Dr. Caruso earned his undergraduate degree at New York University and his medical doctorate at Cornell University. He completed his internship and residency in psychiatry at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland. After two years as Division Psychiatrist for the Second Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, he completed fellowship training in forensic psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC in a joint program with the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital in Jessup, Maryland, the FBI Profiling and Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico, Virginia, Georgetown University Law School and the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Dr. Caruso has practiced clinical psychiatry since 1994 and forensic psychiatry since 1997. As Division Psychiatrist at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, he was solely responsible for outpatient psychiatric services for 18,000 Marines and Sailors. He subsequently served as Assistant Chief and then Chief of Inpatient Psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC, which was then the largest inpatient psychiatric service in the U.S. Military. He concurrently served as Chief of Forensic Psychiatry at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland. Since leaving military service in 1999, Dr. Caruso has been in private practice in forensic and general psychiatry in Middle Tennessee.

Dr. Cochran currently works as the medical director of the Nashville Center for Hope & Healing and NeuroScience & TMS Treatment Center.  Dr. Cochran has experience treating a variety of psychiatric conditions, using a comprehensive approach with therapy, counseling, pharmacogenomic testing, medication, and neuromodulation such as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation since 2011.   Dr. Cochran lectures locally and internationally on TMS treatment for depression, and the benefits and limitations of pharamacogenetics.   

Dr. Cochran is a Board Certified physician (a psychiatrist) who has the designation of being a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (DLFAPA) and a Fellow of the Clinical TMS Society (FCTMSS).  Dr. Cochran is in the clinic daily for patient care and supervision.  

For further bio and information about Dr. Cochran see the NeuroScience & TMS Treatment Centers website.  

Dr. Chandraiah joined ETSU in 2014 as University Clinic Director.  She received her Bachelor of Medical Science (Biochemistry focus) and Doctor of Medicine degrees from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. Johns, Canada. Her professional training includes a rotating internship at St. Joseph’s Hospital, University of Toronto.  She started her psychiatry residency at the Clark Institute of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Canada and completed it at the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth Hospitals in Richmond, VA, where she also completed a consultation/liaison psychiatry fellowship.  She is Board Certified in Adult Psychiatry in the US and Canada.

She has also worked previously in academic and administrative positions at the Medical College of Virginia, Richmond and Ann Arbor Veterans Administration Medical Centers, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Saint Louis University, and University of Mississippi Medical Center as well as briefly working in private practice.  At the University of Mississippi Med Center she received the Outstanding Clinical Supervision, Best Outpatient Attending, and Clinical Teacher of the Year Awards.  Her primary clinical and academic interests are in women’s mental health particularly linked to the reproductive cycle, mood and anxiety disorders, as well as residency recruitment. 

Dr. Kyser has been board certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology since 1993. He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas and completed medical training at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Additionally, he completed a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Trinity University. He has been in private practice in Nashville since completing psychiatric training at Vanderbilt University Medical School in 1991.

Areas of interest and specialization include:

Adult and adolescent outpatient psychiatry

Psychiatric hospitalization. Dr. Kyser is the Director of Adult Psychiatry at HCA Parthenon Pavilion.

Workers compensation, evaluation and treatment. Dr. Kyser is certified by the state of Tennessee Medical Impairment Registry.

Forensic psychiatry including fitness for duty evaluations, independent medical evaluations (IME) and medical malpractice.

Since 2003, Dr. Kyser has been a Distinguished Fellow in the American Psychiatric Association.

In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Kyser serves as the legislative representative for the Tennessee Psychiatric Association and is the representative for the State of Tennessee to the Assembly of the American Psychiatric Association.

The American Psychiatric Association hired 4 new field-based positions in November 2015 to assist the state APA District Branches with legislative, advocacy and regulatory issues. This also includes Medicare, Medicaid, grassroots and media needs.

Marsi Thrash has been hired to cover Area V and is the Regional Field Director – State Government Affairs, South for Tennessee, as well as FL, GA, AL, LA, TX, OK, AR, KY, SC, NC, MS, WV and VA.

Marsi has over 15 years of government affairs experience in health care. Most recently she was the Georgia Government Relations Director at the American Heart Association. Prior to that she spent time in CME business development in oncology, Medicaid contracting, and campaign management. From 2000 – 2008 Marsi was the Government Affairs Director for TAP Pharmaceuticals (now absorbed into Takeda and Abbott) and lobbied FL, GA, AL, NC, SC, MS, and TN. While there she was also responsible for Medicaid and Medicare policy as well as patient and physician advocacy. She is very eager to get to know the Tennessee membership and assist with the mental health issues affecting the state.

Marsi lives in Atlanta (near Six Flags Over Georgia) with her 11-year-old son, a co-dependent Australian Shepherd rescue, and two somewhat grateful rescue felines.

Meagan Frazier, a Dickson County native, joined Smith Harris & Carr in 2003 and became a partner in 2008. She is a graduate of the Nashville School of Law and Middle Tennessee State University, where she earned a B.S. in Public Relations. She is a licensed attorney.

Frazier’s rise at Smith Harris & Carr to partner status was rapid thanks to her dedicated work on business, hospital and health care issues and her ability to steer clients successfully through complex issues, such as the 30 plus page Prescription Safety Act of 2012 proposed legislation. She is also well known for her ability to work with numerous policy-making boards and agencies in state government.

In pursuit of her goal of becoming a professional lobbyist, Frazier was employed by the Tennessee General Assembly as an intern in 2001. She moved on to the state Treasury Department and was later tapped by the Chief Clerk of the House to staff the Commerce, Health, and Finance Committee in both the House and the Senate. She also assisted the Clerk during House sessions in the Capitol.

Frazier is the President of the Board of Directors for the Tennessee Chapter of the ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) Association, as well as the Past President of the Tennessee CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) Association Board of Directors. She also serves on the board of the Tennessee Lobbyists Association and the legislative committee of the Tennessee Bar Association. She is also a member of the Nashville Bar Association, the Dickson County Chamber of Commerce, and the Nashville Kappa Delta Alumnae Chapter.

Frazier is married and has two young daughters. She and her husband are members of the Walnut Street Church of Christ in Dickson.