The Gut-Brain Axis: Improving Gut Health to Support Optimal Physical and Emotional Well-Being​

Presenters: Alexandra Roth, MS and Emaya Anbalagan, MD (CA START San Andreas)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

This is a breakout session from the 2023 START National Training Institute. 

All live Q&A events are held via Zoom from 1:00-2:00 ET / 12:00-1:00 CT / 11:00-12:00 MT / 10:00-11:00 PT.                                        

Alexandra Roth is a bay area native with an MS in clinical psychology and an MSW with an emphasis in clinical social work.  She is now the clinical director for the CA START San Andreas team. Prior to her current role, Alex spent four years providing crisis counseling and case management support for individuals diagnosed with IDD as a social worker in the YAI Crisis Intervention program in New York City. Before her time in NYC, Alex worked full-time throughout her MSW program as a direct support staff at a residential school for children diagnosed with ASD. These experiences highlighted the strong points as well as the gaps regarding supporting the IDD community and helped shape Alex's drive to continuously seek the most effective and person-centered strategies when supporting the IDD community. 

In her current role as clinical director, Alex leans on her background to guide her ongoing efforts in enhancing the provision of crisis prevention support for the IDD community. She has been able to apply her top strengths of love, perspective, and appreciation of beauty and excellence throughout all aspects of her role as clinical director, which has served as a wonderful way to promote positive engagement and growth within her team and in the greater community. In addition to honoring her top character strengths, Alex operates within the understanding that, although all humans may experience distress and injustices, it is with compassion and goal-oriented collaborative work that any system can shift towards positive change, safety, and stability. 

Dr. Emaya Anbalagan is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and has served as the Medical Director of both the CA START San Andreas and CA START East Bay Programs since their inception. She is triple boarded in General Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. After medical school training in India, she completed her psychiatry residency at the University of Missouri, Columbia, then her fellowship in Child Psychiatry at UC Davis Medical Center and the UC Davis MIND institute. She has a strong affinity towards crisis stabilization and residential treatment and her work with START aligns with this interest. Dr. Anbalagan also works at a Substance use residential program at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs hospital and is an Associate Professor (affiliate) with Stanford University, where she teaches psychiatry residents and medical students.