About

Marra G. Ackerman, MD, is a psychiatrist at NYU Langone dedicated to providing compassionate, comprehensive care. Her deep passion for understanding human behavior and addressing illnesses impacting both mental and physical well-being led her to pursue sub-specialty training in consultation-liaison psychiatry and women’s mental health. She specializes in treating a range of conditions with a focus on mental health care for perinatal women and hormone-related psychiatric issues. Additionally, she provides psychiatric support for patients receiving medical treatments such as organ transplants or cancer therapies. Her approach to care is rooted in tailored treatments, including psychotherapy and medication management. Dr. Ackerman is board certified in psychiatry and has fellowships in consultation–liaison psychiatry and women’s mental health, underscoring her expertise in these areas. She has been committed to proactive healthcare engagement and fostering strong partnerships with her patients. As director of ambulatory consultation–liaison psychiatry, she is involved in quality improvement projects that optimize care delivery, benefiting programs such as the perinatal collaborative care program, the Perlmutter Cancer Center, and the Transplant Institute. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led NYU Langone’s inpatient consultation–liaison psychiatry team, supporting both patients and frontline healthcare workers, and was honored as an Empire Whole Health Hero in 2021 for her efforts.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Nursing
• Political Science
• Psychiatry
• Economics
• Family medicine
• Biology
• Psychology
• Internal medicine
• Genetics
• Public relations
• Endocrinology
• Chemistry
• Obstetrics

Selected publications

• Menstrual management in transgender and gender diverse individuals: psychiatric and psychosocial considerations

  Frontiers in Psychiatry · 2024-10-29 · 5 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) menstruators are individuals assigned female at birth (AFAB)*, who retain the capacity to menstruate and have a gender identity that differs from their natal sex. Reports indicate up to 1.6 million individuals in the US identify as TGD. Until recently, the mainstream menstrual discourse has failed to capture the experience of transmenstruators. However, a better understanding of the menstrual experiences of TGD-AFAB will allow for more individualized patient-centered care. In this review, we provide the relevant data necessary to inform the psychiatric management of menstruation in TGD-AFAB individuals, including experiences of menstruation, preferences for menstrual management, and the impact on mental health. Our review indicates that menstrual care in TGD patients must be tailored to the individual; clinicians should remain open-minded to the unique experience of transmenstruators; gender-affirming menstrual care is necessary to reduce psychological burden. It should not be assumed that TGD-AFAB menstruators are utilizing appropriate contraceptive methods and should receive contraceptive and fertility preservation counseling. We highlight the importance of having these conversations early in the reproductive arch, even before puberty onset. Keeping in mind the gender minority stress model, in the upcoming sections, we discuss the limited body of literature on mood disorders in TGD-AFAB individuals who menstruate, undergo menstrual suppression, or continue to ovulate. The psychological impact of hormonal therapies is also reviewed.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Quality Improvement Framework to Examine Health Care Disparities in Behavioral Emergency Management in the Inpatient Medical Setting: A Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Health Equity Project

  Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry · 2023-04-13 · 4 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Psychiatric Considerations in Perinatal Mental Illness

  Psychiatric Annals · 2023-01-01

  article

  Perinatal mental health care refers to the evaluation and treatment of psychiatric conditions that present during pregnancy through the first year postpartum, including exacerbation of pre-existing psychiatric illness. Pregnancy should be considered a period of heightened risk for women with mental illness, where undertreatment and under-recognition can lead to adverse and devastating outcomes, including suicide and infanticide. Careful screening, thorough clinical assessment, and accurate diagnosis are essential for the management of patients. Utilization of the risk-risk assessment, routine implementation of validated screening tools, and reliance upon evidence-based resources are some of the strategies that can help inform decision-making. Involving patients' partners as well as other members of the treatment team can further facilitate the delivery of nuanced care and tailor treatment decisions. [ Psychiatr Ann . 2023;53(1):12–16.]

  PublisherDOI

• Catatonia as the Initial Presentation of Depression in an Older Adult

  American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · 2022-03-16

  article
  PublisherDOI

• (PO-048) Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Prevalence of Substance Use Disorders in Medically Hospitalized Patients

  Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry · 2022-05-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• (175) Creating Operational and Safety Metrics for a Consultation-Liaison (C-L) Psychiatry Service

  Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry · 2022-11-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• (PO-050) Considerations for Transplant Risk Assessment in the Setting of Co-occurring Alcohol Use Disorder and Eating Disorder

  Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry · 2022-05-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• NP Telehealth Blood Pressure Management in Heart Transplant Patients - A Single Center Experience

  The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation · 2022-04-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• #BlackLivesMatter to C-L Psychiatrists: Examining Racial Bias in Clinical Management of Behavioral Emergencies in the Inpatient Medical Setting

  Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry · 2022-05-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Patient Satisfaction with and Use of Telemental Health Services in the Perinatal Period: a Survey Study

  Psychiatric Quarterly · 2021 · 39 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Medicine
  • Family medicine
  • Psychiatry

  We aimed to assess patients' utilization of and satisfaction with telemental health (TMH) in the perinatal period. We hypothesized that satisfaction with TMH would be at least equal to, if not greater than, with in-person appointments. We conducted a cross-sectional survey between March 2018-June 2019 to evaluate patient satisfaction with and use of TMH services in the perinatal period. Participants used TMH services across the second and third trimester of pregnancy and the first year post-partum. Nearly half of the patients (8/19, 42%) used TMH to see their provider within the first two weeks post-partum. Participants were most commonly in treatment for anxiety (14/19, 74%) and/or depression (9/19, 47%). Most participants agreed or strongly agreed (13/19, 69%) that TMH improved their access to healthcare and that they could see the clinician as well as if they met in person (14/19, 74%). TMH was a highly accepted and appreciated method of mental health care delivery for perinatal women when offered as an alternative to in-person or telephone sessions.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Peter A. Shapiro

  14 shared

• Meghna S. Trivedi

  Columbia University Irving Medical Center

  10 shared

• Katherine D. Crew

  Columbia University Irving Medical Center

  10 shared

• Tarsha Jones

  Florida Atlantic University

  9 shared

• Thomas Silverman

  Columbia University

  9 shared

• Rita Kukafka

  9 shared

• Katherine Freeman

  University of Florida

  9 shared

• Rachel A. Caravella

  Hinge Health

  5 shared

Awards & honors

• Empire Whole Health Hero (2021)