Kimberly YonkersView profile
Adjunct Professor
Dr. Kimberly Yonkers is a Professor Adjunct of Psychiatry at Yale University, with additional appointments in the Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and the School of Public Health. She serves as Chief for the Yale New Haven Health Division of Psychological Medicine, providing inpatient and outpatient consultations across multiple campuses. Dr. Yonkers also directs research for the Yale New Haven Hospital Division of the Department of Psychiatry and leads the Center for Women and Mothers, a specialized research unit focused on women's mental health. Dr. Yonkers' educational background includes an MD from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons (1986) and residency training at McLean Hospital (1990). She is board certified in Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (1991). Her research focuses on the clinical course, etiopathology, and treatment of psychiatric disorders as they occur in women, with particular emphasis on pregnancy, the postpartum period, and the menstrual cycle. Her work spans multiple disciplines, requiring integration of psychiatric expertise with neuroscience and reproductive biology. Dr. Yonkers has made significant contributions to understanding postpartum depression, establishing that 50% of cases begin antenatally and that standard antidepressant treatment is effective for postpartum depression. Her research on premenstrual dysphoric disorder established serotonin reuptake inhibitors as first-line treatments and determined optimal timing for their administration. Dr. Yonkers led the DSM-5 Study Group for Race, Gender and Ethnicity and currently leads the Gender Study Group reviewing and conducting text revisions for the DSM-5 Text Revision. She serves as the inaugural Editor-in-Chief for the American Psychiatric Association's online journal, Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice . Harold Berman Award for Mentorship (2018) Best Doctors designation (2016, 2015, 2014) Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine Wayne Katon Research Award (2014) Dr. Yonkers has secured significant research funding, including studies funded by NICHD that recruited approximately 2800 women to assess whether depression is a risk factor for preterm delivery, independent of antidepressant treatment. She also leads ongoing NIDA studies assessing hazardous substance use in pregnancy and the postpartum period. Her research group has developed important clinical tools, including the Substance Use Risk Profile-Pregnancy, an efficient screening measure for substance use in pregnancy. Her work has also demonstrated the therapeutic effect of progesterone for postpartum cocaine use and the efficacy of computerized brief interventions based on motivational principles for reducing substance misuse.
