Graduates of the UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH) residency training program gathered with friends, family, and loved ones at the Pitt University Club on June 4, 2026. Below are the awards and honors presented at the 2026 graduation ceremony. 2026 Psychiatry Student Interest Group Exemplary Service for Excellence in Teaching Awards: Faculty: Daniel Bender, DO Resident: Ali McCathern, MD The class of 2026...

The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is crucial for higher-order cognitive processes, such as attention and working memory, which are impaired in schizophrenia. Alterations in the somatostatin and parvalbumin classes of inhibitory GABAergic interneurons in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex are thought to contribute to these cognitive impairments of schizophrenia. Both somatostatin and parvalbumin interneurons are...

We are pleased to announce that Priyanka Amin, MD, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Amin earned her MD from the Pitt School of Medicine and remained in Pittsburgh for psychiatry residency training at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH). She joined the Pitt faculty in 2019 as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry. Dr. Amin is a skilled...

Congratulations to Julia Feldman, PhD; Rayan Mroué, MD; and Andréia Rocha, PhD, who received Best Poster Presentation Awards at the University of Pittsburgh Postdoctoral Association (UPPDA) 2026 Postdoctoral Data & Dine Symposium. Dr. Feldman, Dr. Mroué, and Dr. Rocha were counted among 10 total award recipients chosen from 103 posters across 40 departments at the University. Further congratulations to Marina Scop...

Recent research in JAMA Pediatrics from Brant Hasler, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Clinical and Translational Science, and Psychology), and Meredith Wallace, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Biostatistics and Statistics) advance our understanding of the association between sleep, circadian rhythm, and sleep outcomes in young people. Chronotherapeutic Approaches to Target Insufficient and Late...

The Pascoal Lab (Principal Investigator: Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD; Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology) focuses on the quantification of brain pathophysiology in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, as well as in the validation of therapies capable of modifying the course of these diseases. Dr. Pascoal is a global leader in Alzheimer’s disease biomarker research, particularly through...

Established in 1986, the Services for Teens at Risk (STAR)-Center is a nationally recognized suicide prevention program that combines clinical and outreach services designed to combat the problem of child and adolescent suicide. The STAR-Center annual conference presents best practices in clinical care incorporated into practical guidelines, and this year addressed the theme Artificial Intelligence + Human...

We are pleased to announce that Akiko Mizuno, PhD, has been promoted to Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Mizuno earned her PhD in cognitive psychology from Carnegie Mellon University. She joined the University of Pittsburgh as a postdoctoral scholar in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded Clinical and Translational Research Training...

Plasma amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides, alone or in ratio with p-tau217, show strong potential as Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers. While immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry (IP-MS) is the preferred method for plasma Aβ quantification, current assays are resource- and time-intensive. Investigators from Pitt Psychiatry including Yijun Chen, PhD (prior graduate student, Karikari Lab); Chaeryon Kang, PhD (Associate Professor...

Pitt Psychiatry investigators have recently published papers in Neuropsychopharmacology reporting findings on biomarkers for suicidal behavior, as well as on harm avoidance in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Hair Cortisol Concentrations as a Putative Biomarker for Suicidal Behavior Suicide is a leading cause of death for young adults in the United States, but predicting who will attempt suicide is a...