Dr. Cheryl Foo is an Instructor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School and Psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Foo is a clinician-researcher who treats young adults with first-episode and early psychosis and their family members in the MGH Psychosis Clinical and Research Program. She also conducts research to improve care and outcomes for early psychosis and those with longer histories of mental health challenges with the MGH Center of Excellence for Psychosocial and Systemic Research. Dr. Foo earned her B.A. Hons. in Psychological and Behavioral Sciences from University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at Massachusetts Mental Health Center/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and post-doctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she furthered specialized training in evidence-based interventions for early psychosis and serious mental illness. 

Dr. Foo is experienced in using cognitive-behavioral approaches (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), Individual Resiliency Training (IRT)) and family interventions as part of coordinated specialty care for first episode psychosis, an evidence-based comprehensive treatment program. 

Dr. Foo’s research has focused on making evidence-based interventions more accessible, accepted, and timely – previously in under-resourced humanitarian settings, and more recently in clinical and community settings for people with early psychosis and serious mental illness. Her ongoing work is invested in developing and carrying out innovative approaches to care delivery, such as training non-clinicians and community health workers to deliver preventive/psychosocial interventions in the community, facilitating early intervention and treatment engagement during care transitions, and improving early detection strategies for individuals across all stages of schizophrenia spectrum disorders.