Bethany Yeiser is president of the CURESZ Foundation, which she established in 2016 with Dr. Henry Nasrallah.

Before her gradual descent into schizophrenia, Bethany was a promising university honors student. By her third year at the university, she had published three articles in biochemistry, and was working as a violinist. In 2002, following her junior year of college, she spent three months as a volunteer in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya and Lagos, Nigeria, living in poverty. After her return from Africa, she had her first psychotic break. Because of undiagnosed and untreated mental illness, she was no longer able to focus on her studies. The insidious emergence of schizophrenia led her on a path away from the university and into a life of delusion and isolation. In 2003, Bethany left college, only to become homeless for four years. Eventually, a series of events led her to reclaim her life. In 2008, she made a full recovery. Bethany finished her bachelor’s degree in molecular biology with honor from the University of Cincinnati in 2011.

Today, Bethany is a sought–after motivational speaker with a passion to educate and inspire change in the way schizophrenia is perceived and treated, and in the stigma so negatively attached to this diagnosis. She has shared her story at numerous conferences and events for physicians and health care providers around the country. Her memoir Mind Estranged: My Journey from Schizophrenia and Homelessness to Recovery is her first book, published in the summer of 2014. In March of 2020, Bethany was awarded the Dr. Frederick Frese Award from the Schizophrenia and Related Disorders Alliance of America for her advocacy.

Bethany maintains a blog called “Recovery Road” on PsychologyToday.com. Her other interests include performing classical and popular music on violin, and studying ancient Hebrew and Mandarin Chinese.

Research 

1. Yeiser, B., Evidence-based treatment for schizophrenia: A personal perspective. CNS Spectrums. 28 October, 2024.
2. Yeiser, B., My Triumph Over Psychosis: A Journey From Schizophrenia and Homelessness to College Graduate. Schizophr Bull, 2016.
3. Paterson, D.L., et al., Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases in Klebsiella pneumoniae bloodstream isolates from seven countries: dominance and widespread prevalence of SHV- and CTX-M-type beta-lactamases. Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 2003. 47(11): p. 3554-60.
4. Yeiser, B., et al., SOS-induced DNA polymerases enhance long-term survival and evolutionary fitness. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2002. 99(13): p. 8737-41.
5. Hujer, A.M., et al., Development of a sensitive and specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detecting and quantifying CMY-2 and SHV beta-lactamases. J Clin Microbiol, 2002. 40(6): p. 1947-57.