Yelena Chernyak, PhD

Yelena Chernyak, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at Indiana University School of Medicine. She received her BS in Psychology from Indiana University and her MS and PhD in Clinical Psychology from Drexel University. Dr. Chernyak completed her psychology internship at the May Institute and a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical health psychology at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Chernyak joined the IU School of Medicine faculty in 2011.

Dr. Chernyak’s areas of clinical expertise include health psychology, behavioral sleep medicine, pre-surgical evaluation and coping with chronic illness. She serves as Chief Psychologist of the Adult Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic and Director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at the IU Health Neurosciences Center. Dr. Chernyak also serves as the supervising psychologist in the Advanced Heart and Lung Care Clinic at IU Methodist Hospital as well as the Multidisciplinary Clinic at IU Simon Cancer Center.     

Dr. Chernyak has multiple teaching and supervisory roles within the Department of Psychiatry.  She is the Director of the Clinical Health Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship focused on cardiopulmonary behavioral medicine. Dr. Chernyak also serves as the Director of Fellowships for the Section of Psychology. She is the lead supervisor for the Adult Health Psychology track for the psychology internship program at IUSOM, for which she was recently honored with the George McAdoo award for teaching excellence.

Dr. Chernyak serves as a co-investigator on a trial funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) titled Patient-centered Treatment of Anxiety After Low-Risk Chest Pain in the Emergency Room (PACER).  She is actively involved with national professional organizations including the Society for Behavioral Sleep Medicine, the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Center, and the Society for Health Psychology where she serves on multiple national committees.