Department of Psychiatry Faculty

Education
1987, B.S., Yale University
1993, M.D.., University of Pennsylvania
1993-1996, Residency in Internal Medicine, University of Co.
1996-1999, Residency in Psychiatry, UCSF
1999-2001, Fellowship in Psychiatry & Primary Care, University of Washington
2001, M.P.H., University of Washington

Research Interest
Dr. Lydia Chwastiak is a Psychiatrist and Internist whose research interest is the medical co-morbidity of patients with serious and persistent mental illness. Her recent research projects included the evaluation of the impact of chronic medical illness on the quality of pharmacotherapy for schizophrenia in a national sample of veterans; and the evaluation of the interrelationships among severity of medical illness, severity of psychiatric symptoms and functional status in a large sample of persons with schizophrenia.

Currently, Dr. Chwastiak is the attending psychiatrist at the HIV outpatient clinic of Yale New Haven Hospital. She is also an investigator on a SAMHSA-funded trial which evaluates the utility of buprenorphine treatment in engaging opioid dependent individuals in substance abuse treatment. Her current research projects include the evaluation of the unmet mental health care needs of patients in an outpatient HIV clinic, and the evaluation of chronic pain treatment in HIV seropositive individuals with prescription opioid medications.

Area of Expertise
HIV Psychiatry
Medical co-morbidity in patients with serious mental illness

Achievements and Honors:
1999, William Webb Fellowship, Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine
2001, The Thomas H. Holmes Research Scholar Award, University of Washington Department of Psychiatry
2002, American Psychiatric Association Research Colloquium for Junior Investigators
2002, Career Development Institute, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic

Publications of Note

Chwastiak L. Medical complications of psychiatric illness. Psychiatr Serv 2003; 54 (2): 257.

Chwastiak L, VonKorff M. Disability in depression and back pain: Evaluation of the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHO DAS II) in a primary care setting. J Clin Epidemiol 2003; 56(6):507-514.

Ehde DM, Gibbons LE, Chwastiak L, Bombardier CH, Kraft GH. Chronic pain in a large community sample of persons with Multiple Sclerosis. Mult Scler 2003; 9: 605-611.

Chwastiak L, Gibbons LE, Ehde DM, Sullivan M, Bombardier CH, Bowen J, Kraft GH. Fatigue and depression in multiple sclerosis: epidemiologic study of a large community sample. J Psychosom Res. 2005 Nov;59(5):291-8.

Basu S, Chwastiak LA, Bruce RD. Clinical management of depression and anxiety in HIV-infected adults. AIDS. 2005 Dec 2;19(18):2057-67.

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