DEI

On June 19, 2024, more than 100 members of the Department of Psychiatry and UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital community gathered for a screening of the film, Freedom House Ambulance: The First Responders, and a discussion with the filmmaker and invited guests from Freedom House. David Lewis, MD (Chair, Department of Psychiatry) opened the event, noting “Juneteenth is an important holiday to remember and reflect...

Congratulations to Cynthia Felix, MD, MPH, and Shalini Sivathasan, PhD, who received Best Poster Presentation Awards at the University of Pittsburgh Postdoctoral Association 2024 Postdoctoral Data & Dine Symposium. Dr. Felix is a postdoctoral associate focusing on advanced Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers in the lab of Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology). Her award-winning...

The 2024 Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP) Annual Meeting was held in Austin, TX. Pitt Psychiatry faculty and trainees gathered for a program that explored whether the translational medicine approach is living up to its promise in psychiatry. The conference additionally presented the opportunity to network and meet up with Pitt Psychiatry friends and alums! Gold Medal Award Mary Phillips, MD, MD (Cantab)...

On June 19, 2023, Juneteenth, Department of Psychiatry faculty, staff, and trainees—including a brand-new class of PGY1 psychiatry interns—gathered for a Juneteenth lunch, video presentation, and panel discussion. Following the presentation of a “The historical significance of Juneteenth,” produced by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Isaiah Crum, MD (rising PGY3 psychiatry...

A team of investigators from Pitt Psychiatry, César Escobar-Viera, MD, PhD; Nadine Melhem, PhD; and Marta Peciña, MD, PhD, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Pittsburgh Schools of Education, Public Health, and Arts and Sciences, have received a University of Pittsburgh Momentum Fund Award for their project, “Examining Psychosocial Correlates of Loneliness and Perceived Isolation Among...

The Department of Psychiatry Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI) Leadership Council represents the recent step in a continued journey to enhance DEI in our community ( learn more about this work here). Composed of nine Department of Psychiatry faculty members, the Council provides continuity and dynamism to our DEI-related efforts, so that we can continue to engage our academic community in a way that matches...