File:2015 Carnaval King R. Jefferson Joseph and Grupo Tania Santiago - Carnaval San Francisco 2015 Parade 485 (17799809553).jpg

English: 2015 Carnaval King R. Jefferson Joseph appearing on a 2nd lap with his band of Grupo Tania Santiago is also a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist.

He works with children, teens, adults, couples, and families. Using his expertise in psychotherapy and medication management, he is committed to empowering his patients on their paths towards mental and emotional health. His areas of interest include anxiety, PTSD, depression, ADHD, identity development, LGBT concerns, male body image issues, relationship issues, and concerns related to artists and performers. He has a background in the performing arts and graduated from Brown University with degrees in Ethnic Studies and Psychology. He completed his medical and adult psychiatry training at Brown where he received several medical scholar awards and honors in Adult Psychiatry. During this time, he also received honors in a Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Elective at Cornell University and completed a research assistantship at Columbia University. He moved to the Bay Area to complete a Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco, where he received the Irving Philips, MD Memorial Award for Excellence in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. He is an active member of the American Psychiatric Association and American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Jefferson has studied and performed Afro-Brazilian folkloric with Tania Santiago, Afro-Brazilian Modern with Paco Gomes, and Afro-Cuban Contemporary with Ramon Ramos Alayo. He has paraded with Grupo Tania Santiago in Carnaval San Francisco and has danced in Carnaval in Bahia, Brazil. He is a first-generation Haitian-American. As an Ivy-League educated, married, black, gay male working as a psychiatrist and dancer and living in the Mission, he is a positive role model and example of the rich diversity that makes San Francisco great.