Michael L Birnbaum, MD
- Asst Professor of Clinical
Overview
Michael L. Birnbaum, MD, is a child and adolescent psychiatrist who has dedicated his career to early intervention and investigation. He is currently serving as Medical Director of OnTrackNY, overseeing the implementation of Coordinated Specialty Care to over 30 early psychosis intervention programs across New York State. Dr. Birnbaum’s research has focused predominantly on the relationship between online services, including social media and the Internet, and youth mental health, with an emphasis on adolescents and young adults with early phase psychosis.
Areas of Expertise / Conditions Treated
- Adjustment Disorder
- Adolescent Psychotherapy
- Anxiety
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Bipolar Disorder
- Child Psychotherapy
- Depression
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Insomnia
- Mental Health
- Mood Disorders
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Panic Disorder
- Psychopharmacology
- Psychosis
- Schizophrenia
- Social Anxiety Disorder
Academic Appointments
- Asst Professor of Clinical
Administrative Titles
- Medical Director, OnTrackNY
Gender
- Male
Credentials & Experience
Education & Training
- MD, McGill University
- Residency: Mount Sinai West
- Fellowship: Mount Sinai West
Research
Dr. Birnbaum’s research aims to understand the role of online services in improving early psychosis identification and intervention efforts. Over the past decade, funded by a variety of different mechanisms, this work has helped to establish the role of social media and the Internet in pathways to care for adolescents and young adults with early psychosis, as well as the utility of social media and the Internet to serve as vehicles for earlier identification, outreach, engagement, and care for youth with emerging mental illness. Dr. Birnbaum’s findings have highlighted our ability to identify, engage, and assess youth with early psychosis online, as well as the critical need to develop interventions focused on advancing online help-seeking, at pivotal moments when dis-engagement risk is highest. Advancing this work aims to increase the proportion of help-seeking youth who progress to initiate care earlier, and to enhance pathways to care by leveraging social media and the Internet.
Grants
08/24-08/28 R01MH133569-01-Digital Strategies to Advance Help-Seeking in Youth at Clinical High Risk for Developing Psychosis (Role: Principal Investigator).
12/24-11/29 P01MH139133-01- OnTrackNY's Learning Healthcare System (Role: Co-Principal Investigator).
08/19-05/23 R34MH120790 - Using Digital Media Advertising to Reduce the Duration of Untreated Psychosis. (Role: Principal Investigator).
04/19-09/23 R01MH117172 - Leveraging Social Media Data and Machine Learning to Optimize Treatment Paradigms for Youth with Schizophrenia (Role: Co-Investigator).
08/19-07/24 R01MH120597 - OnTrackNY's Learning Healthcare System. (Role: Co-Investigator).
06/19-05/24 R01MH120594 - Early-phase Schizophrenia: Practice-based Research to Improve Treatment Outcomes (ESPRITO). (Role: Co-Investigator).
08/14-08/18 R34MH103835 – Reducing the Duration of Untreated Psychosis in the Age of Social-Media and the Internet. (Role: Co-Investigator).
Selected Publications
- Li I, Estafanous A, De Choudhury M, Alvarez-Jimenez M, Birnbaum ML. Social Media and Early Psychosis Intervention: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature. Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry. 2024 Mar 21:1-5.
- Birnbaum ML, Garrett C, Baumel A, Germano NT, Sosa D, Ngo H, John M, Dixon L, Kane JM. Examining the Effectiveness of a Digital Media Campaign at Reducing the Duration of Untreated Psychosis in New York State: Results From a Stepped-wedge Randomized Controlled Trial. Schizophr Bull. 2024 Feb 26:sbae018. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbae018. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38408135.
- Birnbaum ML, Garrett C, Baumel A, Germano NT, Lee C, Sosa D, Ngo H, Fox KH, Dixon L, Kane JM. Digital Strategies to Accelerate Help-Seeking in Youth With Psychiatric Concerns in New York State. Front Psychiatry. 2022 May 16;13:889602. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.889602. PMID: 35664474; PMCID: PMC9157179.
- Hänsel K, Lin IW, Sobolev M, Muscat W, Yum-Chan S, De Choudhury M, Kane JM, Birnbaum ML. Utilizing Instagram Data to Identify Usage Patterns Associated With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders. Front Psychiatry. 2021 Aug 16;12:691327. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.691327. PMID: 34483987; PMCID: PMC8415353.
- Birnbaum ML, Norel R, Van Meter A, Ali AF, Arenare E, Eyigoz E, Agurto C, Germano N, Kane JM, Cecchi GA. Identifying signals associated with psychiatric illness utilizing language and images posted to Facebook. NPJ Schizophr. 2020 Dec 3;6(1):38. doi: 10.1038/s41537-020-00125-0. PMID: 33273468; PMCID: PMC7713057.
Complete List of Published Work in MyBibliography:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/michael.birnbaum.2/bibliography/public/