Prudence Fisher
Dr. Prudence Fisher is Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatric Social Work at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and a research scientist in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at New York State Psychiatry Institute. Her research focuses on the development and testing of assessment measures for children and adolescents. Dr. Fisher has played a key role in developing the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC), the most widely used diagnostic interview for youth. She also helped develop other widely used measures including the Children’s Global Assessment Scale (CGAS), the Columbia Impairment Scale, and the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS).
Dr. Fisher completed an NIMH project to develop the Columbia Health and Adverse Reactions to Medications Screen (CHARMS). CHARMS is a computer-administered interview designed to improve the detection of side effects from psychotropic medications in adolescents. She completed an NIMH funded grant to study the validity of diagnostic categories and criteria for child and adolescent psychiatric disorders. Dr.Fisher was an advisor to five of the DSM-5 workgroups/committees, and the principal investigator on one of the DSM-5 child field trials. She received two contracts from American Psychiatric Association to undertake analyses to inform DSM-5 decisions.
Dr. Fisher is the principal investigator on a CDC funded project to update the DISC for DSM-5. She serves on the faculty of the Child Psychiatry Research Training Grant, and on a privately funded project to prepare an application to include NVLD in the future DSM updates. She is the co-principal investigator on a protocol to develop, manualize, and test an equine-assisted therapy protocol for veterans with PTSD. She also works with the World Health Organization to developing text pertaining to children and adolescents for the “Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines” version of the ICD-11 chapter on mental and behavioral disorders.
Since 2007, Dr. Fisher has served on the review panel for the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She serves as reviewer for a number of journals, typically for studies focusing on diagnostic assessment issues. Dr. Fisher has also been involved in studies on adolescent suicide and its aftermath. Since 1989, she has served on the scientific advisory board at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Since 2012, she has served on the editorial board for Archives of Suicide Research.
Dr. Fisher earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Johns Hopkins University, and her MS and PhD from the Columbia School of Social Work.
