Professional Staff
Many of our staff are recognized leaders in their field, teach others in the profession, and have a long-standing devotion to their professions. All have a devotion to excellent service. Timothy Pylko, MD is described in LA Magazine's Super Doctors as one of the top psychiatrists in the Los Angeles region. Pasadena Magazine's Top Docs, 2014, selected Warren Christianson, MD, Sheela Gade, MD, David Marcus, MD, Frank Minero, MD, Aura-Marie Pawley, MD, Timothy Pylko, MD, and Daniel Suzuki, MD as seven of the fourteen top psychiatrists in the San Gabriel Valley and beyond. Rebecca Nejera, DO was selected for the 2016 edition.
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PSYCHIATRY
Warren Christianson, D.O.
Warren Christianson, D.O.
Board Certification: Adult Psychiatry
Dr. "Beau" Christenson is Board Certified in Adult Psychiatry. He completed an Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, and he did his Psychiatry Residency at University of Southern California. He has significant experience at the Houston/DeBakey Veterans Administration Hospital and at the prestigious Menninger Clinic in Houston, Texas. He earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from Touro University in Nevada.
Medical School: D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine) from Touro University in Henderson, Nevada
Psychiatry Residency: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Psychiatry Fellowship: Specialty in Addiction, Baylor School of Medicine, Houston, Texas
California License: 20A8664
Sheela Gade, M.D.
Dr. Sheela Gade is Board Certified in both Adult Psychiatry and in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Gade completed her adult Psychiatry Residency and Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Fellowship at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, MA. She was the Co-Chief Resident of her Child Fellowship. She was involved in psychiatric resident teaching, and she was also active in teaching medical students at Tufts University Medical School in Boston, MA. Dr. Gade's philosophy is to provide individualized, evidence-based care, and she believes in a collaborative approach with psychologists, therapists, general medical practitioners, pediatricians, and allied providers in psychiatry.
Areas of interest are, but not limited to, the diagnoses and treatment of ADD/ADHD, mood disorders including depression and bi-polar disorder, anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders, schizophrenia, and other psychotic disorders. Dr. Gade sees children, adolescents, and adults.
Medical School: M.D. degree
Psychiatry Residency: Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA.
California License: A106042
Rebecca Najera, D.O.
Dr. Rebecca Najera is Board Certified in Psychiatry and completed both a Psychiatric Residency and Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship at Los Angeles County – University of Southern California. She served as Chief Resident of inpatient psychiatry during her training. She was a peer elected Graduate Education Representative during her third and fourth years of residency. She was awarded Outstanding Resident from her Psychiatry Residency Program. She has been actively involved in academics, including clinical research, teaching of residents, and medical student education. She was selected as one of the “2016 Top Docs,” as published in Pasadena Magazine. She is an active member of the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. She provides expert opinions as a forensic psychiatrist. In her practice, she treats a wide range of disorders.
Medical School: D.O. degree, Western University of Health Sciences, CA
Psychiatry Residency: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
California License: 20A12794
Aura-Marie Pawley, M.D.
Dr. Gigi Pawley as she is commonly known, completed both her residency training in General Psychiatry and Fellowship training in Child, Adolescent and Family Psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. Upon completion of training, she joined San Marino Psychiatric Associates (SMPA) and Pacific Clinics East in Monrovia, where she was Medical Director for several years. Dr. Pawley has extensive training and experience in the diagnosis and management of acute and chronic psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, developmental and other disorders of childhood. She is especially interested in taking care of ADHD patients as children, youth, or adults, along with their families.
Dr. Pawley conducts comprehensive and thorough psychiatric evaluations to ensure proper diagnosis and appropriate treatment of her patients. She believes in a global approach to psychiatric care, which includes biological, psycho-social, and spiritual components of treatment. It is also her practice to encourage collaborative care of her patients with other medical providers, therapists, and educators involved in the care of her patients.
Residency in General Psychiatry and Fellowship in Child, Adolescent and Family Psychiatry, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA.
