Dr. Saira Kalia
APAL's Director Dr. Saira Kalia is a highly accomplished perinatal psychiatrist and educator, with a wealth of experience in both clinical care and administrative leadership. She has held various roles at Banner University Medical Center, including serving as Medical Director for Outpatient Psychiatry and Associate Program Director for the Adult Psychiatry Residency Program.
Her contributions to the field of perinatal psychiatry include launching the Psychiatry Department's Perinatal Psychiatry Training Track and Clinical Service, and working to expand the department's services in this area. Additionally, Dr. Kalia provides national trainings for the Perinatal Psychiatry International (PSI) organization and has made significant contributions to the National Curriculum of Reproductive Psychiatry and the American Psychiatric Association's first Textbook of Women's Reproductive Mental Health.
She is a well regarded educator having won multiple teaching awards including the Arizona Psychiatric Society’s Howard E. Wuslin Excellence in Education Award in 2020. Known for her patient-centered care and dedication to education, Dr. Kalia is well-regarded in the Tucson community and has received numerous accolades for her clinical and administrative work.
Kathryn Emerick, MD
UArizona BioCommunications
APAL’s Co-Director Dr. Kathryn Emerick is a perinatal psychiatrist who graduated from the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson Department of Psychiatry residency program, where she studied under APAL’s Director Dr. Kalia in the perinatal psychiatry education track.
Dr. Emerick is passionate about women’s mental health and finds working with perinatal patients extremely rewarding. She is also passionate about educating residents and her patients regarding the concerns that are unique to people who are in the stages of pre-, during, and perinatal/post-pregnancy.
Dr. Emerick has worked with numerous patients throughout her career, and many through multiple pregnancies. She finds her work in perinatal psychiatry professionally satisfying due to her motivated patients and the fact that many of the psychiatric concerns in the perinatal stage – such as postpartum depression and postpartum rage – are treatable.
She is thrilled for the launch of APAL and the opportunity to give Arizona’s healthcare providers the tools they need to treat their perinatal patients, to end the shame and stigma surrounding perinatal people’s mental health struggles and help providers to understand how psychiatric medications work during pregnancy.
Ana Ramos, BA
UArizona BioCommunications
Ana Ramos is the APAL team's Program Manager and brings with her experience working as a Continuous Quality Improvement Director for a local non-profit and as a Director of Customer Service for a national company. Ana also proudly served eight years in the military. She has worked at the University of Arizona for over three years and enjoys working in the mental health field.
Ana is responsible for daily oversight of the line and functions as a nexus between clinical service and project management, as well as overseeing data integration and interpretation.
Originally from San Francisco, CA, Ana has lived in Tucson for almost 20 years. Ana graduated from Dominican University of California, and is an avid hiker and traveler, and enjoys spending time with family and her menagerie of fur babies.
Sarah Malcolm Lopez
UArizona BioCommunications
Sarah Malcolm Lopez is dedicated and committed to helping others.
She is a recent graduate from Grand Canyon University and has her bachelor’s degree in Business Management. Sarah is from Tucson, married, and a mom to four children, as well as two cats and two dogs. She enjoys spending time her family, swimming, and going to the movies.
Sarah started at Banner outpatient psychiatry in December 2019, where she assisted multiple providers and residents with various patient responsibilities.
She is excited to work with providers directly as the Clinical Navigator.
Dev Jannerson
Dev Jannerson is an award-winning author with a background in feminist journalism and fundraising. He recently moved from New Orleans to Tucson with his wife, two cats, and one elderly snake.
As an Administrative Support Assistant II, he is serving as a point person for the APAL website and managing Dr. Kalia’s calendar.