Meet ThNK FOUNDING Partners
Thompson, Newman
& Kambam Consultants
ThNK Consultants was founded by three nationally-recognized, established forensic psychiatrists, Christopher Thompson, M.D., William Newman, M.D., and Praveen Kambam, M.D. They possess considerable individual and collective expertise and an outstanding reputation based on extensive training and experience, broad knowledge, and a commitment to maintaining high ethical standards. Each partner has provided deposition, administrative hearing, and trial testimony in many different types of cases nationwide.
EDUCATION & TRAINING
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), University of Virginia, 1994
Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, 1999
Resident in Psychiatry, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, Los Angeles, CA, 1999-2003
Fellow in Forensic Psychiatry, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, 2003-2004
Fellow in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, Los Angeles, CA, 2004-2006
CERTIFICATIONS & LICENSES
Board Certification in Psychiatry (American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (ABPN))
Board Certification in Forensic Psychiatry (ABPN)
Board Certification in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (ABPN)
Board Certification in Addiction Medicine (American Board of Preventive Medicine)
Certified Correctional Health Professional (National Commission on Correctional Health Care)
Active Medical Licenses from Texas, California, Arizona, Colorado, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Illinois, Oklahoma, Washington, and Oregon
ACADEMIC / PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Voluntary Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Professor of Psychiatry, University of Texas at Austin, Dell Medical School
President, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL), 2017-2018
President, American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), 2024-present
President, California Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CALACAP), 2019-2021
Christopher R. Thompson, M.D.
Dr. Thompson is a founding partner of ThNK Consultants. He is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology in Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Forensic Psychiatry, and by the American Board of Preventive Medicine in Addiction Medicine. Dr. Thompson is currently a Voluntary Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and part of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) faculty of the UCLA Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship, and a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Texas at Austin. He is an active member and Past President of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL) and is currently President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS).
Dr. Thompson has had extensive experience as a national physician leader and clinical and forensic psychiatrist. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia and his medical degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. He completed both his psychiatry residency and child and adolescent fellowship at UCLA and his forensic psychiatry fellowship training at the University of California, Davis.
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As a clinical and academic psychiatrist, Dr. Thompson has held various administrative, leadership, teaching, and clinical roles. He previously served as the Director of the Division of Forensic Psychiatry of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) and as the Medical Director of the Juvenile Justice Mental Health Program of LACDMH. He also previously served as the LACDMH site director for the UCLA Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship at UCLA. He is the Immediate Past-President of the California Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and he served as Co-Chair of the California Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry’s Government Affairs and Advocacy Committee. He is a Distinguished Fellow of both the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). In addition to his clinical and academic leadership roles, he maintains a private practice in adult and child and adolescent psychiatry.
Dr. Thompson publishes in national publications on a variety of psychiatric and forensic topics and routinely presents at regional and national conferences. As a forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Thompson has extensive experience consulting and providing opinions on psychiatric issues in legal contexts. A few specific areas of expertise include but are not limited to: provision of psychiatric care in juvenile justice settings, appropriateness of psychotropic medication in youth, substance use disorders, transfers of juveniles to adult criminal court, psychiatric damages, child abuse claims, child sexual assault claims, fitness for duty evaluations, divorce and custody claims, employment-related claims, and sexual harassment,
EDUCATION & TRAINING
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) with Honors, University of Florida, 2001
Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 2006
Resident in Psychiatry, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO, 2006-2010
Fellow in Forensic Psychiatry, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, 2010-2011
CERTIFICATIONS & LICENSES
Board Certification in Psychiatry (American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (ABPN))
Board Certification in Forensic Psychiatry (ABPN)
Active Medical Licenses from Texas, Missouri, Illinois, and California
ACADEMIC / PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Affiliate Faculty, University of Texas at Austin, Dell Medical School
Professor of Psychiatry, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
President, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL), 2019–2020
Subspecialty Caucus Chair, American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training (AADPRT), 2018–2021
Medical Director, Adult Psychiatric Inpatient Services, Saint Louis University Hospital, Saint Louis, MO, 2015–2022
William J. Newman, M.D.
