News

September 18, 2015

Department

WPIC Psychology Interns

WPIC Psychology Internship Program Welcomes New ClassThe Department of Psychiatry and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC (WPIC) are pleased to welcome a new class to the WPIC Psychology Internship Program. Seen here with the Internship Program?s Co-Directors, Drs. Tina Goldstein and Michele Levine, and their administrator, Beth Fyne, the class represents a broad range of interests. Sophia Choukas...

September 14, 2015

Publications

Hot Publication - Hall and Colleagues

African Genetic Ancestry is Associated with Sleep Depth in Older African Americans Halder I, Matthews KA, Buysse DJ, Strollo PJ, Causer V, Reis SE and Hall MH SLEEP, 38:1185-1193, 2015 A new study clearly establishes a partial genetic basis underlying racial differences in slow-wave sleep, suggesting that it may be possible to develop sleep-related therapies that target specific genetic variants. Using a panel of 1...

September 8, 2015

Publications

Hot Publication - Bylsma et al.

Juvenile onset depression alters cardiac autonomic balance in response to psychological and physical challengesBylsma LM, Yaroslavsky I, Rottenberg J, Jennings JR, George CJ, Kiss E, Kapornai K, Halas K, Dochnal R, Lefkovics E, Benák I, Baji I, Vetró A and Kovacs MBiological Psychology, 110:167-174, 2015Cardiac autonomic balance (CAB) indexes the ratio of parasympathetic to sympathetic activation, and is believed...

September 2, 2015

Faculty

Carla Mazefsky, PhD Promoted to Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the Pitt School of Medicine

Congratulations to Dr. Carla Mazefsky on her promotion to the rank of Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Mazefsky is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). After receiving a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the Virginia Commonwealth University, she obtained postdoctoral training at the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric...

August 28, 2015

Publications

Hot Publication - JAMA Psychiatry

Altered Markers of Cortical ?-Aminobutyric Acid Neuronal Activity in Schizophrenia: Role of the NARP Gene Kimoto S, Zaki MM, Bazmi HH and Lewis DAJAMA Psychiatry, 72:747-756, 2015In schizophrenia, working memory deficits appear to reflect abnormalities in the generation of gamma oscillations in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The generation of gamma oscillations requires the phasic excitation of inhibitory...

August 26, 2015

Faculty

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Promotes Dr. Benjamin Handen to Professor of Psychiatry

The Department of Psychiatry is pleased to announce the promotion of Benjamin Handen, PhD to the rank of Professor of Psychiatry. Dr. Handen is a leader in the development of clinical services for children with autism and developmental disabilities, and an internationally recognized researcher in the field of autism and developmental disabilities.After obtaining a PhD from the University of Massachusetts, Dr...