Dr. Gary Kennedy is the Vice Chair for Education and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Director of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and Fellowship Training Program at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. More than sixty psychiatrists with subspecialty training in geriatrics have graduated from this program.

Dr. Kennedy’s research has focused on cardiac arrhythmias, the epidemiology of depression and dementia, mental health care in nursing homes, primary care sites and in the community, and novel communications approaches between health care providers. He has authored numerous publications on late-life mental health and has given numerous invited presentations to educational, scientific, and public policy organizations in the United States and abroad.

Dr. Kennedy's numerous professional awards and achievements include the following:

• He has served as a consultant to the New York State Commission on Life and the Law regarding physician-assisted suicide and to the Law Revision Commission regarding guardianship procedures in New York State mental health law.
• He was a member of the New York State Department of Health Advisory Work Group on Human Subject Research Involving Protected Classes.
• He has been a member of the American Psychiatric Association Council on Aging.
• He was a member of the Mental Disorders of Aging Initial Review Group and Chairperson of the Small Business Innovative Research Program Contract Reviews for the National Institute of Mental Health.
• He has appeared on National Public Radio and the Today Show with Katie Couric.
• He has received a New Investigator Award from the National Institute of Health, a travel study fellowship to the United Kingdom and Israel from the United States World Health Organization, and an Archstone Award for Program Innovation from the American Public Health Association.
• He is a Fellow of the Brookdale Center on Aging of Hunter College and of the New York Academy of Medicine.
• He was a member of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry.
• He was the 2005-2007 chair of the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation, a Washington based 501c3 group advocating for the mental health and well being of senior Americans.
• In 2006, he was asked by The Atlantic Philanthropies to design a Bermuda-specific mental health training program for older adults with mental illness.
• In 2005, he was a Visiting Professor for the Geriatric Fellowship Training Program of the National Health Research Institute of Taiwan.
• In 2003, he received an Annual Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
• In 2003, he was invited to testify before the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health.
• He was the 2002 President of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.
• The American Journal of Nursing cited his Geriatric Mental Health Care, published in 2000, as one of the best books of the year in gerontology.
• In 2009 he was member of the six person Professional Exchange Program sponsored by the Caring Commission of the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York and JDC-ESHEL, The Association for the Planning and Development of Services for the Aged in Israel
• He is a Life Fellow, American Psychiatric Association
• In 2014 he received the Julia and Leo Forchheimer Lifetime Achievement Award, New York Foundation for Elder Care
• Since 1992, he has been listed as one of The Best Doctors in America.

Dr. Kennedy's work has been supported by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; the National Institute on Aging; the Forchheimer Foundation; the Resnick Gerontology Center; the New York State Department of Health; United Jewish Appeal-Federation; the JE & ZB Butler Foundation; The University Place Foundation; the Irving Weinstein Foundation; The Goldstein Foundation; The United Hospital Fund; The New York Community Trust; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; The New York Foundation for Elder Care; and The Atlantic Philanthropies. He has also received unrestricted educational grants form Janssen Pharmaceutica, Pfizer Incorporated, and Forest Laboratories, as well as clinical research grants from Janssen Pharmaceutica, AstraZeneca, and Forest Laboratories.

Born in Dallas, Dr. Kennedy is an alumnus of the University of Texas in Austin and the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

Kennedy GJ, Hofer M, Cohen D, et al: Significance of depression and cognitive impairment in patients undergoing programmed stimulation of cardiac arrhythmias. Psychosom Med 49:410-421, 1987

Kennedy, GJ, Kelman HR, Thomas C, et al: Hierarchy of characteristics associated with depressive symptoms in an urban elderly sample. Am J Psychiatry 146:220-225, 1989 

Kennedy, GJ, Kelman HR, Thomas C: Emergence of depressive symptoms in late life; the importance of declining health and increasing disability. J Community Health, 15:93-104, 1990

Kennedy GJ, Kelman HR, Thomas C: Persistence and remission of depressive symptoms in late life. Am J Psychiatry 148:174-178, 1991

