Katharine Phillips, M.D., is Professor of Psychiatry, DeWitt Wallace Senior Scholar, and Residency Research Director at Weill Cornell Medical College, and Attending Psychiatrist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Dr. Phillips is internationally recognized for her expertise in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). She has been conducting research studies and treating patients with BDD for more than 30 years. Her studies have included investigation of BDD’s symptoms, prevalence, morbidity, course of illness, and relationship to other disorders such as OCD. Because no BDD-specific measures were available, she developed and tested BDD screening, diagnostic, severity, and insight measures. She has also conducted and published most of the medication studies of BDD, and she has co-developed and tested CBT for BDD. Her scientific studies on BDD were continuously funded by the National Institute of Mental Health for more than 20 years.
Dr. Phillips led the effort to include the new chapter of Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders in DSM-5. She has published more than 350 articles and chapters in scientific journals and books, and she has authored or edited 11 books, including multiple books on BDD. She has given more than 600 presentations around the world and more than 500 media interviews. Dr. Phillips has received many honors and awards for her research, clinical work, and other academic contributions. Her awards for her research studies on BDD include a Special Presidential Commendation from the American Psychiatric Association and the Outstanding Career Achievement Award from the International OCD Foundation.