Meet the PI Lectures

We are kicking off 2021 with a Meet the PI lecture featuring the work of Elizabeth Venditti, PhD. Dr. Venditti is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and directs the University of Pittsburgh Diabetes Prevention Support Center. She is an expert in developing scalable behavioral change interventions—aligned with community health services—to prevent obesity and diabetes.

We hope you will join us for the next Meet the PI lecture featuring the work of Amelia Versace, MD. Dr. Versace is an expert in diffusion imaging data analyses and she uses innovative diffusion imaging techniques to examine abnormalities in specific white matter tracts important for emotional regulation in a variety of psychiatric disorders. Her research examines the neurobiology of emotion regulation and associated psychiatric disorders.

The Meet the PI lecture series continues on February 26th with a presentation by Gale Richardson, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Richardson is an expert on the developmental effects of prenatal substance use, specifically focusing on prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) and its long-term effects on offspring.

We are delighted to feature the work of Ann Cohen, PhD at our next Meet the PI lecture. Dr. Cohen is a leader in translational research in amyloid-based neurodegenerative conditions. Her work focuses on the early detection of beta-amyloid and factors that might modify the relationship between amyloid deposition and the normal concomitants of advancing age. She investigates the relationship between subclinical Alzheimer’s Disease pathology and modifiable risk factors that could explain the development of cognitive changes in midlife and old age.

The Department will feature the research of Dr. Carmen Andreescu at the next Meet the PI lecture on April 9th. Dr. Andreescu is an international expert on the clinical treatment of late-life anxiety. Her research focuses on the affective and cognitive neuroscience of late-life anxiety and depression and she has pioneered a unique neurocognitive and translational approach to her work.

We hope you will join us on October 15, 2021 when we feature the work of Brant Hasler, PhD as part of our Meet the PI lecture series.