William S. Breitbart has been named Vice Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Breitbart remains Chief of the Psychiatry Service, a position he has held since 1996. In addition, he is a psychiatrist on the Pain and Palliative Care Service in the Department of Medicine.
Board certified in internal medicine, psychiatry, and psychosomatic medicine, Dr. Breitbart specializes in the psychiatric aspects of pain, symptom control, and palliative care for patients with cancer and AIDS. His primary focuses include fatigue related to cancer and AIDS, depression in terminally ill AIDS and cancer patients, meaning-centered psychotherapy for patients with advanced cancer, and delirium research.
Dr. Breitbart earned his MD degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1978. He completed residencies in internal medicine and psychiatry at the Bronx Municipal Hospital Center, Jacobi Hospital. He came to Memorial Sloan-Kettering as a fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. After completing his fellowship in 1986, he joined the faculty as a clinical assistant psychiatrist. Dr. Breitbart is the 2009 recipient of Memorial Sloan-Kettering's Willet F. Whitmore Award for Clinical Excellence.
