HMHI is pleased to announce and welcome five board-certified psychiatrists and a clinical psychologist to Huntsman Mental ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ Institute (HMHI). These six new providers are prepared to deliver exceptional, patient-focused mental health care, and contribute to a safe and healing environment for patients and their families.
Because HMHI is part of a world-renowned academic health system, clinical providers are concurrently appointed as college faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and contribute to training the next generation of outstanding physicians.
Ryan Cephas, MD - HMHI Child Inpatient Hospitalist
Dr. Ryan Cephas, Assistant Professor (Clinical), Child Psychiatry Division, earned a BS degree (2012) in Biomedical Sciences at Oakwood ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ and a MD (2017) from the Howard ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ College of Medicine. He completed a psychiatry residency (2020) at Howard ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ Hospital and a ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ and adolescent psychiatry fellowship (June 2022) at the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Utah School of Medicine. Dr. Cephas presented one Grand Rounds, and was active in numerous activities while a medical student and resident (2019 Outstanding Service Award) at Howard ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ College of Medicine. Dr. Cephas is board certified in Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and is board-eligible for the sub-specialty Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (he will sit for this exam later this month]. Dr. Cephas’ areas of interest include inpatient treatment, access to care for underserved communities, physician resilience, and research in mental health in the classroom.
Jeff Clark, MD - HMHI Adult Inpatient Attending
Dr. Jeff Clark, Assistant Professor (Clinical), Adult Psychiatry Division, earned a BS degree magna cum laude (2010) in Neuroscience at the Brigham Young ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ and a MD degree with special qualifications in Biomedical Research (2015) from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ. He completed a psychiatry residency (2019) at the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Washington School of Medicine, serving as Chief Resident for Outpatient and Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (2018-2019) and with distinction in advanced psychotherapy studies, community leadership, and integrated care. He’s a past grand prize winner (2017) of the American Psychiatric Association's Psychiatry Innovation Lab for his work on Slumber Camp, a client-directed web application teaching cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. Following residency (2019-l 2021), he worked as an integrated primary care psychiatrist and served as Medical Director of Mental ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ Integration for Weber and North Davis Counties for Intermountain ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵcare. He held an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor appointment (2019-2022) with Rocky Vista ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ College of Osteopathic Medicine, where he also was Behavioral Medicine Clerkship Director (2020-2022). Dr. Clark recently completed an addiction psychiatry fellowship at the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Utah School of Medicine. Dr. Clark is board certified in Psychiatry (2019-present) by the ABPN and is board-eligible for the sub-specialty Addiction Psychiatry [he will sit for that exam this fall]. He is author of three peer-reviewed journal articles (two as first author), two book chapters, and has presented a Grand Rounds and at several scientific meetings and conferences. Dr. Clark’s interests include medical education, suicide prevention, substance use disorders, and personality disorders.
Tyler Durns, MD - HMHI Adult Inpatient Attending and HMHI Downtown Outpatient Psychiatrist
Dr. Tyler Durns, Assistant Professor (Clinical), Adult Psychiatry Division, earned a BSc degree with honors (2011) in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Arizona and a MD with distinction (2017) from the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Arizona College of Medicine. He completed a psychiatry residency (2021) at the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Utah School of Medicine, serving as Chief Resident (2020-2021) and recently completed his fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry with the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of California Davis Division of Psychiatry and the Law. He received numerous Psychiatry resident awards while at the U (2018- 2021). In 2020, he was awarded the Rappeport Fellowship by the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. He was an Adjunct Instructor (2021-2022) in the department, where he collaborated with faculty members on a naturalistic research study of treatment variables at HMHI. Dr. Durns is a Utah Designated Examiner (2020-2025) and is board certified in Psychiatry by the ABPN (2021-present) and plans to take his sub-specialty Forensic Psychiatry board in October 2023. He is author of four peer-reviewed journal articles (three as first author), one review article, one book chapter, two case reports, and five other and has presented at numerous scientific meetings and conferences. He is actively involved in committee work with the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Dr. Durns' clinical interests include treatment-resistant mood disorders, trauma and other related disorders, borderline personality disorder, neuropsychiatric disorders, existential and behavioral psychotherapies, and advanced psychopharmacology. His forensic interests include cults and undue influence, violence risk assessment, affirmative defenses, psychopathy, malingering, and psychiatric disability.
