Karen A. Graham, M.D.

E-mail:  Karen_Graham@med.unc.edu

UNC Office:  (919) 966-7088; (919) 929-2311

Mental Health Specialists - Chapel Hill:  (919) 929-7449

Education:

B.Sc. Honors Toxicology, University of Guelph

M.Sc., Pharmacology, University of Toronto

M.D., McMaster University

Resident, Psychiatry (PGY1-2), McMaster University

Resident, Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Summary Statement:

Dr. Graham is a psychiatrist with Outreach And Support Intervention Services (OASIS) in Carrboro.  This is a UNC Department of Psychiatry specialty program for people in the early years of psychotic illness and those at high risk for developing psychotic illness.

Dr Graham is Co-Chair of the award-winning STEPArt Gallery, Brushes With Life. This program provides opportunities for psychiatric patients receiving care at UNC Hospitals STEP and OASIS clinics, Psychotic Disorders Inpatient unit and Club Nova to broaden their creative skills and to display their works of art in a public gallery.

Dr. Graham's research interests include the early identification and treatment of those at high risk for developing schizophrenia, understanding the causes of the metabolic effects of antipsychotic medications, and improving the outcome of those in the early years of psychotic illness.

Representative Publications:

Book Chapter:

1. Graham KA , Lieberman JA. The Late Bloomer. Treatment Companion to the Dsm-IV-TR Casebook Robert L. Spitzer (Editor) American Psychiatric Press, 2004.

Peer Reviewed Journals:

1. Graham KA, Cho H, Brownley KA, Harp JB.  Early treatment-related changes in diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk markers in first episode psychosis subjects. Schizophrenia Research, 2008 Apr;101 (1-3):287-94.
2. Pinkham AE, Penn DL, Perkins DO, Graham KA, Siegel M. Emotion Perception and Social Skill over the Course of Psychosis: A Comparison of Individuals “At-risk” for Psychosis and Individuals with Early and Chronic Schizophrenia Spectrum Illness. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry. 2007 May;12(3):198-212.
3. Graham, KA, Hongbin Gu, Lieberman JA, Harp JB, Perkins DO. Double blind placebo controlled investigation of amantadine for weight loss in subjects who have gained weight during treatment with olanzapine. Am J Psychiatry 2005 Sep;162(9):1744-6.
4. Graham KA, Perkins DO, Edwards LJ, Barrier RC, Lieberman JA, Harp JB. Effect of olanzapine on body composition and energy expenditure in first episode psychotic adults. Am J Psychiatry 2005 162 (1):118-121.
5. Perkins DO, Lesserman J, Jarskog LF, Graham K, Kazmer J, Lieberman JA. Characterizing and dating the onset of symptoms in psychotic illness: the Symptom Onset in Schizophrenia (SOS) inventory. Schizophrenia Research 44:1-10, 2000.