James M. Ellison, M.D., MPH — The Swank Foundation Endowed Chair in Memory Care and Geriatrics

James M. Ellison, MD, MPH, is The Swank Foundation Endowed Chair in Memory Care and Geriatrics at Christiana Care Health System. He is a renowned clinical practitioner, researcher and educator in geriatric and adult psychiatry with special expertise in geriatric mood and anxiety disorders, cognitive impairment and dementia. Dr. Ellison joined Christiana Care from McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, where he had served as director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Program, director of the Memory Disorders Clinic, and program director for the Partners HealthCare Fellowship in Geriatric Psychiatry.

Dr. Ellison earned his medical degree from the University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco. He completed his residency in psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, serving as chief resident, Acute Psychiatry Service, his final year. He holds a master’s degree in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health. He is board-certified in psychiatry, with added qualifications in geriatric psychiatry. He is considered an expert in psychopharmacology.

As a geriatric psychiatrist, Dr. Ellison has broadened public and professional awareness of mood and cognitive symptoms in geriatric populations. He speaks to public interest groups and has lobbied for legislative reforms in the care of the elderly. He teaches and supervises medical students, psychiatric residents and fellows, and physicians and clinicians from various specialties. He lectures at national conferences including the American Psychiatric Association. He is an active member of multiple committees, review boards and councils for professional associations, academia and health care organizations. Dr. Ellison’s recent research activities focus on cognitive disorders in older adults and how they can be diagnosed at an early stage and treated effectively.

Among Dr. Ellison’s honors are multiple appearances on Boston Magazine’s Top Doctor listings, designation as a Distinguished Life Fellow by the American Psychiatric Association, the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society 2014 Outstanding Psychiatrist Award for Advancement of the Profession, McLean Hospital’s 2012 Jonathan O. Cole Prize for Excellence in Psychiatry, and the 2010 Educator of the Year from the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Dr. Ellison is Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University.