Thomas C, Kelman HR, Kennedy GJ, Ahn C, Yang C-Y: Depressive symptoms and mortality in the elderly. J Gerontology: Social Sciences 47:S80-87, 1992

Kelman HR, Thomas C, Kennedy GJ, Chen J: Cognitive impairment and mortality among older community residents. J Amer Pub Health 84:1255-1260, 1994

Kennedy GJ, Katsnelson N, Laitman L, Alvarez E: Psychogeriatric services in certified home health agencies; case reports and guidelines for the psychiatric consultant. Am J Geriatric Psychiatry 3:339-347, 1995

Kelman HR, Thomas C, Kennedy GJ, Chen J: Cognitive impairment and the quality of life of elderly urban community residents. Proceedings of the 25th Public Health Conference on Records and Statistics and the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics DHHS Pub No. (PHS) 96-1214, 181-186, 1995

Suicide and Depression in Late Life; Critical Issues in Treatment, Research and Public Policy. GJ Kennedy ed., Einstein Monograph Series in Clinical and Experimental Psychiatry, Wiley & Sons Inc, NY 1996

Kennedy GJ, Kelman HR, Thomas C, Chen J: The relation of religious preference and practice to depressive symptoms among 1855 older adults. J Gerontology; Psychological Science 51B:P301-P308, 1996

Lindenmayer JP, Negron AE, Shah S, Lowinger R, Kennedy G, Bark N, Hyman R: Cognitive deficits and psychopathology in elderly schizophrenic patients. Am J Geriatric Psychiatry 5:31-42, 1997

Colenda CC, Greenwald BS, Crosset JHW, Husain MM, Kennedy GJ: Provider barriers to effective psychiatric services for the elderly. Psychiatric Services 48:321-325, 1997

Kennedy GJ, Frazier A: Medical comorbidity and mental disorders in the elderly. Current Opin Psychiatry 12:451-455, 1999

Kennedy GJ, Goldstein MZ, Northcott C, et al: Evolution of the geriatric curriculum in general residency training: recommendations for the coming decade. Academic Psychiatry 23:1-11, 1999

Magai C, Kennedy GJ, Cohen C, Gomberg D: A controlled clinical trial of sertraline in the treatment of depression in nursing home residents. Am J Geriatric Psychiatry 8:66-75, 2000

Kennedy GJ, Tanenbaum, S: Suicide and Aging: International Perspectives. Psychiatric Quart 71:345-362, 2000

Kennedy GJ, Geriatric Mental Health Care; A Treatment Guide for Health Professionals,Guilford Publications, Inc. New York 2000

Kennedy GJ, Scalmati A: The interface of depression and dementia. Curr Opin Psychiatry 14:367-369, 2001

Kennedy GJ. Telephone-facilitated treatment of depression in primary care using the PHQ-9. Primary Psychiatry 11(6): 18-21, 2004

Cooney LM, Kennedy GJ, Hawkins KA, Hurme SB. Who can stay at home: Assessing the capacity to choose to live in the community. Archives of Internal Medicine 164:357-360, 2004

Kennedy GJ. Will more antidepressants mean fewer suicides in late life? Primary Psychiatry 12(1): 26-29 2005

Horowitz A, Reinhardt AP, Kennedy GJ. Major and subthreshold depression among older adults seeking vision rehabilitation services. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 13:180-187, 2005

Kennedy GJ, Marcus P. Use of antidepressants in older patients with co-morbid medical conditions: Guidance from studies of depression in somatic illness. Drugs & Aging 2005;22:273-87

Sakuaye K, Blank K, Cohen CI, Cohen GD, Kennedy GJ, Liptzin B, Schillerstorm J, Schultz S. Medicare managed mental health care: A looming crisis. Psychiatric Services 2005;56:795-798

Milstein G, Kennedy GJ, Bruce ML, et al. The clergy,s role in reducing stigma: A bi-lingual study of elder patients views. World Psychiatry 2005;4S1:28-34

Berkman C, Guarnaccia P, Diaz N, Badger LW, Kennedy GJ. Concepts of mental health and mental illness in older Hispanics. Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 2005;3;59-85 Kennedy GJ.

