DA, Escalona PR, Provencal SL, Calais L,
Walters C: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is Associated with Abnormalities in Brain Structure
and Function. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 9(1):149, 1997.
5. Canive JM, Lewine JD, Edgar JC, Davis JT, Torres F, Roberts BB, Graeber DA, Orrison
WW, Tuason VB. Magnetoencephalographic Assessment of Spontaneous Brain Activity in
Schizophrenia. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 32(4):741-750, 1996.
6. Tuason VB, McDonald E, Canive JM, Siracusano D, Evans JD, Graeber DA. A VAMC
Outpatient Detoxification Program in a Managed Care Setting. Federal Practitioner, 15(8):4144, 1998.
7. Lewine JD, Canive JM, Orrison WW, Edgar CJ, Provencal SL, Davis JT, Paulson K, Graeber
DA, et al. Electrophysiological Abnormalities in PTSD. Ann NY Acad Sci, 821:508-511, 1997.
8. Canive JM, Lewine JD, Orrison WW, Edgar CJ, Provencal SL, Davis JT, Paulson K, Graeber
DA, et al. MRI Reveals Gross Structural Abnormalities in PTSD. Ann NY Acad Sci, 821:512515, 1997.
9. Lewine JD, Davis JT, Davis LE, Canive J, Roberts B, Graeber DA, et al. Clinical MEG I:
Towards a standardization examination. In Biomag96: Advances in Biomagnetism Research,
(CJ Aine, ER Flynn, Y Okada, G Stroink, SJ Swinthenby and CC Woods, eds), SpringerVerlag, New York: 270, 1997.