The Department of Psychiatry is pleased to announce the addition of a three new faculty - Catherine Bledowski, MD, Jozef Bledowski, MD, and Javier Ballester Gonzalez, MD - who will, in addition to they faculty roles, each have clinical responsibilities within University of Utah Health. Drs. Catherine and Jozef Bledowski will be working on the consult liaison service at University Hospital, and Dr. Ballester Gonzalez will be working with adult addiction clients in the Recovery Outpatient Clinic at the University Neuropsychiatric Institute.
Catherine Bledowski, MD, Assistant Professor (Clinical), earned her medical degree at University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia, SC. She completed her psychiatry residency and psychosomatic medicine fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System in Richmond, VA. She is ABPN certified in Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine (Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry). Her interests include Emergency Psychiatry, transcranial magnetic stimulation, use of deep brain stimulation in the treatment of psychiatric conditions, psychiatric co-morbidities in the medically ill, and medical education. Before joining the Psychiatry faculty, she worked for five years in inpatient psychiatry, rTMS, Emergency Psychiatry, and community/public psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System in Richmond, VA. Dr. Bledowski is excited to take on the role of Director of the Psychiatric Emergency Services at the University of Utah Hospitals and is eager to join the team of excellent faculty, staff, and residents at the University of Utah Hospitals and UNI.
Jozef (Joe) Bledowski, MD, Associate Professor (Clinical), earned his medical degree at Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, VA. He completed his psychiatry residency and psychosomatic medicine fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System. Dr. Bledowski is board certified in Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine (Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry) by the ABPN. His interests include: identification and management of delirium in the critically ill, complex psychopharmacology in the medically ill, neuromodulation (including ECT and rTMS), suicide risk assessment, psychiatric crisis intervention, and medical education. Before joining the Psychiatry faculty, he worked for five years as an inpatient attending and Director of the Crisis Stabilization Service and Short-Term Admission Team at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System. In addition, Dr. Bledowski was the Co-Director of the Mind, Brain, and Behavior Course for medical students at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. Dr. Bledowski is excited to join the team of excellent faculty, residents, and staff at the University of Utah Hospitals and University Neuropsychiatric Institute and looks forward to directing the Consultation-Liaison Service at University of Utah Hospitals.
Javier Ballester Gonzalez, MD, Assistant Professor (Clinical), earned his medical degree at Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain. He completed his first residency in Psychiatry at Hospital Universitario Doce de Octubre de Madrid, where he also concluded a one year research fellowship. Upon being awarded a 2-year Koplowitz Fellowship to study Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, he moved to the USA (Pittsburgh, PA). He completed his second Psychiatry Residency at Yale University, where he recently also finished an Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship. Dr. Ballester is board certified in Psychiatry by the ABPN and he is currently board eligible in Addiction Medicine by the ABPM and Addiction Psychiatry by the ABPN. His current interests include research in neurobiological mechanisms of substance use disorders, mood disorders, education, and psychiatry services to minority populations (Hispanic/Latino and LGBT populations). Needless to say, Dr. Ballester is very excited to join the outstanding team of residents, fellows, and faculty within both the clinical and research divisions of the University of Utah Department of Psychiatry.