Edna Foa, emeritus professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, passed away earlier this year. She was 88 years old.
Raised in Israel, Dr. Foa earned her bachelors degree in psychology and literature from Bar-Ilan University. She later received her master’s degree in clinical psychology from the University of Illinois and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology and personality from the University of Missouri. Her early career in academia included faculty appointments with Allegheny University in Pennsylvania and the Medical College of Pennsylvania.
In 1999, Dr. Foa came to the University of Pennsylvania, where she founded and served as director of the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety (CTSA). In 2019, she was appointed director of the neuroscience of depression and stress program. She retired with emeritus status in 2021 but continue to teach courses in psychiatry and in the CTSA.
Dr. Foa was known for her work on the psychopathology and treatment of anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. She spent much of her career developing prolonged exposure therapy to treat PTSD, particularly as it relates to sexual assault.