Dr. Sirey is Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and the Associate Director for Community Integration of the Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry. The Institute uses neurobiology models to simplify behavioral interventions so they can be used broadly used by community therapists in community settings. In her role in the Institute, Dr. Sirey helps to build and sustain partnerships with the community to foster research collaborations and improve the delivery of care. 

Dr. Sirey received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from City University of New York and completed a post-doctoral Fellowship at Weill-Cornell Medical College.  Her research interests include the development, implementation and dissemination of psychosocial interventions to improve engagement and participation in mental health treatment. Dr. Sirey documented the negative impact of stigma on mental health treatment participation and adherence to antidepressant medication.

Dr. Sirey has received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health to the use of mental health services among depressed community dwelling elders (NIMH R01 079865) and to conduct a multi-site study of a brief psychosocial intervention to improve treatment adherence among depressed elders in primary care settings (NIMH R01 087557). In addition to her research, Dr. Sirey is implementing multiple service delivery projects to bring evidence-based psychotherapy to hard-to-reach adults with mental health needs. Dr. Sirey and her team have tested an innovative mental health service delivery model tested with older adults living in NYC communities affected by Superstorm Sandy. This work is in collaboration with the New York Department for the Aging. The project, called SMART-MH, provides assessments and psychotherapy to adults in all five boroughs of New York City in four languages (Chinese, Spanish, English and Russian). 

With the support of The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Dr. Sirey and her team in collaboration with the NYC Department for the Aging have designed PROTECT, a multicomponent mental health intervention for victims of abuse. PROTECT includes screening, education and brings a targeted behavioral intervention to depressed elder abuse victims to improve both mental health and elder abuse outcomes. In addition, she is working on building the sustainability of bilingual clinicians in community settings.