Faculty
Adult Psychiatry Program
Professor
Chairman
Hunt Family Endowed Chair in Psychiatry
Director, Southwest Brain Bank
Dr. Peter Thompson is a professor and the Hunt Family Endowed Chair of Psychiatry. He also serves as the Director of the Mood Disorders division and the Director of the Southwest Brain Bank. He had established the first brain bank at University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and now at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso.
Dr. Thompson completed his Psychiatry Residency at Tufts University/New England Medical Center and Psychobiology Fellowship at the University of California at San Diego. Dr. Thompson’s academic career is dedicated to developing improved treatments for moods disorders and educating the next generation of psychiatrists
Associate Professor, Psychiatry
Program Director, Department of Psychiatry Residency Program
Dr. Silvina Tonarelli is the Psychiatry Residency Training Program director of the Alberta campus. She is also an associate professor in the TTUHSC El Paso Psychiatry Department and supervises residents in the outpatient neuropsychiatric division at TTUHSC El Paso and clinical liaison rotation at University Medical Center of El Paso.
Dr. Tonarelli received her medical education and training in Internal Medicine and Neurology at Cordoba, Argentina. She moved to the USA, did a research fellowship in Stroke, and then she completed her training in the Psychiatry field. She is a board-certified Psychiatrist by The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She joined the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry of Texas Tech University Medical Center at El Paso in 2015 as Assistant Professor. Her main interests are related to neuropsychiatric manifestations of Traumatic Brain Injuries, Stroke, Seizures, Parkinson disease, Intellectual Disability Disorder, and other cognitive disorders. She is a bilingual physician who is committed to teaching medical students and residents and improve the mental health of the community of El Paso.
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
Associate Director, Department of Psychiatry Residency Program
Dr. Khan is the Associate Residency Program Director of the Texas Tech University Psychiatry Residency Program on the Alberta campus.
After getting his bachelor's degree in the humanities from the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Khan completed his medical education at Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSUCOM) in 2011 and then completed an Osteopathic Family Medicine residency at Mclaren Health System in Michigan and a Psychiatry residency at Kansas City University Of Medicine And Biosciences (KCUMB) in Missouri. During medical school and residency, Dr. Khan scored above average on all three steps of the medical board exams, won the "highest score on the PRITE exam" award twice during his psychiatry residency, and also scored above average on the specialty boards as well. He enjoys working with students and residents and has helped hundreds of them succeed on their board exams, including many students and residency who would have otherwise not made it through medical school or residency due to academic difficulties. Dr. Khan specializes in helping patients and students with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, chronic pain (including musculoskeletal tension due to anxiety), and academic stressors.
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
Program Director – Transmountain Psychiatry Residency Program
Dr. Pamela Lopez is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Transmountain. She currently supervises medical students at the outpatient clinic and residents and students on the consultation-liaison service at University Medical Center.
As a native El Pasoan, Dr. Lopez returned to practice medicine in El Paso to provide care to a population that is near and dear to her heart. She completed medical school at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas and then went on to complete her psychiatry training in Austin, Texas at the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School. She completed her general psychiatry residency there as well as a fellowship in consultation-liaison psychiatry (formerly psychosomatic medicine). Her main interest is in consultation-liaison psychiatry. Dr. Lopez is very passionate about teaching and looks forward to helping mold the next generation of psychiatrists.
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
Clerkship Director
Dr. Patricia Ortiz is the clerkship director and an assistant professor in the TTUHSC El Paso Department of Psychiatry. She is also the academic medical director for Emergence Health Network and supervises residents in the outpatient psychiatric clinic at TTUHSC El Paso.
Dr. Ortiz is an El Paso native. She received her medical training at the TTUHSC Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, then moved to Washington, D.C. where she completed her psychiatry residency at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Ortiz also completed a fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry at the University of Maryland Medical Center. She returned home to join the Texas Tech Department of Psychiatry faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2020. Her main interests include public psychiatry, adult and juvenile forensic psychiatry, and medical education. She is a bilingual physician who is dedicated to serving the population of El Paso.