Naturally occurring retirement communities: An expanding opportunity for health promotion and disease prevention. Primary Psychiatry 2006:13:33-35

Marcus P, Kennedy GJ, Wetherbee C, Korenblatt J, Dorta H. Training Professional Home Care Staff to Help Reduce Depression Among Elderly Home Care Patients. Clinical Geriatrics 2006;14:13-16 .

Milstein G, Kennedy GJ, Bruce ML, Flannelly KJ, Chelchowski N, Bone L. The clergy’s role in reducing stigma: A bi-lingual study of elder patients’ views. World Psychiatry 2005;4S1:28-34

Sakuaye K, Blank K, Cohen CI, Cohen GD, Kennedy GJ, Liptzin B, Schillerstorm J, Schultz S. Medicare managed mental health care: A looming crisis. Psychiatric Services 2005;56:795-798

Berkman C, Guarnaccia P, Diaz N, Badger LW, Kennedy GJ. Concepts of mental health and mental illness in older Hispanics. Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 2005;3;59-85

Kennedy GJ. Pharmacologic Treatment of Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment: Critical Appraisal. Primary Psychiatry 2005;12:19-21

Kennedy GJ. Editorial. Should primary care be the primary site of geriatric mental health care? Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2005;13:745-747

Kennedy GJ. Caution vs. closure: The use of atypical antipsychotics for the treatment of behavioral disturbances in dementia. Primary Psychiatry 2005;12:16-19

Kennedy GJ. Psychotherapies and other psychosocial interventions for depression in late life: Innovation through hybridization. Primary Psychiatry 2005;12:16-20

Quam H, Kennedy GJ. Schizoaffective Disorder; Challenges of diagnosis and treatment in late life. Clinical Geriatrics 2006;14:13-16

Marcus P, Kennedy GJ, Wetherbee C, Korenblatt J, Dorta H. Training Professional Home Care Staff to Help Reduce Depression Among Elderly Home Care Patients. Clinical Geriatrics 2006;14:13-16

Kennedy GJ. Addressing the unmet promise of antidepressant trials in older adults. Primary Psychiatry 2006;13:24-27,36

Kennedy GJ, Herlands T. Missing elements in the treatment of depression and dementia. Primary Psychiatry 2006;13:24-26

Kennedy GJ. Naturally occurring retirement communities: An expanding opportunity for health promotion and disease prevention. Primary Psychiatry 2006:13:33-35

Kennedy GJ. The Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relive Depression (STAR*D) studies: How applicable are the results for older adults? Primary Psychiatry 2006:13:

Kennedy GJ, Golde TE, Tariot PN, Cummings JL. Amyloid-based interventions in Alzheimer’s disease. CNS Spectrums 2007;12:1 (suppl 1) 1-16

Kennedy GJ. Reducing the Risk of Late-Life Suicide Through Improved Depression Care. Primary Psychiatry. 2007;14(1):26-28,31-34

Kennedy GJ. Exercise, aging and mental health. Primary Psychiatry 2007;14(4):23-28

Kennedy GJ. Insomnia in Late Life: New Perspectives on an Old Problem. Primary Psychiatry. 2007;14(7):29-36

Kennedy GJ. From Symptom Palliation to Disease Modification: Implications for Dementia Care. Primary Psychiatry. 2007;14(11):30-34

Kennedy GJ, Feldman BL. Prevention of Depression: Immediate Need But Distant Horizon. Primary Psychiatry 2007;14(9):28-34

Kennedy GJ. Bipolar Disorder in Late Life: Depression. Primary Psychiatry. 2008;15 (3):30-34

Kennedy GJ. Bipolar Disorder in Late Life: Mania. Primary Psychiatry. 2008;15(1):28-33

