Dr. Hurford graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Toronto, and received her MD from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. She was chief resident during her residency at UCLA, and completed a two year research fellowship in San Diego. Dr. Hurford was faculty at the University of Pennsylvania for ten years, and she continues to be volunteer clinical faculty in the department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Hurford was founder and clinical director of the Psychosis Education, Assessment, Care, and Empowerment (PEACE) program at Horizon House, Inc, which has become a leading First-Episode Psychosis (FEP) program across the United States.  She was the founder and director of HeadsUp at the University of Pennsylvania, where she led Pennsylvania-wide efforts at FEP services program evaluation, and programmatic training in FEP Coordinated Specialty Care service implementation and delivery. Dr. Hurford is the recipient of multiple awards, including the 2017 NAMI National Exemplary Psychiatrist award, and 2017 NAMI Montgomery PA Impact Award.  Since 2021, Dr. Hurford has been pursuing intensive psychoanalytic training at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia, where she also teaches a course on psychotherapy for psychosis. Dr. Hurford is interested in the power of narrative to transform lives, and the ability of therapy to understand and reshape a person's life story.