Team
Nathalie Avignon, MSN, NP, PMHNP-BC
Director of Provider Relations and Development
Nathalie is a board-certified Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. She completed her undergraduate studies at New York University, with a double major in Journalism/ Mass Communications and Psychology. After school, she went on to work for a fertility clinic and then as coordinator in the hematology/oncology clinical trials division at WCMC. Her interactions with the patients she encountered at work became the catalyst that led her to go back to school to study nursing.
She returned to NYU where she obtained her BSN and later on her MSN, specializing in psychiatry.
Since entering the field of psychiatry, Nathalie has set out a goal that is focused on destigmatizing the need for mental health services. This is something she hopes to do both locally and abroad. Her life-long interest in mental health has become her profession, though she still does enjoy writing.
Nathalie speaks English, French, and Creole. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, reading, and watching movies.... scary movies.
Adrian Balestra, MSN, NP, PMHNP-BC
Lead NP
Adrian studied economics at Brandeis University and attended Beth Israel School of Nursing and Stony Brook University on his path to becoming a psychiatric nurse practitioner.
Integrating meditation, spirituality, philosophy, Buddhism, practicality, and insight wisdom in his work, Adrian helps patients heal, improve their lives, think positively, and find greater harmony.
He spent nine months studying at Ashrams in India and nine months studying Theravada Buddhism meditation in Myanmar. His style is honest, direct, non-judgmental, warm, and engaging.
Formerly a classical viola player, Adrian loves classical music. He also spends his time outside work being a husband, creating a balanced life, taking care of 33 plants, meditating and cultivating his vision of making the world a happier and healthier place.
Amanda Lundberg, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC
Amanda is a Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner who obtained her education from Indiana University of South Bend in 2014. Her background includes Pain Management, Neurology, and Psychiatry. For the past 3 years, she has developed a passion through her work with the aging population struggling with Alzheimer’s, Dementia, and other mental health conditions. Her goal is to use this passion to work with an interdisciplinary team to improve quality of life.
Amanda enjoys spending time with her young son (Max), her husband (Darin), and her Golden Retriever (Oliver), and Giant Flemish Rabbit (Norman). She loves bike-riding, taking walks, reading, and doing puzzles with her son. Her favorite vacations include Banff National Park in Canada, California, and St. Thomas.
Her dream is to volunteer at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, caring for orphaned elephants. Amanda is an eternal optimist. She loves to spread joy and make people laugh.
Brighid Gannon, DNP, PMHNP-BC
Founder
Dr. Gannon is a New York State board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner specializing in dementia and late-life depression. She trained in geriatric psychiatry at the Penn Memory Center and the Mercy Life Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly.
She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from New York University, a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Yale University.
She was inspired to work in geriatrics by her Irish grandmothers, Esther and Peggy, who saw age as just a number and lived their lives to the fullest.
Born and raised on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Dr. Gannon received a BA in Dance from Wesleyan University before getting into nursing.
Outside of work, Brighid loves meditating, visiting Mexico, busting moves on the dance floor, and spending time with her 9-year-old labradoodle, Finn McCool.
Carole Falletta, MA, MS, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC
Carole is board-certified as a Nurse Practitioner in both family health and psychiatry with a sub-specialty in integrative therapies. She received a Bachelors degree in business administration from Baruch College, and a Masters degree in education from New York University before embarking on her healthcare career. She graduated from Columbia University with a Masters degree in family health and later went on to receive a Post-Master's advanced certificate in psychiatric mental health from Hunter College, City University of New York.
Carole believes the mind-body continuum is central to one's well-being. With more than 25 years of experience in healthcare, she has an extensive knowledge in working with individuals across the life span. Her expertise is fostering one's self-care, utilizing preventative practices in managing life stressors, reducing the risks of postpartum depression, and providing psychiatric services to geriatric adults. Carole incorporates a holistic approach, utilizing a full range of evidence-based practices tailored to a person’s needs. She has been a devout practitioner of mindfulness and breath/body techniques to support balance in one’s life.
In her spare time, she teaches at a local college, enjoys time with family, and has a passion for gardening.
Dumo M. Opuiyo, DNP, PMHNP-BC
Dr. Opuiyo is a three-time Board-Certified clinician. He holds a doctorate in Nursing Practice from Grand Canyon University, a Masters in Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing from Hunter College, and a Master’s in Health Services Administration from Central Michigan University.