Child and Adolescent Program
Associate Professor, Psychiatry
Program Director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program
Dr. Cecilia De Vargas is an associate professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Currently, Dr De Vargas is the program director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship and dedicates most of her professional hours to supervision of fellows, residents, and medical students at the inpatient, outpatient, and community rotations. She also participates in the Child Psychiatric Access Network (CPAN), providing consultation to pediatricians and other primary care professionals on assessing, diagnosing, and treating children and adolescents with mental health comorbidities.
Dr. De Vargas received her medical education at the Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia, followed by training in General Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry when she moved to the USA. Dr. De Vargas has Board Certification in Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and has been with the department for over twenty years. Dr. de Vargas’ main professional interests include medical and mental health effects of childhood trauma experiences and resilience in pediatric psychiatric groups, mental health problems in unaccompanied minors who migrate to the US, innovative ways to treat children and adolescents with resistant depression and risk for suicide, and evidence- based interventions in children who have been traumatized, among other things. She is passionate about disseminating a trauma-informed care and practice to all trainees to promote a safe, stigma-free, compassionate and collaborative method of caring for the children, adolescents and their families.
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
Division Director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program
Medical Director of Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium Texas Tech El Paso
Dr. Sarah Martin is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry. She is the Division Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and supervises residents and fellows in several different rotations. She is also the medical director of Texas Tech El Paso’s area of responsibility in the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium, a 16-county region that extends all the way along the border to Eagle Pass.
Dr. Martin attended the University of California at Santa Cruz, for her bachelor’s degree and after graduation served in the Peace Corps for two years, working as a community services specialist. The US Army then awarded her a Health Professions Scholarship to attend Tulane University’s School of Medicine, and upon graduation from medical school, was commissioned as a captain, and started her residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and went on to also complete a fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry there. She was then transferred to Ft. Knox where she served as the Chief of Behavioral Health for four years, as well as a deployment to Camp Bucca, Iraq, a detainee facility. Her last duty station in the Army was here in Texas at Ft. Bliss. After completing her military obligation, she was the Chief of the Child and Family Behavioral Health Service at Ft. Bliss for two years before joining Texas Tech in 2015. Her interests include the integration of psychiatry and primary care and public health.
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
Associate Program Director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship
Director, Child and Adolescent Division, Transmountain campus
Dr. Aisha Shariq is an Assistant Professor in Department of Psychiatry at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso and is a child and adolescent psychiatrist. She is very involved in teaching medical students, CAP fellows and psychiatry residents. She also serves as the psychiatry director at the El Paso County Juvenile Justice Center. Dr. Shariq is involved with the Texas Child Mental Health Consortium on several projects. She provides psychiatric consultation to primary care providers treating children with mental illnesses and treats school children through TCHATT.
Psychology
Assistant Professor
Psychology Training Director
Dr. Melanie Longhurst is an Assistant Professor, licensed clinical psychologist, and Psychology Training Director in the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Longhurst is also the site training director for the El Paso Psychology Internship Consortium (EPPIC).
Dr. Longhurst is a native El Pasoan. She received a Ph.D. in Psychology from Texas Tech University and M.Ed. in Counseling from the University of Texas at El Paso. She completed a pre-doctoral internship and a post-doctoral fellowship in Primary Care/Health Psychology at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) in San Antonio. She joined the TTUHSCEP Department of Psychiatry faculty in 2018. Her primary clinical and research interests include the intersection of physical health and mental health concerns, integrated care, wellness, and multicultural issues, particularly those impacting Mexicans/Mexican Americans. She has a strong interest in training future clinicians in the provision of services to underserved populations, such as the people of her hometown of El Paso. Her longterm career goals include expanding the presence of primary care behavioral health integration services and services for oncology patients in the El Paso community, and building a body of research examining the impact of integrated care and wellness interventions.
