Alejandro Interian, PhD
Alejandro Interian, Ph.D., is a Clinical Psychologist and Director of Mental Health Research and Program Development at the VA New Jersey Healthcare System. He also serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Rutgers University—Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Dr. Interian and his team’s suicide prevention research includes a previous randomized clinical trial that evaluated Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Suicide Prevention (MBCT-S). The encouraging results of this trial led to additional funding from the VA Office of Rural Health to develop telehealth adaptations of MBCT-S and clinician training programs, facilitating its implementation to serve rural Veterans.
Additionally, Dr. Interian's team studies interventions to address the psychiatric complications of Parkinson’s disease. This work focuses on Parkinson’s disease-informed interventions, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. With further funding from the VA Office of Rural Health, these therapies are being implemented with rural Veterans with limited access to care.
Dr. Interian is also an investigator with a collaborative that links several VA research studies that integrate multiple methodologies (e.g., neurocognition, biomarkers, neuroimaging) to understand the connection between traumatic brain injury and suicide.
Research Interests
Suicide prevention; depression in Parkinson’s disease; traumatic brain injury; intervention development; neurocognition; precision medicine
Grants
BCCMA: Cognitive phenotypes of emotion regulation and suicide risk in Veterans with TBI (2025-2029)
Role: Multiple Principal Investigator. Funding Source: VA Office of Research & Development
Goal: The overall goal of this project is to conduct an integrative, cross-species analysis to identify factors that increase the risk of suicide following a traumatic brain injury.
Suicide Prevention Research Impact NeTwork (SPRINT) (2024-2029)
Role: Multiple Principal Investigator. Funding Source: VA Office of Research & Development
Goal: The mission of this project is to serve as a national resource that accelerates VA suicide prevention research to improve care and prevent Veteran suicide.
Preventing Suicide in Rural Veterans: Implementation of an Evidence-Based Telehealth Mindfulness Intervention (2020-2025)
Role: Project Director. Funding Source: VA Office of Rural Health
Goal: This project will development a framework for implementing an evidence-based suicide prevention intervention for rural Veterans at risk of suicide.
Rural Veterans with Depression and Parkinson's Disease: A Telehealth Psychotherapy Solution (2020-2025)
Role: Project Director. Funding Source: VA Office of Rural Health
Goal: This project will implement a TelePsychotherapy hub for providing Parkinson’s disease-informed, evidence-based psychotherapy to treat depression in Parkinson’s disease.
Publications (Selected)
A full list of Dr. Interian’s publications can be found here.
Interian, A.,* Myers, C. E.,* Brenner, L. A., Sweeney, R., Osterberg, T., Reddy, V., Barnhart, M., St. Hill, L., Miller, R. B., Beck, K. D., Cominski, T. P., Chan, C. C., Shafritz, K. M., Goodman, M. S., & Hazlett, E. A. (2024). Choice and motor impulsivity in Veterans with mild traumatic brain injury with and without history of suicide attempt. Psychiatry Research,342, 116265. *Authors contributed equally to this work
*Myers, C. E., Dave, C., Chesin, M. S., Marx, B. P., St. Hill, L., Reddy, V., Miller, R. B., King, A., *Interian, A. (2024). Initial Evaluation of a Personalized Advantage Index to Determine Which Individuals May Benefit from Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Suicide Prevention. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 183, 104637.* These authors contributed equally to this work and share senior authorship.
Myers, C.E., Dave, C., Callahan, M., Chesin, M., Keilp, J.G., Beck, K.D., Brenner, L.A., Goodman, M.S., Hazlett, E.A., Niculescu, A.B., St. Hill, L., Kline, A., Stanley, B., & Interian, A. (2022). Improving the Prospective Prediction of a Near-Term Suicide Attempt in Veterans at Risk for Suicide, Using a Go/No-Go Task. Psychological Medicine, 1-10.
Interian, A., Chesin, M.S., Stanley, B., Latorre, M., St. Hill, L.M., Miller, R.B., King, A., Boschulte, D.R., Rodriguez, K.M., & Kline, A. (2021). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Preventing Suicide in Military Veterans: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 82, 0-0.
Dobkin, R.D., Mann, S.L., Weintraub, D., Rodriguez, K., Miller, R., St. Hill, L., King, A., Gara, M.A., Interian, A. (2021). Innovating Parkinson’s Care: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Telemedicine Depression Treatment. Movement Disorders, 36, 2549-2558.
