Fellows
Davenport College has an active and enthusiastic Fellowship. Davenport’s Fellowship includes Fellows (distinguished Faculty and Staff at the University) and Associate Fellows (often Davenport alum or people who have made important contributions to New Haven and the larger society).
Ismene Petrakis
Chief of Mental Health at VA Connecticut Healthcare System
Biography
I have over 25 years of experience in the clinical treatment of addictive disorders, research in this field and in the education of residents, medical students, post-doctoral fellows and other mental health trainees. I am also a grant funded investigator (funding sources over the years have included NIH, VA, Department of Defense, NARSAD and the Stanley Foundation) whose research interests include developing and testing potentially effective treatments for individuals with alcohol use disorder, opioid use disorder and in those with comorbid psychiatric disorders, particularly PTSD. I grew up in Pittsburgh but have been in New Haven area since residency in psychiatry at Yale-where I met my husband (also a Professor of Psychiatry).
I am mother of 2 adult children, both of whom graduated from Yale College (Ezra Stiles and Silliman). One is a lawyer in NYC and the other is completing her Masters of Social Work at University of Michigan
I am of Greek background, love to travel (particularly to Greece).
Contact Information:
Marina Picciotto
Deputy Chair for Basic Science Research, Psychiatry; Director of the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Graduate Program
Biography
Dr. Picciotto's lab studies the role of acetylcholine signaling in complex behaviors and mouse models relevant to psychiatric illness. This work involves in vivo imaging of acetylcholine dynamics and its consequences on the activity of networks of neurons involved in cognition-, reward- or stress-related behaviors, as well as molecular genetic studies of acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) and their role in mediating the actions of acetylcholine during development and in adulthood. I am mom to a 24 year old who works in environmental policy in California and who is a rock climber. When I am not in the lab, with students or on my computer, I can usually be found walking while listening to audiobooks. I will try to cook anything in an Ottolenghi cookbook.
Contact Information:
Will Porter
Women's Rowing Coach
Biography
Head Coach of Yale Women's Rowing from 2000 to present. I am the son of a Yale graduate and the father of 2 Yale undergraduates. I have been coaching at Yale for 26 years.
Contact Information:
Sam Purdy
Director of Engagement, Connecticut RISE Network
Biography
I have worked in education since graduating from Yale - and even before graduation, as a teacher, co-director, and board member of the Ulysses S. Grant Foundation Program, where I discovered my love of working in and around schools. I have worked in many roles in this field - middle school teacher, department chair, team leader, program director, administrator intern, administrator-coach, professional development facilitator - and have spent the most time at the New Haven-based education nonprofit where I currently work. I have lived in New Haven since 2015 and am married to Emma Sokoloff-Rubin YC '11 YLS '18, who works and teaches at Yale Law School. We have two kids and belong to Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel, where I serve on the board.
I received my Bachelor of Arts in History from Yale College in 2010 and a Master of Education in School Leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2017.