Jonathan A Slater, MD

is a triple-board-certified psychiatrist with expertise in Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Psychosomatic Medicine. He serves as a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and a Senior Attending Psychiatrist on the Consultation Service at New York–Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. With over three decades of experience, Dr. Slater has developed a unique approach to addressing the complex needs of children and adolescents. He is the founder of Once Upon a River, a program integrating karate, yoga, fitness, nutrition, and art therapy for children with psychiatric disorders. Dr. Slater has also conducted extensive research on the use of humor as a clinical intervention, including a study on the Clown Care Unit, professional clowns deployed into pediatric hospital settings. He is a prolific writer and has published articles in various medical journals, including the New York Times and the Washington Post. Dr. Slater is committed to making health and science evidence accessible to general readers and has a Substack newsletter, 'Just the Facts,' aimed at parents and caregivers. He is currently working on a book of narrative nonfiction that follows twelve patients he has treated across spans of ten to thirty-five years.