Dr. Newman is a founding partner of ThNK. He is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in both Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry. He is an Affiliate Faculty at the University of Texas at Austin and at The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He is an active member and served as President of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL), the primary professional organization for forensic psychiatrists in North America.
Dr. Newman has had extensive experience as an academic physician and forensic psychiatrist. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Florida. He volunteered for AmeriCorps prior to matriculating to Vanderbilt School of Medicine, where he earned his medical degree. He completed residency in psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine and his forensic psychiatry fellowship at the University of California, Davis. He remained on the forensic psychiatry faculty at the University of California, Davis, where he served as the Associate Director for the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship until joining faculty at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
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As an academic faculty member, Dr. Newman has held various administrative, leadership, teaching, and clinical roles including Medical Director of Inpatient Psychiatric Services, Interim-Chair of the Saint Louis University Department of Psychiatry, and Program Director of the Saint Louis University Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship. He has extensive experience not only in clinical psychiatry, but also in teaching, supervising, and mentoring learners in medicine and the law.
Dr. Newman regularly publishes in national publications on a variety of topics including psychopharmacology, “off-label” prescribing, the management of aggression, correctional mental health, and malingering of psychiatric symptoms, among other topics. He also routinely presents at regional, national, and international conferences. Dr. Newman has presented on topics including the assessment of malingered posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), fitness for duty evaluations, reliability of eyewitness testimony, and the pharmacological management of aggression.
EDUCATION & TRAINING
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Emory University, 1999
Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 2004
Resident in Psychiatry, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, 2004-2007
Fellow in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, 2007-2009
Fellow in Forensic Psychiatry, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, 2009-2010
CERTIFICATIONS & LICENSES
Board Certification in Psychiatry (American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (ABPN))
Board Certification in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Board Certification in Forensic Psychiatry
Board Certification in Addiction Medicine (American Board of Preventive Medicine)
Qualified Medical Examiner, California Division of Workers’ Compensation
Active Medical License from Texas and California
ACADEMIC / PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Voluntary Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Councilor, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL), 2020-2023
Co-Chair, Media and Public Relations Committee, AAPL, 2018-present
Praveen R. Kambam, M.D.
Dr. Kambam is a founding partner of ThNK. He is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology in Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Forensic Psychiatry, and in Addiction Medicine by the American Board of Preventive Medicine. Dr. Kambam is currently a Voluntary Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and part of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) faculty of the UCLA Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship. He is a Qualified Medical Examiner for the California Division of Workers’ Compensation. He is a Councilor and Chair of the Media and Public Relations Committee of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL).
Dr. Kambam has had extensive experience as a psychiatric educator and clinical and forensic psychiatrist. He earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University and his medical degree at the University of Tennessee, Memphis. He completed his psychiatry residency at the University of Michigan Health System and his child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at UCLA, where he was a chief fellow. Dr. Kambam then completed his forensic psychiatry fellowship at Case Western Reserve University.
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As a clinical and academic psychiatrist, Dr. Kambam has held various administrative, leadership, teaching, and clinical roles. He is currently a Supervising Mental Health Psychiatrist and Medical Director of Court-Based Mental Health Programs in the Division of Forensic Psychiatry, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH). He serves as the LACDMH site director for the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship at UCLA, where he also supervises, teaches, and mentors psychiatric residents and fellows. In addition to leadership and administrative roles, he maintains a private practice in adult and child and adolescent psychiatry.
Dr. Kambam has given numerous presentations at regional and national medical and popular culture conferences, and he has authored several articles and book chapters. He has been involved in projects aimed at reducing stigma of, raising awareness about, and improving access to mental health care through media and technology. His professional interests include but are not limited to the interface of media and mental health issues, professionalism and ethics in psychiatrists’ interactions with the media, and civil and criminal forensic psychiatry. As a forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Kambam has extensive experience consulting and providing opinions on psychiatric issues in legal contexts. A few specific areas of expertise include but are not limited to: psychiatric damages, employment-related claims, abuse and sexual harassment claims, traumatic brain injuries, psychiatric treatment of youth, psychiatric malpractice, substance use disorders, and violence risk and threat assessment.