California License: A63825
Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, USC School of MedicinePartner, San Marino Psychiatric Associates
Dr. Tim Pylko grew up in Canada. He received his undergraduate degree at McGill University with an Honors in Neuroscience and completed Medical School at the University of Toronto. He then came to Los Angeles for his Residency in Psychiatry at the UCLA San Fernando Program. While there he developed a special interest in the treatment of Bipolar Disorder. In 2012 he was a consultant on the award-winning documentary about living with this disorder entitled Of Two Minds. He was also a consultant on the documentary about suicide called The "S" Word.
Through his training he was inspired to embrace the understanding of a patient's clinical presentation on a Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual continuum. He practices a "Recovery" orientation in treatment of patients with serious mental illness. He was an Assistant Clinical Professor at UCLA from 1986 to 2017 and has been an Adjunct Clinical Professor at USC since 2015. Dr. Tim Pylko is a partner at San Marino Psychiatric Associates and is Director of Psychiatry at PCH Treatment Centers as well as Executive Director and co-founder of PCH Pasadena.
In 2014 he received the “Exemplary Psychiatrist” award from NAMI national that was presented at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting in New York City. In 2015 he was an honoree for "his distinguished service in recovery" by the Promises Foundation at their Polo in the Palisades fundraiser. He represents the San Gabriel Valley and East Los Angeles as a council member of the Southern California Psychiatric Society, at district branch of the American Psychiatric Association.
Medical School: M.D. degree, University of Toronto School of Medicine, Toronto, Canada (1982)
Psychiatry Residency: UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (1986)
California License: G051671
Daniel Suzuki, M.D.
Dr. Suzuki received his undergraduate degree at Stanford University, attended medical school at Northwestern University Medical School and completed his residency at the UCLA San Fernando Valley Program in Psychiatry. He is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the USC Keck School of Medicine. Dr. Suzuki was selected by his fellow physicians as a "Top Doc", as published in the June 2009 and 2013 editions of Pasadena Magazine. Dr. Suzuki is the Medical Director of Aurora Las Encinas Hospital.
Certifications: Psychiatry and Neurology
Specialties: Adult Psychiatry
Medical School: M.D. degree, Northwestern University Medical School, Evanston, IL
California License: G56664
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
Carol McCormick, NP
Carol McCormick has over twenty-Five years' experience in the field of psychiatry. She was board certified as a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner in 2006. Carol has recently moved from Cincinnati where she practiced in at the Lindner Center of Hope, the first freestanding psychiatric hospital built in the US in over 25 years.
Carol's specialties include Mood Disorders, Anxiety and Depression in the Adult population. Her Special interests include women's issues related to Post-Partum Depression, Menopause and Memory related concerns. She also has extensive experience in geriatric psychiatry.
Certification: Family Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner – BCEducation:University of Cincinnati, BSN, MSN and Post Masters Certification in Psychiatry
Ohio State University: BA in Social Work
California License: 842347
Kate Shantar, NP
Kate Shantar is a specialized Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner who graduated from Johns Hopkins with Honors and completed further graduate training at Drexel University. A native of Southern California, Kate completed her original bachelor’s degree at San Francisco State University, studying music and African history. She then joined the United States Peace Corps and completed service as a tertiary teacher in the South Pacific. Upon her return, she worked extensively with children and young adults with special needs before pursuing her calling to become a nurse, and, subsequently, a nurse practitioner.
Kate Shantar practiced at Johns Hopkins Hospital in solid organ transplant, Pediatric and Adolescent Psychiatry, and at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles in Clinical Immunology and Allergy. She has served in residential treatment centers, supportive living facilities, and in specialized mental health services throughout the Los Angeles area. She is currently the Director of Psychiatric Services for Insight Enrichment Group’s Enriched Living Program and serves populations with issues associated with dual diagnosis, borderline personality disorder, and thought disorder at Clearview Treatment Center.
Certification: Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
Degrees: MSN, PMHNP-BCX, RN
California License: 950273473
NPI: 1407635113