Instructor, Psychology
Dr. Ayanna Johnson is an Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Texas Tech University Health Science Center El Paso and is a child and adolescent psychologist. She is involved in providing teaching experiences for the psychology and psychiatric trainees. Dr. Johnson is involved with the Texas Child Mental Health Consortium on several projects including the Child Psychiatric Access Network (CPAN) and Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT).
Dr. Johnson is originally from Kansas City, Missouri, but fell in love with the El Paso area when her family moved in 2020. She received a Ph.D. in School Psychology with an emphasis in Pediatric Psychology from Howard University. She completed a pre-doctoral internship at Loudoun County Public School District in Ashburn, Virginia. Also, Dr. Johnson finished her fellowship program in Hematology and Oncology/Health Psychology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. She joined the TTUHSC El Paso Department of Psychiatry faculty in 2023. Her primary clinical and research interests include the intersection between chronic health conditions and mental health concerns among children and adolescents, diversity and social justice issues, and providing culturally relevant assessments and services. She has a strong interest in examining the social determinants of health behaviors among childhood cancer patients and effective transitions from hospitals to schools for children with medically complex health conditions. Her long term career goals include expanding her research to examine the longitudinal impact between health behaviors and mental health within children and to pursue community outreach by bridging the gap between academia research around mental health to the community through workshops and educational forums. Dr. Johnson is a plant-based foodie and enjoys experimenting with new vegan dishes! She enjoys traveling, fitness, and spending quality time with loved ones.
Instructor, Psychology
Dr. Ramirez completed her Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology at John F. Kennedy University, and most of her doctoral training in the Bay Area in California. She completed a pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso.
She joined the TTUHSC El Paso's Department of Psychiatry in 2022. Dr. Ramirez provides care for individuals across the lifespan through a culturally responsive approach. Her interests include diversity and multiculturalism, the impact and experiences of immigration, and childhood mental health. Her professional goals are to increase the accessibility of mental health care to underserved populations through practice, research, and training of future psychologists
Dr. Vicki Thomas is an Instructor and licensed clinical psychologist at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) El Paso Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Thomas provides services through the TTUHSC El Paso Resident Assistance Program, Student Assistance Program, and the Employee Assistance Program. She also provides direct patient care to patients of the Department of Psychiatry’s outpatient clinic and supervision to psychology interns and other trainees in the Department.
Dr. Thomas received a Ph.D. in Psychology from Texas Tech University in Lubbock and a Master’s Degree in Anthropology from the University of Chicago. Her degree in cultural anthropology allowed her to work in Child Protective Services in New Mexico for 12 years before she returned to school to work on her degree in psychology. Dr. Thomas completed her pre-doctoral internship in Pediatric Psychology at the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University. She earned her postdoctoral hours in Community Mental Health at The Counseling Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico. She worked in private practice before accepting a position with the US Army Medical Command where she specialized in the treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas and at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany. Dr. Thomas was involved in the development and operation of two Intensive Outpatient Programs for the US Army providing treatment for active duty service members and veterans with moderate to severe PTSD. She retired from Civil Service in 2020 in order to focus on patient care and the training and mentoring of the next generations of care providers.
Community Faculty
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
Assistant Clerkship Director
El Paso Psychiatric Center Intake Director
Dr. Christopher Castaneda joined the department in 2020. He is an assistant professor at the TTUHSC El Paso Psychiatry Department. He is also the assistant clerkship director and intake director of the El Paso Psychiatric Center. He supervises medical students and residents in the outpatient clinic and the admissions department.
Dr. Christopher Castaneda attended medical school at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine where he was picked by his peers to be a part of the Gold Humanism Honor Society. He completed his Psychiatry residency at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He joined the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry in 2020 as Assistant Professor. His interests are Emergency Psychiatry, Schizophrenia, and suicide prevention.
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
Dr. Carla Alvarado has extensive training and experience to the practice of Psychiatry. She trained in Adult Psychiatry at Texas Tech University Health Science Center in El Paso and completed her fellowship in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at Texas Tech University Health Science Center in El Paso. This included additional specialization in Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Dr. Alvarado is local to El Paso and graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2007.