Claude M. Chemtob, Ph.D. (1950-2019) was a brilliant psychologist and researcher specializing in trauma and the effect of disasters in adults and children. His expertise ranged from the study of trauma in combat veterans and survivors of the 9/11 attacks to how it affects mothers and pre-school children.
Dr. Chemtob received his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan in 1980. Most recently, he had been a Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine. Prior to that, he was a Visiting Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY.
He had been a researcher at the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a member of the New York City and New York State Advisory Panel on Adults Exposed to the World Trade Center Attacks, a member of the NIMH Child Intervention Center Special Emphasis Panel, and the Saul Z. Cohen Chair of Child and Family Mental Health at the Jewish Board for Family and Children’s Services. The field lost an exceptional scholar when he died on December 18, 2019, at the age of 69. We will miss him dearly.
Among Dr. Chemtob’s many achievements was the creation of the Safe Mothers, Safe Children (SMSC) intervention, which is designed to treat maternal PTSD among child welfare-involved mothers who are at high risk of repeat maltreatment. It is intended to prevent harm to children by reducing the adverse effects trauma on parenting. SMSC is currently housed at the NYU McSilver Institute, and Dr. Chemtob had been its co-principal investigator with the institute’s Executive Director, Dr. Michael A. Lindsey.
The Claude M. Chemtob Memorial Fund has been created in this leading scholar’s memory. Donations made to this newly-established fund will continue the healing work to which Dr. Chemtob dedicated his career. Please read more about the important research of the SMSC study. We hope you will contribute to his legacy and help make a difference for mothers and families.
Learn more about all of our research at NYU McSilver.