Kennedy GJ. Targets for Telephone-Based Behavioral Health Interventions. Primary Psychiatry. 2008;15(5):35-39

Kennedy GJ. Advances in the Treatment of Late-Life Psychotic Depression. Primary Psychiatry. 2008;15(7):

Kennedy GJ, Leon LA. Recent Advances in Dementia Research. Primary Psychiatry. 2008;15(11):27-30

Kennedy GJ. Geriatric Psychiatry and Cardiology: New perspectives on heart, brain, mood and cognition. Primary Psychiatry 2008;15(9):35-38

Grober E, Hall C, McGinn M, Nicholls T, Stanford S, Ehrlich A, Jacobs LG, Kennedy G, Sanders A, Lipton RB. Neuropsychological strategies for detecting early dementia. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2008 Jan;14(1):130-42

Kennedy GJ, Smyth CA. Screening older adults for executive dysfunction: An essential refinement in the assessment of cognitive impairment. American Journal of Nursing 2008;108(12):60-69 (demonstration interview available at http://links.lww.com/A326)

Kennedy GJ,  Smyth CA. Challenges of Screening for Executive Dysfunction  Online-only content for “Screening Older Adults for Executive Dysfunction,” American Journal of Nursing, December. 2008, p. TK-TK at http://links.lww.com/TKTK

Kennedy GJ,  Smyth CA. More on the Validity of Brief Tests of Executive Function

Online-only content for “Screening Older Adults for Executive Dysfunction,” American Journal of Nursing, December. 2008, p. TK-TK. at http://links.lww.com/TKTK

Kennedy GJ, Scalmati A. Notes from the 13th Annual Einstein Symposium on

The Comprehensive Approach to Dementia. Primary Psychiatry 2009;16(6):19-23

Kennedy GJ, Olson TR. “Cadaver conference day”: A psychiatrist in the gross anatomy course. Primary Psychiatry 2009;16(1):26-30

Friedman MB, Kennedy GJ, Williams KA. Cognitive camouflage – How Alzheimer’s can mask mental illness. Aging Well 2009; 2(2):16

Kennedy GJ. Parkinson’s disease and dementia. Primary Psychiatry 2009;16(4):19-23

Scalmati A, Kennedy GJ. Psychotherapy as end of life care: Special considerations for the older patient. Psychiatric Annals 2009;39(9):833-837

Kennedy GJ. Advanced Age, Dementia, and Driving: Guidance for the Patient, Family and Physician. Primary Psychiatry. 2009;16(8):

Kennedy GJ, George C, Lui YW. Dementia or Depression? Diagnostic Bias in Geriatric Practice. Primary Psychiatry. 2009;16(9):19-23

Sakauye K, Streim J, Kennedy GJ, Kerwin P, Llorente M, Schultz SK, Srinivasan S. Disaster preparedness for older Americans: Critical issues for the preservation of mental health. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 2009; 17(12):916–924

Kennedy GJ, Kover E, Scalmati A. Mental Health Services for Holocaust Survivors

Notes from the 2009 Professional Exchange to Israel. Primary Psychiatry 2009;16(12): 2009

Kennedy GJ, Martinez MM, Garo N. Sex and mental health in old age. Primary Psychiatry. 2010;17(1):26-34

Kennedy GJ. Do the Longevity Genes Prevent Dementia? Primary Psychiatry. 2010;17(3):20-22

Kennedy GJ. Proposed Revisions for the Diagnostic Categories of Dementia in the DSM-5. Primary Psychiatry. 2010;17(5):26-28

Kennedy GJ, Kastenschmidt E. Prevention of dementia and cognitive decline: notes from the NIH-State-of-the- Science Conference. Primary Psychiatry. 2010;17(7):

Koh S, Blank K, Cohen C, Cohen G, Faison W, Kennedy G, Kyomen H, Liptzin B, Meador K, Rohrbaugh R, Busch B, Sakauye K, Schultz S, Streim J. Public’s view of mental health services for the elderly: Responses to Dear Abby. Psychiatric Services 2010;61:1146–1149

Kastenschmidt EK, Kennedy GJ. Depression and anxiety in late life: diagnostic insights and therapeutic options. Mt Sinai Journal of Medicine 2011;78:527-545

Roane DM, Tucker J, Eisenstadt E, Gomez M, Kennedy GJ. Assessing the benefits of a geropsychiatric home-visit program for medical students.Acad Psychiatry. 2012 May 1;36(3):216-8. doi: 10.1176/appi.ap.09090156.