Erin A. Kaufman, PhD - HMHI Youth Residential Treatment Psychologist & Researcher
Dr. Erin Kaufman, Instructor (Clinical), Child Psychiatry Division, earned a BA degree (2009) in Psychology from Whitman College and MS (2014) and PhD (2018) degrees in Clinical Psychology at the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Utah, where she worked with Dr. Sheila Crowell (adjunct Associate Professor in Psychiatry) and specialized in the Clinical Child and Family Track of that department. She went on to complete her psychology internship (2018) at Western Psychiatric Institute at the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Pittsburg Medical Center, before completing a T32 psychology research fellowship there in 2019. She served as Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Western Ontario from 2019 until 2022. While abroad, she served as a member of the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships’ working group against racism and discrimination. She has a demonstrated record of funding for research at the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Western Ontario and submitted a PI grant to the Canadian Institute of ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ Research that aligns well with some of HMHI’s current research faculty projects, including self-injurious behaviors in adolescents. She is author of 16 first author peer-reviewed journal publications (26 total), 5 review articles, and 6 book chapters, serves as a peer reviewer for 18 scientific journals, and has presented her research at international and national meetings. Dr. Kaufman’s research focuses on interrupting pathogenic factors that contribute to self-inflicted injury (SII), borderline personality disorder (BPD), and suicide. She uses the developmental psychopathology perspective as a framework for conceptualizing and studying these complex problems. Her work builds on existing research that identifies both (a) markers of biological vulnerability to SII and BPD, and (b) environmental risk factors (e.g., coercive family processes, emotion invalidation) that shape vulnerabilities into more advanced and difficult-to-treat patterns of stress reactivity over time. She incorporates biological, self- and informant-report, behavioral, and ecological momentary assessment methods into her research designs. She started as staff at the YRT in June and is also working a small FTE in Dr. Langenecker’s MEND2 lab.
Jeff Pedersen, MD - HMHI Child Inpatient Hospitalist
Dr. Jeff Pedersen, Assistant Professor (Clinical), Child Psychiatry Division, earned a BA degree summa cum laude (2013) in Vocal Performance with a minor in Chemistry at Westminster College and a MD (2017) from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ. He completed a psychiatry residency (2020) on the Idaho Track at the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Washington School of Medicine, and a ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ and adolescent psychiatry fellowship (June 2022) at the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Utah School of Medicine. Dr. Pedersen has been involved in trainee recruitment while a fellow, taught lectures on PTSD, and presented a Grand Rounds during residency. Dr. Pedersen is board certified in Psychiatry (2021-present) by the ABPN and is board-eligible for the sub-specialty Child and Adolescent Psychiatry [he, too, sits for this exam later this month]. Dr. Pedersen is interested in inpatient treatment, juvenile justice, and LBGTQ+ health.
Elizabeth Penner, MD, MPH - HMHI Downtown Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist
Dr. Elizabeth Penner, Assistant Professor (Clinical), Child Psychiatry Division, earned a BS degree (2008) in Nutrition Science at the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Nebraska-Lincoln, a MPH (2012) with a concentration in Quantitative Methods from Harvard ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ School of Public ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ, and a MD (2013) from the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Nebraska College of Medicine. She completed both a psychiatry residency (2018) and a ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ and adolescent psychiatry fellowship (2020) at Creighton ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ - ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Nebraska Medical Center. [Before switching to her Psychiatry residency, Dr. Penner spent 2 years as an internal medicine resident at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and one year as a postdoctoral fellow in Developmental Psychopathology at the Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital in Boys Town, Nebraska]. Dr. Penner joined the psychiatry faculty as Assistant Professor at the ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Nebraska Medical Center (2020-2021) and then moved to Arizona, working as a ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ and adolescent psychiatrist for underserved populations at the Arizona’s Children Association (2021-2022). Dr. Penner s board certified in Psychiatry (2019-present) and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2020-present) by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She is an author on three peer-reviewed journal articles and one review article. Dr. Penner's clinical interests are broad and include ADHD, ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ and adolescent mood disorders, and psychosis. Her academic interests include improving access to care for underserved populations, physician wellbeing, and medical student and resident education.