Ravi DeSilva, MD, MA

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center /New York State Psychiatric Institute

Ravi DeSilva, MD, MA is the former Unit Chief of inpatient psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and serves in the United States Navy Medical Corps.  His work and research interests include acute care psychiatry, systems and group therapy, medical education, and cultural and visual anthropology.

He received his MD from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and his MA in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Kansas. He completed two years of general surgery training before joining and completing his Psychiatry residency at Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute.

Dr. DeSilva is certified by ABPN in psychiatry and his research has received grant funding from the Research Foundation for Mental Health, the Levy Foundation, and the New York State Office of Mental Health, where he received an OMH Policy Scholar Award grant to further the development of a web based teaching module for cultural psychiatry.

He has worked with the American Psychiatric Association, American Group Psychotherapy Association, Eastern Group Psychotherapy Association, and the Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture. His research has been published in Ethnicity & Health, Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, and the Journal of Medical Humanities. Dr. DeSilva is also a contributor to the fifth edition (2013) of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Dr. DeSilva continues to be involved in visual media and ethnographic film. Most recently his photographic work appeared as part of a group exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, Rising Waters 2.0: More Photographs of Sandy.