Faculty

Jera Barrett, MD earned her medical degree at Northeast Ohio Medical University and her law degree at The University of Cincinnati. She completed her psychiatry residency at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She is currently an attending on the competency restoration unit at Heartland Behavioral Healthcare. She is certified in adult psychiatry, forensic psychiatry and addiction medicine.

Tetyana Bodnar, MD,  graduated from the Case Western Reserve University Fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry in 2020. Since then, she has been employed at Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare, where she provides treatment and performs evaluations on a Competency Restoration unit. Dr. Bodnar has presented at American Psychiatric Association (APA). Her areas of interest include competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility, and correctional psychiatry. Dr. Bodnar also enjoys teaching and working with medical students, residents, and fellows.

Przemyslaw Les Kapalczynski, MD obtained his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Psychiatry Residency at University Hospitals of Cleveland. Dr. Kapalczynski also completed his Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center.  Since 2003, Dr. Kapalczynski has worked in various forensic settings within the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction. He is board certified in psychiatry and forensic psychiatry.

Dr. Kapalczynski’s areas of interests include competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility, malingering, and correctional psychiatry. Dr. Kapalczynski is a member in the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Throughout his career, Dr. Kapalczynski has been involved in teaching and working with medical students, residents and fellows.

Cortney A. Kohberger, MD earned her medical degree at the University of Medicine and Dentistry – New Jersey Medical School in Newark, N.J. She completed her psychiatric residency at Beth Israel Medical Center – Albert Einstein School of Medicine, in Manhattan. She served her city, and worked in a multitude of public mental health settings and programs for 10 years in New York City following residency including: the Bellevue Hospital CPEP (Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program), the Bellevue Mobile Crisis Unit, the CASES alternative to incarceration ACT program, as well as the Project for Psychiatric Outreach for the Homeless, where she provided psychiatric care and outreach to the street homeless, as well as in supervised residences and homeless shelters. She subsequently completed the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center/Case Western Reserve University. She currently is an attending on the competency restoration unit at Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare where she enjoys supervising and teaching fellows, residents, and medical students.

Joy Stankowski, MD received her medical degree from the Penn State College of Medicine, and trained in both internal medicine and psychiatry at the University of Virginia. After serving as Chief Resident, she completed a forensic psychiatry fellowship at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Stankowski began working as a forensic psychiatrist for the state of Ohio at Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare (NBH) in 2002. She has been a physician administrator (Chief Clinical Officer) for the state since 2007, and is now Director of the NBH Center of Forensic Excellence, overseeing forensic policies, patients, and education. Dr. Stankowski has a private practice in forensic psychiatry, and performs independent evaluations on topics such as competency to stand trial, sanity, and mitigation of penalty. Her other professional interests include hospital administration, and she has worked as a psychiatric hospital surveyor for the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid since 2005.

Ashley VanDercar, MD, JD began her career as an attorney, working in the healthcare field. In 2012, she enrolled in medical school at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. After graduation, she moved to Cleveland for postgraduate training and completed the Case Western Reserve University / UH Cleveland Medical Center Fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry in 2021. Dr. VanDercar has published on a variety of topics, including organizational psychiatry, the insanity defense, and terrorism. She has presented at local and national conferences on topics such as civil commitment, malpractice, and expert witness testimony. Currently, Dr. VanDercar works as a psychiatrist at Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare, the local forensic hospital and teaches medical students, residents, and forensic psychiatry fellows. Dr. VanDercar also lectures for the Cleveland Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Trainings.