Dr. Sirey is Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and currently the Principal Investigator for the Weill Cornell ALACRITY for Mid- and Late-Life Mood Disorders (P50 MH113838). The Institute uses neurobiology models to simplify behavioral interventions for use by community therapists and to implement these interventions in partnership with community providers to increase access to quality care for underserved adults.

Dr. Sirey received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from City University of New York and completed a post-doctoral Fellowship at Weill-Cornell Medical College.  Her research has focused on developing and testing the effectiveness of community-based interventions to reduce depression in later life. This work grew out of her early research documenting the negative impact of stigma on mental health treatment participation and adherence to depression treatment.

At present, Dr. Sirey has an R01 (MH 124966) to test the comparative effectiveness of Behavioral Activation delivered by MSWs and Peer Coaches to older adults with depression. She has received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health to the increase the use of mental health services among depressed community dwelling elders (NIMH R01 079865) and to conduct a multi-site study of a brief psychosocial intervention to improve treatment adherence among depressed elders in primary care settings (NIMH R01 087557). In addition to her research, Dr. Sirey is implementing multiple service delivery projects to bring evidence-based psychotherapy to hard-to-reach adults with mental health needs. Dr. Sirey and her team have tested an innovative mental health service delivery model tested with older adults living in NYC communities affected by Superstorm Sandy (SMART-MH). This model of service delivery has been sustained by the New York City Department for the Aging and Dr. Sirey now oversees delivery of mental health services in 16 senior centers in NYC.

With the support of The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Dr. Sirey and her team in collaboration with the NYC Department for the Aging have designed PROTECT, a multicomponent mental health intervention for victims of abuse. PROTECT includes screening, education and brings a targeted behavioral intervention to depressed elder abuse victims to improve both mental health and elder abuse outcomes. As part of the ALACRITY, Dr. Sirey is testing the delivery of PROTECT augmented by smartphone daily texts. In addition, she  has received funding from the Department of Justice to implement the PROTECT intervention via video and telephone.  In addition, the PROTECT model has been adopted by the NYC Department for the Aging to be delivered throughout NYC to depressed victims served by community-based elder abuse agencies. 

In addition to her research, Dr. Sirey remains active in community development of services. She has been appointed to the New York State Interagency Geriatric Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Planning Council and serves as the Chair of the Westchester County Geriatric Mental Health Collaborative, an interdisciplinary group of aging and mental health providers, consumers, and advocates. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Geriatric Mental Health Alliance and is a reviewer for National Institute of Health review panels as an expert on stigma and depression in later life.   Dr. Sirey has published extensively in peer review journals.