PATHS Team

Jesse Martinez, Jr., MD

Dr. Martinez attended medical school at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas. He then traveled to Birmingham, Alabama, where he became a Psychiatry resident at UAB Hospital, a teaching hospital of the UAB School of Medicine. After residency, he continued his training at UAB as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellow. Dr. Martinez joined the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology at UAB in July 2016, as an assistant professor and serves as the Director of Child Psychiatry Clinical Services at Children’s of Alabama.

Vinita Yalamanchili, MD

Dr.Yalamanchili completed her psychiatric residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, and completed her fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UAB. She has been working as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist since 2008. Dr. Yalamanchili has been Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology since 2007 and Board Certified in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry since 2012. She enjoys teaching medical students and was the Associate Training Director of the Adult Psychiatry Training Program at UAB. She enjoys working with children and adolescents of all ages and diagnoses. Dr. Yalamanchili joined the PATHS team to provide consultation services to PATHS participants.

Connie Chang, MD

Dr. Chang completed her adult psychiatry residency at Delaware Psychiatric center and her child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Jefferson University.  She is Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in both adult psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry.  She enjoys working with children and adolescents of all ages and diagnoses.  She joined the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology at THE University of Alabama in Birmingham to teach the next generation of adult and child psychiatrists. Dr. Chang joined the PATHS team in order to improve access to mental health services as well as to provide consultation and telemedicine services for PATHS participants.

Madeleine Moreno, MSN, PMHNP-BC

Madeleine Rachelle “Shelley” Moreno completed her PMHNP clinical rotations working with adolescent and adult populations at UAB Center of Psychiatric Medicine. She also completed a clinical rotation working with children and adolescents in the Children’s of Alabama ED. She completed the Post Master’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certificate Program at the Capstone College of Nursing, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama in April 2021. She was certified as PMHNP – BC through the ANCC in July of 2021. She received her MSN in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing from UAB, Birmingham, AL in December 1990. Moreno has experience providing psychiatric nursing care to children, adolescents, and adults in various clinical and administrative roles and settings over a 36-year nursing career. She enjoys working with children and adolescents of all ages and diagnoses. Moreno joined the PATHS team to provide consultation services to PATHS participants in order to support the psychiatric needs of children and adolescents in Alabama. She also serves on our Behavioral Health Project ECHO hub team.

Nina Reynolds, PhD

Dr. Reynolds is a pediatric psychologist at Children’s of Alabama Behavioral Health Ireland Center, as well as an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at UAB. She received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Duke University and her doctoral degree (PhD) in Medical-Clinical Psychology from UAB. She completed her residency at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in pediatric health psychology and returned to UAB for fellowship in the Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology. Dr. Reynolds has been a psychologist at Children’s since 2016. She specializes in providing mental/behavioral health services to children hospitalized for medical conditions (e.g., seizures, diabetes, GI conditions), as part of an effort to provide comprehensive care for youth with chronic illness and their families. Dr. Reynolds joined the PATHS team to provide consultation in child/adolescent mental health and serves on our Behavioral Health Project ECHO hub team.

Arista Rayfield, PhD

Dr. Rayfield received her doctoral degree in Clinical and Health Psychology from the University of Florida in 1997. She completed her APA accredited internship at the Consortium of the Medical College of Georgia’s Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, and the Psychology Service at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia. Dr. Rayfield also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Pediatric Psychology at the University of Florida in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Rayfield was a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Kansas Medical Center from 1998 until 2000. In 2001, Dr. Rayfield joined Children’s of Alabama as a psychologist in the Children’s Behavioral Health Division. She has experience with a wide range of ages and presenting problems. Particular areas of interest include behavioral treatment of conduct problems in preschool children, adherence to medical regimens in children and teens with chronic illnesses and weight management. Dr. Rayfield joined the PATHS team to provide consultation and telemedicine services for our participants.

Allison Battaglia, PhD

Dr. Battaglia received her doctoral degree in School Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2017. She completed her APA accredited internship at the Nebraska Internship Consortium in Professional Psychology at the Munroe-Meyer Institute’s Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders in Omaha, Nebraska. Dr. Battaglia also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Psychology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders in Columbus, Ohio. She was a staff psychologist at Glenwood from 2019 until 2021. In 2021, Dr. Battaglia joined Children’s of Alabama as a psychologist in the Children’s Behavioral Health Division. She enjoys working with children with a wide range of presenting concerns. Dr. Battaglia has experience working with children with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, behavioral disorders, anxiety, school difficulties, and feeding problems.

Staci Smith, LICSW

Staci Smith is an Alabama native and Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker. She graduated from UAB in 2009 with a BS in Psychology and from the University of Alabama in 2012 with her MSW. During her last year of graduate school, she received the Vulcan Scholar award and completed her internship in Washington, D.C. with Voice’s for America’s Children. Prior to joining Children’s of Alabama Behavioral Health in 2019, she worked for JBS Mental Health Authority serving as the Juvenile Court Liaison for St. Clair County. Smith has served as the Chair and Co-Chair of St. Clair County’s Multiple Needs Child Facilitation team and as a member of the Children’s Policy Council. She has also taught skills labs as adjunct faculty for the University of Alabama School of Social Work. Smith joined the PATHS team to provide consultation and care coordination services and serves on our Behavioral Health Project ECHO hub team.

James Wagner, LPC-S

James Wagner is a graduate of the University of Montevallo with a Masters of Education in Counseling with a concentration in community agency counseling. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor – Supervisor by the Alabama Board of Examiners in Counseling and a National Certified Counselor by the National Board of Certified Counselors. Wagner has been with Children’s of Alabama since 2008, serving as a primary therapist working with children and adolescents with acute psychiatric needs. His areas of interest include mood disorders, disruptive behavior disorders, ADHD and behavior management. Wagner joined the PATHS team to provide consultation and telemedicine services for our participants.

Stacey Daugherty, LICSW, IECMHC

Stacey Daugherty is an Alabama native and Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker specializing in child mental health and child trauma. For over 16 years, she worked in the field of child welfare with the majority of that time being in a therapeutic foster care treatment setting for children with moderate to severe emotional and behavioral needs. In December 2017, she joined Project LAUNCH as an Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant (IECMHC). During that time, Daugherty provided reflective support and interventions to providers and caregivers working with children under the age of 8 in a variety of settings to include First Class Pre-K, early intervention, home visiting and primary medical care. She joined the Alabama Department of Mental Health Office of Infant & Early Childhood Special Programs as an IECMHC in January 2020. Daugherty is also part of the adjunct faculty at The University of Alabama School of Social Work with experience teaching both face to face and online classes in the areas of child and adolescent mental health, human development in the social environment, working with individuals, families and groups, and history of social welfare. Daugherty joined the PATHS team to provide education and consultation in infant/early childhood mental health. She also serves on our Behavioral Health Project ECHO hub team.

Susan Griffin, LICSW, PIP, CHCQM

Susan Griffin is a licensed independent clinical social worker and serves as the Director of PATHS. She also holds a Certification in Health Care Quality and Management from the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians. She received her BSW from the University of North Alabama and her MSW from the University of Alabama. Griffin has a background in direct clinical services, providing behavioral health care to children, adolescents and adults. She also has extensive administrative experience, having been director of a physician-owned PHP/IOP program serving both adolescents and adults and serving as the Chief Quality Officer for a statewide managed behavioral health care company. Griffin joined Children’s of Alabama in October 2018 to become the Director of PATHS and also oversees the development and implementation of all Behavioral Health Project ECHO educational events for PATHS participants.