Lois W. Choi-Kain, MEd, MD, is the director of the Gunderson Personality Disorders Institute (GPDI). The institute provides training and supervision nationally and internationally for managing complex patient profiles and severe personality disorders. Specifically, the GPDI promotes scalable and widely pragmatic approaches such as general psychiatric management (GPM). With her mentor, John Gunderson, Dr. Choi-Kain developed a training program for GPM and has expanded its applications.
Dr. Choi-Kain actively conducts research and publishes original studies, reviews, and clinical perspectives on BPD and its evidence-based treatments. Her research focuses on personality disorders, attachment, psychotherapy, and implementation of care. Through mentorship of post-doctoral fellows, residents, psychology interns, practicum students, and research assistants, Dr. Choi-Kain has been involved in several research studies. A major focus of her research is on access to care for patients with personality disorders. 

An added focus of Dr. Choi-Kain’s research is functional impairment in BPD. The longitudinal course of BPD indicates persistent functional impairment despite symptomatic remission. Dr. Choi-Kain studies factors related to functioning in BPD, such as social cognition and mentalization.

Taken together, these findings pave the way for a BPD care landscape in which treatment is more accessible and more effective in helping patients not only achieve remission but also functionally recover.