Professionals & Staff

The Attention and Memory Clinics were established by the doctors at North Carolina Neuropsychiatry, who have more than 30 years’ experience treating patients with mild cognitive disorders. We have developed innovative neurocognitive tests, translated into 60 languages and used by clinicians and researchers around the world. We have published more than 125 scientific papers, many of them concerned with medication treatment to improve cognitive function. Our doctors have consulted or lectured in 44 states and several foreign countries, and maintain clinical and professional affiliations with major research universities.

Providers

C. Thomas Gualtieri, MD

Dr. Gualtieri is the Medical Director of the North Carolina Neuropsychiatry Clinics in Chapel Hill, Charlotte, & Raleigh. Dr. Gualtieri was born in Brooklyn, New York and educated at Columbia. He graduated from Columbia P&S in 1969 and was an intern at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal. His original ambition was to be a surgeon, but after three years in service as a general practitioner in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, he decided to be a psychiatrist.

Dr. Gualtieri trained in psychiatry and child psychiatry at the University of North Carolina. He was on the faculty at UNC for eleven years, where his research interests were in psychopharmacology and neuropsychiatry. During this time, his research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health. His work on tardive dyskinesia has been widely cited.

His first area of concentration was the study of children and adults with ADD and developmental disabilities. Then, his research group developed an interest in the problem of brain injury. For seven years he was the corporate medical director for Rebound, Inc., a national chain of brain injury rehabilitation centers.

Dr. Gualtieri founded NC Neuropsychiatry in 1988. He continues to have an active clinical practice, seeing children and adults with a wide range of neuropsychiatric disorders. An increasing proportion of his patients are middle-aged people with mild cognitive impairment, and older patients with dementia. Dr. Gualtieri and his partners conduct clinical trials for many of the major pharmaceutical manufacturers. They have also developed a computerized neurocognitive testing battery, "CNS Vital Signs." www.cnsvitalsigns.com.

Dr. Gualtieri is the author of more than 120 peer-reviewed medical publications and three monographs. His latest book, Brain Injury and Mental Retardation, Neuropsychiatry & Psychopharmacology (2002) is available from Lippincott publishers.

Dr. Gualtieri lives in Chapel Hill with his wife, Frances, who used to be a hospital pharmacist at UNC. Now she is the proprietor of Restaurant La Residence, in Chapel Hill. They have three sons, and three little girls, adopted from China.

Aaron Hervey, Ph.D.

Dr. Hervey is a clinical neuropsychologist and the Director of the Attention and Memory Center in Raleigh. He received his undergraduate training in psychology from the University of Virginia. After two years in clinical research in the area of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), he began work on his Ph.D. in Child Clinical Psychology from Duke University. He received specialty training in pediatric and adult neuropsychology, and maintained a continued research focus on ADHD. Following his doctoral program, he completed a one-year internship in adult and pediatric neuropsychology at the University of Arizona Medical Center, and subsequently served as a Clinical Fellow in Neuropsychology for two years at Harvard Medical School in Boston. His fellowship included placement at Brigham Behavioral Neurology Group, where his work focused primarily but not exclusively on memory disorders. He also saw patient at the Psychological Assessment Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he primarily evaluated pediatric cases, including various Learning Disabilities and ADHD. He subsequently took a position at the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of California at San Diego, and maintained a private practice in San Diego and Orange County until joining the Attention and Memory Center at North Carolina Neuropsychiatry in 2008. Dr. Hervey takes a special interest in working with individuals with ADHD, as well as older adults with cognitive difficulties.

April Gilfort, Ph.D. Counseling Psychology

Dr. Gilfort received her doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1997. She completed her pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Miami School of Medicine/Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida where she specialized in Evidenced-Based treatment modalities for family therapy and adolescent problem behaviors. Prior to coming to NC Neuropsychiatry, Dr. Gilfort was Clinical Director at a small, private agency which offered various Evidenced-Based counseling treatments to families.

Dr. Gilfort specializes in providing services to families and treats individual family members across the life span at all developmental levels. She has particular expertise in the treatment of depression, anxiety, spiritual and religious crises, adolescent substance abuse and other problem behaviors, family therapy, and life management issues related to health and emotional difficulties. Finally, Dr. Gilfort provides psychological and personality testing for school-aged children, adolescents and adults.

Courtney M. Dallas, PA-C

Ms. Dallas is a licensed Physician Assistant. She is originally from Somers, NY. She attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and graduated with a Bachelors degree in Biology and a minor in Psychology. Courtney received her Masters degree through the Physician Assistant program at Duke University. She joined NC Neuropsychiatry in April 2004 and provides services for children, adolescents, and adults.

Nicole K. Karcinski, MSN, PMHNP-BC

Ms. Karcinski is dually licensed as a Family Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and Child & Adolescent Clinical Nurse Specialist. She earned her bachelors degree from The University of Florida and masters degree from The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Over the past 5 years she has worked in the specialty areas of substance abuse, eating disorders, and childhood trauma.

Nicole provides play therapy, family therapy and individual psychotherapy along with diagnostic assessments and medication management. Her special interests include behavior disorders, attachment disorders, addictions and PTSD.

Katherine E. McCoy, PA-C

Ms. McCoy is a licensed Physician Assistant. She is originally from Chapel Hill, NC. She attended UNC-Charlotte and graduated with a Bachelors degree in Psychology with a minor in Biology. Katherine received her graduate training through the Physician Assistant program at Cornell University. She joined North Carolina Neuropsychiatry in April 2000 and provides services for children, adolescents, and adults.

Support Staff

Amanda Brooker, B.A.

Ms. Brooker is originally from Worcester, New York. She attended Russell Sage College in Troy, NY for two years. While attending college she was Student Center Manager, Resident Assistant, and Office Aide for the Office of Residence Life. She moved to North Carolina in January and joined the Attention and Memory Center (AMC) in March. She coordinates the Front Desk, Billing, New Patients, Insurance Verifications and Scheduling for AMC.

Elizabeth Lane, B.A.

Mrs. Lane is a psychology technician. She is originally from Sumter, SC. She attended Appalachian State University in Boone, NC and graduated with a Bachelors degree in Psychology. Liz joined NC Neuropsychiatry in January of 2006. Her duties include assisting providers with testing, taking care of prescription refills, and other miscellaneous clinic duties. Liz lives in Apex with her husband, Todd.

Allied Providers

Susan A. Khan, MA/CCC-SLP (http://nc-csll.com/)

Susan Antaki Khan has over 25 years of experience with school-age individuals in the areas of language/learning disability, autism spectrum disorder, verbal apraxia, closed head-injury, reading disabilities, phonological processing disorder and ADD/ADHD. She developed and taught the course, Traumatic Brain Injury, at the graduate school level and has conducted workshops to SLPs and educators on how to interface curriculum when designing treatment plans and educational plans in order to achieve optimal outcomes with those individuals diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, learning disabilities and dyslexia. She has conducted evaluations and provided cognitive/language therapy for the past 10 years as part of a team of neuropsychologists, clinical psychologists and Dr. Thomas Gualtieri, neuropsychiatrist, at NC Neuropsychiatry to soldiers returning from Iraq with blast head-injury, children and adults who have sustained head trauma, and those children diagnosed with learning disabilities and ADD/ADHD. She considers herself to be a creative individual, not using prescribed programs, but rather devises programs for the individual child or adult based upon very specific considerations such as personality, the client’s stated goals, drawing upon strengths while working to improve weak areas.