Kennedy GJ, Scalmati A, Greenberg D. An Alliance for the Mental Health of Holocaust Survivors: Towards the Integration of Mental Health Services and Social Programs for Holocaust Survivors in New York City. Kavod - Honoring Aging Survivors: A Professional Journal for Care Providers and Families Issue 2, Winter, 2012  http://kavod.claimscon.org/

Pickett YR, Ghosh S, Rohs A, Kennedy GJ, Bruce ML, Lyness JM. Healthcare use among older primary care patients with minor depression. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 2014;22(2):207-210.

Pickett YR, Kennedy GJ, Freeman K, Cummings J, William Woolis W. The Effect of Telephone-Facilitated Depression Care on Older, Medically Ill Patients. Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research 2014;41(1):90-96 PMID23572444

Kennedy GJ, Gardner L. The silver lining in the graying of American: Healthy aging is the new norm. Psychiatric Times 2013, October, vol. XXX, No. 10;20C-D     

Ceïde, M E. Kennedy GJ. Psychosomatic Medicine. Addressing Psychosomatic Illness in the Elderly: Integrated Care. Psychiatric Times 2014: 36-37 Nov. 31(11):36-37

Kennedy GJ, Castro J, Chang M, Chauhan-James J, Fishman M Psychiatric and Medical Comorbidity in the Primary Care Geriatric Patient-An Update. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2016 Jul;18(7):62. doi: 10.1007/s11920-016-0700-7.

Kennedy GJ. Behavioral Interventions for Patients with Major Depression and Severe COPD. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2016 Aug 26. pii: S1064-7481(16)30219-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2016.08.012

Mooney SJ, Joshi S, Cerdá M, Kennedy GJ, Beard JR, Rundle AG. Neighborhood Disorder and Physical Activity among Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study. J Urban Health. 2017 Jan 20. doi: 10.1007/s11524-016-0125-y PMID: 28108872

Mooney SJ, Joshi S, Cerdá M, Kennedy GJ, Beard JR, Rundle AG. Contextual Correlates of Physical Activity among Older Adults: A Neighborhood Environment-Wide Association Study (NE-WAS). Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2017 Apr;26(4):495-504. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-16-0827. Epub 2017 Feb 2.

Mooney SJ, Joshi S, Cerdá M, Quinn JW, Beard J, Kennedy GJ, Benjamin EO, Ompad DC, Rundle AG. Patterns of Physical Activity among Older Adults in New York City: A Latent Class Approach. American Journal of Preventive Medicine (in press)

BOOKS

Selected Models of Practice in Geriatric Psychiatry. The American Psychiatric Association Task Force on Models of Practice in Geriatric Psychiatry; MZ Goldstein, CC Colenda, GJ Kennedy, H Van Dooren, W Van Stone, DP Hay, J Sadovoy, American Psychiatric Association, Washington, D.C., 1993

Suicide and Depression in Late Life; Critical Issues in Treatment, Research and Public Policy. Edited by GJ Kennedy, Einstein/Montefiore Monograph Series in Clinical and Experimental Psychiatry, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,New York, 1996

Geriatric Psychiatry Self-Assessment Program, Editor-in-chief, GJ Kennedy, Kendal Hunt, Inc, 1999

Geriatric Mental Health Care; A Treatment Guide for Health Professionals GJ Kennedy, Guilford Publications, Inc. New York 2000

Geriatric Depression: A Clinical Guide, Gary Kennedy, Guilford Publications, Inc. New York, 2015