Jonathan Comer

Comer received his B.A. from the University of Rochester. He attended graduate school at Temple University where he received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a Concentration in Developmental Psychopathology. Comer completed his clinical psychology internship training at the NYU-Bellevue Clinical Psychology Internship Program and at the NYU Child Study Center in the Child and Adolescent Track. After completing his clinical psychology internship training, Comer completed an NIH-funded Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Child Psychiatry at Columbia University. At Columbia, he also served as Chief Research Fellow in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Research

Comer's research examines four overlapping areas of study. First, his work focuses on the development of innovative methods to improve access to effective mental health treatments and services. He conducts research on new technologies (such as videoconferencing, mobile platforms, and A.I.) to meaningfully expand the reach of mental health care. He also uses epidemiologic datasets to determine problems in the quality and accessibility of mental health services.</ref> Second, he has focused much of his career on exploring anxiety disorders and behavioral issues which appear early in life. Third, he studies the course of disorders that may develop in children and families following certain traumas. He has published extensively, and received media attention, on the impact of the 9/11 terror attacks, the Boston Marathon bombing, Hurricane Irma and the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Comer served as a consultant throughout the federal trial of United States v. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Fourth, Comer's work in recent years has expanded to study biological markers and neurocircuitry patterns associated with psychopathology and treatment response.