Ali John Zarrabi, MD

Physician Scientist, Emory Spiritual Health, Program Director, Palliative and Supportive Care, Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality

Ali John Zarrabi receives Kornfeld Scholars Program Career Development Award

ECPS core faculty member Ali John Zarrabi, MD, has received a Kornfeld Scholars Program Award from the National Palliative Care Research Center. This prestigious award provides outstanding early-career investigators with funding and protected time to conduct innovative research in serious illness care.  His primary mentors at Emory are Drs. Boadie Dunlop (psychiatry; Co-Director, ECPS) and Dio Kavalieratos (Department of Family and Preventive Medicine). The two-year award will support Dr. Zarrabi’s research to identify and characterize the phenotypes of multidimensional suffering among patients living with serious, life-threatening illnesses. His work will inform future precision interventions to support seriously ill patients and their families.  

Ali John Zarrabi named Program Director for Palliative and Supportive Care in ECPS

Drs. Dunlop and Grant, Co-Directors of ECPS are pleased to announce that core faculty member Ali John Zarrabi, MD, has been named Program Director for Palliative and Supportive Care in ECPS.  In this capacity, Dr. Zarrabi will lead research and educational efforts in psychedelic-assisted therapy and its applications to treat the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual distress associated with living with a serious, life-threatening illness.  He is currently Principal Investigator on Emory’s first investigator-initiated clinical trial investigating psilocybin-assisted therapy. 

Dr. Zarrabi is an internist and palliative care physician whose clinical practice is primarily in the Supportive Care Clinic at Emory.  His clinical, teaching, and scholarly pursuits are focused on supporting the healthy adaptation of adults living with a life-changing illness.  More specifically, his research addresses identifying biopsychosocial needs among the seriously ill; crafting aesthetic, spiritual, and meaning-centered interventions; developing best practices for arts-based education in the health professions; and studying the role of emerging therapeutics to treat complex suffering such as cannabinoids, ketamine, and classic psychedelics.

Education

  • BA, Visual Art, Brown University
  • MD, Brown University (Program in Liberal Medical Education)
  • Internal Medicine Residency, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
  • Palliative Medicine Fellowship, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

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