NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Meharry Medical College School of Medicine has announced two new faculty appointments in its Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, expanding the department’s clinical, academic and research expertise and strengthening its commitment to addressing mental and behavioral health needs in Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond.
Alicia B. Batson, M.D., joins Meharry as associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and medical director of the Meharry Behavioral Health Clinic. Efemena Diejomaoh, M.D., DTMH, MPH, has been appointed assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences after completing his psychiatry residency at Meharry.
“Drs. Batson and Diejomaoh bring valuable clinical expertise, a strong commitment to compassionate care and perspectives that will further strengthen our department’s ability to serve patients and prepare the next generation of physicians,” said Melissa Hall, M.D., FAPA, chair and professor of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. “Their experience complements our mission to provide evidence-based, culturally sensitive behavioral health care while advancing education and research that address the needs of the communities we serve.”
Alicia B. Batson, M.D.
Batson is a board-certified adult psychiatrist with more than 20 years of experience across a broad range of mental health care settings. As medical director of the Meharry Behavioral Health Clinic, she will help lead the clinic’s delivery of comprehensive outpatient mental health services while also serving as a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
Batson specializes in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive behaviors and phobias, as well as depressive disorders. Her clinical approach emphasizes understanding the effects of trauma and chronic stress on both mental and physical health.
For more than a decade, Batson has focused part of her practice on treating patients experiencing stress- and trauma-related physical symptoms associated with neural pathways in the brain. Her approach incorporates psychopharmacology and mind-body psychotherapeutic techniques and recognizes the relationship between behavioral health and physical symptoms such as chronic pain, muscle tension, headaches and gastrointestinal conditions.
Her clinical experience includes community mental health care for patients with severe and persistent mental illness, consultation-liaison psychiatry, inpatient treatment on combined medical and psychiatric units and telehealth psychiatry.
Batson earned a bachelor’s degree in European studies from Vanderbilt University and her medical degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. She completed a combined internal medicine and psychiatry residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and is board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She is also a member of the Association for the Treatment of Neuroplastic Symptoms.
Efemena Diejomaoh, M.D., DTMH, MPH
Diejomaoh joins the faculty as an assistant professor after completing his internship and adult psychiatry residency at Meharry Medical College. His clinical and research interests include mental health disorders, substance use disorders, chronic pain, minority health and global health.
During his residency at Meharry, Diejomaoh was recognized by the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System for his compassionate patient care, effective collaboration with health care teams and management of complex patients. He was a recipient of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society Award and was recognized by Meharry’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences for his dedication to research, scholarship and academic excellence.
Diejomaoh earned his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from Ambrose Alli University in Ekpoma, Nigeria. He later completed training in clinical research at McGovern Medical School and in tropical medicine and global health at Baylor College of Medicine. He earned a Master of Public Health with a concentration in epidemiology from UTHealth Houston School of Public Health.
His commitment to minority and global health began in Nigeria, where he participated in the National Youth Service Corps program and led community projects focused on improving health care access and eradicating diseases in underserved communities. His work earned him the Federal Capital Territory Award for his community service efforts.
After coming to the United States, Diejomaoh continued that focus as a lead coordinator for major HIV, hepatitis and COVID-19 clinical trials, with an emphasis on increasing diversity and inclusion in research participation. He has published research in peer-reviewed journals, presented abstracts at national and international conferences and contributed a textbook chapter on opioid prescribing.
Diejomaoh is a recipient of the North American Neuromodulation Society Diversity and Outreach Pipeline Fellowship Grant and the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians Fellowship. His professional memberships span psychiatry, medical informatics, pain medicine, clinical psychopharmacology and organized medicine.
About the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
The appointments build upon the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences’ longstanding commitment to behavioral health care, education and research. The department’s history includes the establishment of the Meharry Community Mental Health Center in 1971, which was renamed the Lloyd C. Elam Mental Health Center in 1991.
Through its clinical programs, the department provides behavioral health services while training physicians and other behavioral health professionals. Its multidisciplinary teams include board-certified psychiatrists, resident physicians, registered nurses, licensed professional counselors, licensed alcohol and drug addiction counselors, licensed master social workers and other behavioral health professionals.
The Meharry Behavioral Health Clinic provides comprehensive outpatient services for patients experiencing depression, anxiety, trauma, bipolar disorder, substance use disorders and other behavioral health concerns. Services include individual and group therapy, medication management and integrated treatment plans designed around each patient’s needs.
ABOUT MEHARRY MEDICAL COLLEGE:
Meharry Medical College is a historically Black academic health sciences center founded in 1876 that trains qualified physicians, scientists and dentists from every demographic to heal underserved communities. Meharry educates its students in the school’s nearly 150-year heritage of healing the whole person and advancing public health. True to its heritage, it is a United Methodist Church-related institution. Diverse Issues in Higher Education’s ranking of institutions annually lists Meharry as a leading national educator of African Americans with M.D. and D.D.S. degrees and Ph.D. degrees in the biomedical sciences. Learn more about Meharry at meharry.edu.
