We are pleased to announce that Rebecca Thurston, PhD, FABMR, FSBSM, has been appointed Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh. A distinguished professorship constitutes the highest honor that the University can accord a member of the professoriate. Dr. Thurston is one of the top international experts in women’s health. At the University of Pittsburgh, she serves as Pittsburgh...

Please join us in congratulating Kurt Ackerman, MD, PhD (Clinician Emeritus of Psychiatry), who has received the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (ACLP)’s 2025 Special Recognition Award, recognizing an individual who has provided outstanding service to the field of consultation-liaison psychiatry locally and nationally. The Award, as determined by the ACLP Fellowship and Awards Committee, is a special...

Pitt Psychiatry extends a warm welcome to new clinical faculty members—and recent UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH) resident alums— Anika Binner, MD, and Isabella Kratzer, MD. Anika Binner, MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry) Dr. Binner earned her MD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She completed child and adolescent psychiatry residency training and fellowship at WPH in the Academic...

Recent papers in Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging examine neural connectivity in late-life anxiety and depression. “Together, these two studies highlight the central role of the default mode network—a diverse set of brain regions theorized to integrate our experiences and sense of self—and its relationship with other large-scale brain networks in affective...

In infancy and throughout childhood, high levels of negative emotionality (for example, frequent and intense crying), low levels of positive emotionality (for example, limited smiling and laughter), and deficits in emotional regulation can predict future behavioral and affective disorders. White matter tracts in the brain develop rapidly in the first postnatal year, and their development is critical for...

Melanie Grubisha, MD, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), investigates the molecular underpinnings of psychiatric and neurological disease, focusing on the molecular pathways responsible for both typical and aberrant dendritic development across adolescence. Two recent papers in Neurobiology of Disease describe recent findings on the association between dendritic alterations and risk for schizophrenia...

We are pleased to announce that Caitlin Conner, PhD, has been promoted to Research Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Conner earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, having completed a clinical internship at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Upon receiving her doctorate, she came to Pittsburgh...

A cohort of early-career clinician-educator faculty members recently achieved a professional milestone, graduation from the Clinician-Educator Faculty Development Program (CEFDP). The CEFDP is a professional development opportunity that provides formalized support to help assistant professor-level, clinician-educator faculty members navigate their career progression. The program provides sessions with practical...

Please join us in congratulating Natacha De Genna, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Clinical and Translational Science, and Epidemiology), who has been awarded fellow status with the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SNRT), a distinction conferred by the SNRT on members in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of nicotine and tobacco research. In addition, Dr. De Genna received...

Cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia, including impaired working memory, is associated with altered GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) signaling in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Among GABA neurons, the somatostatin–expressing subtype appears to be especially affected because multiple postmortem studies have reported large somatostatin messenger RNA (mRNA) deficits in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of...