Professional woman in a navy blazer and matching pants with her arms crossed, standing indoors near a white wall with a blurred green plant in the background.

Forensic and Clinical Experience

With nearly 20 years of experience at leading academic institutions, including Yale, Creighton, Rush and Northwestern, Dr. Shankar brings broad clinical and academic expertise to her forensic work. Having practiced across multiple states and diverse clinical settings, she offers a well‑developed understanding of how legal statutes are interpreted and applied across jurisdictions, as well as how differences in health care system structure, operations, and standards influence clinical practice. She has held multiple leadership positions including Associate Division Chief of Forensic Psychiatry, Vice Chairperson Arizona Psychiatric Security Review Board (PSRB), Medical Director of Inpatient Services, Director of an Outpatient Clinic, Head of Quality and Director of Psychiatric Residency Training, among other roles. She has also served in Physician Peer Review Committees and Resident Training Probation Committee. She has spent decades teaching, mentoring and supervising medical students, residents and forensic fellows.

This breadth of experience provides a unique perspective that strengthens her ability to deliver jurisdiction‑specific, contextually grounded, evidence‑based forensic opinions.

Education & Training

Fellowship, Forensic Psychiatry

Yale University School of Medicine

2007 – 2008
New Haven, Connecticut Fellowship

Residency, Psychiatry

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Formerly Mount Sinai School of Medicine / Cabrini Medical Center)

2003 – 2007
New York, New York Residency

Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)

JSS Medical College

1992 – 1999
Mysore, Karnataka, India MBBS

  • Criminal Forensic Psychiatry Expertise

    • Extensive experience in criminal forensic psychiatry, with a substantial record of expert testimony in state and federal courts.

    • Engaged in numerous insanity evaluations performing in-depth psychiatric evaluations.

    • Served for eight years as a Consulting Forensic Psychiatrist to the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS), providing oversight of the care, supervision, and community reintegration of individuals adjudicated Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI), and offering expert testimony before the Connecticut Psychiatric Security Review Board (PSRB) and Superior Court regarding their clinical progress and the need for continued commitment.

    • Appointed as the Vice-Chairperson of the Arizona Psychiatric Security Review Board, overseeing matters involving commitment, supervision, conditional release, and treatment of individuals found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity.

    • Conducted over 250 fitness/competency to stand trial evaluations in federal systems as well as across multiple states.

    • Spearheaded the development of a competency clinic for the Maricopa Tribal Court providing timely fitness to stand trial evaluations.

    • Performed numerous mitigation assessments, violence risk evaluations and provided risk management recommendations for violent offenders.

    • Mitigation and assessment of sexual offenders.

    Civil Forensic Psychiatry Expertise

    • Extensive experience conducting civil forensic psychiatric evaluations across a broad range of medico‑legal matters.

    • Conducted numerous fitness‑for‑duty and return‑to‑work evaluations for employers, and institutions.

    • Performed independent medical examinations (IMEs) in the context of civil litigation.

    • Evaluated cases involving alleged medical malpractice, including physician and health‑care system wrongdoing.

    • Conducted assessments related to wrongful or involuntary civil commitment.

    • Evaluated matters involving forced medication, restraint, and alleged battery.

    • Analyzed deviations from the standard of care resulting in serious injury or death.

    • Performed psychiatric damages and causation evaluations in civil litigation.

    • Conducted testamentary capacity evaluations, including retrospective assessment of capacity at the time of will execution.

    • Evaluated capacity to execute Powers of Attorney (POA).

    • Conducted guardianship and conservatorship evaluations, including capacity related to health care decision‑making and financial management.

    • Evaluated capacity to marry and other civil capacity determinations.

    • Performed evaluations addressing decisional capacity and free will in cases involving suicide.

  • Dr. Shankar brings a deep clinical background developed over decades of practice, with substantial experience in risk assessment and mitigation consultation and the care of individuals with severe mental illness. Her clinical work has spanned inpatient, outpatient, and forensic settings, involving the management of severe and persistent mental illness affecting functional capacity, risk behaviors, treatment adherence, and prognosis. This breadth of treatment experience strengthens evaluations related to fitness, disability, risk management, and mitigation, ensuring that forensic opinions are grounded in real‑world standards of psychiatric care.

  • Dr. Shankar has held significant medical leadership roles involving oversight of psychiatric services, consultation on clinical best practices, and supervision of multidisciplinary teams. Her work has included leadership in quality improvement initiatives, peer review, assessment of standards of care, risk management, and regulatory compliance. This systems‑level perspective directly informs her forensic work in matters involving medical malpractice, institutional liability, and clinical decision‑making within complex health care environments.

  • Dr. Shankar has extensive experience in psychiatric education and training within academic medicine, including the teaching and supervision of medical students, psychiatry residents, and forensic psychiatry fellows, as well as roles in graduate medical education. Her educational work has emphasized evidence based clinical assessment and plans, ethical practice, sound forensic reasoning, and adherence to established professional standards, ensuring that her forensic opinions are aligned with contemporary psychiatric training and real‑world clinical practice.

  • Dr. Shankar is an active, long‑standing member of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA). She remains engaged in ongoing professional education and scholarship and has published in respected peer‑reviewed journals, including the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (JAAPL).