Claude Ann Mellins, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with research and clinical expertise in psychosocial aspects of HIV disease in families and children. She is a Professor of Clinical Psychology (in Psychiatry and Sociomedical Sciences) at Columbia University, as well as a research scientist at the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University. Since 2010, Dr. Mellins as also been Co-Director of the NIMH Post-doctoral Research Fellowship at the HIV Center.


Since 1993, Dr. Mellins has been the Principal Investigator of a number of federally-funded and foundation-funded grants that have examined individual and family psychosocial factors mediating medical adherence in HIV-infected women and children; sexual and drug use risk behavior in uninfected youth with HIV-infected mothers; and psychiatric and psychological functioning in HIV-infected mothers and children. These studies include both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.


Dr. Mellins is also an investigator for the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS), a large federally funded multisite study of perintally HIV-exposed infants and adolescents. As a member of the Scientific Leadership Group, she is responsible for defining scientific agenda and providing oversight for activities related to neurodevelopment and behavior. In 2009, Dr. Mellins was also appointed as a standing member of the NIH Behavioral and Social Consequences of HIV/AIDS Study Section.

In addition to her research, Dr. Mellins is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Special Needs Clinic (SNC) at New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYPH), one of the first and currently one of the largest mental health clinics for HIV-infected women, children, and families. The SNC has provided care to over 1,600 patients since 1992, and has served as a model for the Ryan White Care act mental health programs. She has consulted to numerous medical centers in the U.S. and, last year, to the pediatric AIDS program at NIMH on mental issues in perinatally HIV-infected youth and their families.


Current HIV Center Studies:

Health and Psychosocial Need: Children with Developmental Disorder in a Time of HIV

HIV/STI Prevention for Adolescents with Substance Use Disorder in Treatment

Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study

Transitioning from Childhood to Adulthood: The Impact of Perinatal HIV on the Transition to Adulthood