Current Environment: Production

Medical Services

Programs & Services

Languages

  • English

Education

Undergraduate School

Vassar College

1987, Poughkeepsie, NY

Medical School

State University of New York

1993, Brooklyn, NY

Internship

Pediatric Cardiology; Clinical Intracardiac Electrophysiology

New York University

1994, New York, NY

Residency

New York University

1997, New York, NY

Fellowship

Yale Child Study Center

1999, New Haven, CT

Certifications

  • American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)
  • American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (Forensic Psychiatry)
  • American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (Psychiatry)

Professional History

After graduating from Vassar College, Dr. Caracansi spent two years conducting clinical research at Tufts Medical Center. She then attended medical school at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Brooklyn, graduating with the medical student award for excellence in psychiatry. She completed her internship and residency at New York University Medical Center where she was Chief Resident during her fourth year. Following her residency, Dr. Caracansi completed two fellowships: the first in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Yale University Child Study Center and the second in Forensic Psychiatry at New York University.

Following this training, Dr. Caracansi became a Unit Chief at Riverview Children’s Hospital in Connecticut, supervising an inpatient psychiatric unit serving youth with acute psychiatric needs involved in juvenile justice system. Following a move to New York City, she worked in private practice and also as a staff psychiatrist treating students at the Columbia University Medical School. Following another move to Massachusetts, she joined the clinical faculty of University of Massachusetts Medical School, where she was part of a team providing care to incarcerated youth with behavioral health needs. Today, she is the Medical Director for Inpatient Psychiatry at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Publications

  1. Examining Health Equity in Clinical Outcomes for Adolescents in an Inpatient Psychiatric Unit. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2025 Jan 23. View Abstract

  2. Reducing Pediatric Mental Health Boarding and Increasing Acute Care Access. J Acad Consult Liaison Psychiatry. 2024 Sep-Oct; 65(5):441-450. View Abstract

  3. Implementing patient-reported outcome measures on an adolescent inpatient psychiatry unit: A feasibility study. Psychol Serv. 2025 Feb; 22(1):112-119. View Abstract

  4. Operational Changes on Child and Adolescent Acute Psychiatric Treatment Programs During COVID-19. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2023 06; 62(6):611-613. View Abstract

  5. RCL1 copy number variants are associated with a range of neuropsychiatric phenotypes. Mol Psychiatry. 2021 05; 26(5):1706-1718. View Abstract

  6. Case study: missed diagnosis and mistreatment of unrecognized comorbid Graves disease. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1999 Jul; 38(7):861-4. View Abstract

  7. Olanzapine overdose cause of acute extrapyramidal symptoms. Am J Psychiatry. 1998 Nov; 155(11):1630-1. View Abstract

  8. The detection of Epstein-Barr virus in hairy cell leukemia cells by in situ hybridization. Am J Pathol. 1990 Mar; 136(3):717-23. View Abstract

As a medical student, I was moved by the mental health needs of children and adolescents, and since then I have devoted myself to their care, especially those with co-occurring medical and psychosocial stressors. I believe that psychiatric practice is a collaborative venture involving medical professionals with other specialties, psychologists, nurses, social workers, therapists, and others.

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