Priyanka Amin, MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Director of Patient Safety), and Joseph (Joe) Zimmerman, MSN (Director of Quality and Patient Safety), are partners in innovating and evolving a culture of safety throughout UPMC Western Behavioral Health (WBH). Their collaboration over the past two years has resulted in a transformational win: Results of a 2025 survey indicated that safety scores...

Congratulations to Heather Joseph, DO (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics), who has been named a UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh RK Mellon Institute Pediatric Research Scholar. The Pediatric Research Scholar program is a networking and mentorship opportunity for talented early-career scientists who are performing cutting-edge pediatric research. In addition, Mellon Scholars benefit from regular...

Please join us in congratulating Mariana Rieke, Kasey Godard, Cassidy Leasure, Scott Lewis, Bridget Leyland, and Alex Walters from the Department of Psychiatry Office of Grants and Contracts (OGC), who have been recognized by the University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Research Administration Office. Mariana, Kasey, Cassidy, Scott, Bridget, and Alex received the following awards at the Research Administration Day...

Please join us in congratulating Patrick Buckley, MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), who has been honored with two prestigious awards, a UPMC Physician Excellence Award and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award. Dr. Buckley was recently honored at the 2025 Dr. Loren Roth Quality and Patient Safety Awards Celebration. The UPMC Physician Excellence Award – New Physician Excellence in Clinical Care honors a...

The Psychiatry Research Pathway (PRP) Symposium provides UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital residents engaged in research the opportunity to present their work to fellow residents, faculty mentors, T32 postdoctoral research program directors, and interested members of our academic community. The PRP is led by Director and PRP alum Danella Hafeman, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), together with associate...

Alterations in reward-related brain activity have been linked to response to psychological treatment in adolescents with anxiety disorders. However, it remains unknown whether these effects are driven by reward anticipation or feedback, which reflect different functional roles in motivated behavior, or to what extent brain activity changes as a function of treatment response and relates to future depression. A team...

Rui Peixoto, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), is an expert in developmental neuroscience and investigates abnormalities in cortical and striatal development associated with autism spectrum disorder. He is senior author of recent papers published in Cell Reports and Molecular Psychiatry. “Our recent findings provide new insight into how the striatum and basal ganglia shape the maturation of prefrontal...

As adolescents increasingly use screen-based devices to watch videos, text, use social media, videochat, and play games, health care professionals have grown concerned that excessive screen time could contribute to mental health problems (such as depression) in this population. Excessive screen time may impact sleep duration and brain structural connectivity—such as white matter organization—which are critical for...

Congratulations to Alexis McCathern, MD (PGY5 child & adolescent psychiatry fellow; chief resident of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship), who has been recently recognized by the University of Pittsburgh/UPMC, as well as by the American Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). Dr. McCathern has been selected as a recipient of the AACAP Educational Outreach Program (EOP) for child and...

The Department of Psychiatry extends a warm welcome to three new faculty members: Anastasia Samaras, MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry) Dr. Samaras earned her MD from Eastern Virginia Medical School, where she additionally completed psychiatry residency, serving as chief resident. Dr. Samaras then undertook geriatric psychiatry fellowship training at Mass General Brigham in Boston, and served for two years as a...