With more than 35 years of experience in healthcare across Africa and North America, Dr. Opuiyo provides psychiatric services to geriatric adults in long-term care facilities. He visits nursing homes in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island, Queens, and Staten Island.
Dr. Opuiyo enjoys various sports, particularly baseball and is a proud New York Yankees fan. He loves travel trivia and can name more than 80% of world capitals from memory.
James Weidel, PhD, PMHNP, APRN, RN
Dr. James Weidel is a Board Certified Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner with over 20 years of nursing experience. James has a wide range of experience in a variety of settings including hospital, clinic, and as a clinical professor for multiple universities. James has experience in treating a variety of psychiatric diagnoses including anxiety, mood disorders, depression, insomnia, etc. James is passionate about making mental health feel less stigmatized and is fluent in both the English and Danish languages. Outside of work, James loves history, traveling, cheesecake, and spending time outdoors.
Linda S. Lee, MSN APRN FNP
Linda is a Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner with her Bachelor’s degree in nursing from Bethel College and her Master’s degree from Indiana University in 2010.
Her experience includes Emergency, Urgent Care, and Psychiatry and, for the past several years, she has worked with nursing homes and assisted living facilities providing psychiatric care for residents with Dementia, as well as other psychiatric conditions.
Linda believes that it is incredibly important and rewarding to work with the Dementia population and improve their quality of life.
She enjoys spending time with her husband, two rescue dogs, and her very large family that is spread out from New York to Seattle. She also enjoys traveling, hiking, biking, walking the dogs, entertaining, and skiing with her husband. Above all, Linda is passionate about helping others, which is always the ultimate reward in life.
Louisa Chan, MSN, NP, PMHNP-BC
Louisa earned a Bachelor of Psychology from New York University and both a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master’s of Science in Nursing from Columbia University.
She has worked as Psychiatric Registered Nurse at Gracie Square Hospital volunteered as an EMT in college.
Louisa works in Assertive Community Treatment, Intensive Mobile Treatment, and Shelter Services across Bronx and Brooklyn providing care for under-served and chronically mentally ill New Yorkers.
Louisa chose psychiatry to focus on providing mental health treatment and public education to the Asian community in NYC.
Originally from California, Louisa speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, and Fujianese. She enjoys doing jigsaw puzzles, going to the movies and recently took up baking bread from scratch.
Manjit Gill, MSN, PMHNP
Melissa Martyn, MSN, PMHNP-B.C
Melissa is a board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner with a sub-specialty in palliative care.
While attending New York University for her graduate studies, Melissa had her first clinical rotation with the Bellevue Palliative Care Team. This is where she developed her extensive compassion and desire to care for people in their most vulnerable moments.
She loves being a nurse and a patient advocate and combines her psychiatric and holistic skill set to support patients and their families.
Her free time is mainly spent with her children watching scary movies or spending quality time at museums or the beach.
Mi Jin PHD, PMHNP-BC
Mi Jin has her Bachelors and Masters of Science in Nursing from Binghamton University. She obtained her Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing at the same university where she completed her dissertation on A Parsesciencing Inquiry on Hope.
She went on to work at Greater Binghamton Health Center as a psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and she currently works for Ivy Psychiatry as a psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and an assistant professor at Binghamton University.
Her heart is to help people find their own dignity and improve their quality of life by bearing witness in finding their hopes and dreams and inspiring transcendence.
Mi Jin enjoys watching movies and taking walks around her neighborhood.
TaeHyun Park, MSN, NP, PMHNP-BC
TaeHyun Park is board-certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner working at the Korean Community Service in the New York Metro Area and Ft. Tyron Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, among others.
He holds a Master’s of Science in Nursing - Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner from Hunter College, City University of New York. He also earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Grand View University and an Associate Degree of Nursing from Western Nebraska Community College.
Outside of work, TaeHyun likes watching baseball and cheers for the New York Mets and LA Dodgers.
And, as if excellence in nursing wasn’t enough, he is also a certified airplane mechanic who is certified by the FAA.
Med Elite Group
Ivy Psychiatry is proudly managed by the Med Elite Group. Med Elite provides full administrative support to our clinicians so that we can focus on patient care and not get bogged down by administrative burden.
Aaron Kurtzer, Facility Representative at the Med Elite Group
Aaron is in charge of making sure that the facilities we service are receiving everything they need. Aaron believes that there is always a solution to everything and he is our in house problem solver. Aaron is a native New Yorker and received his MBA from Bellevue University. He is a proud father, car lover and an avid gamer.