The Department of Psychiatry Welcomes New Faculty Members Ahmad Mayeli, PhD, and Salome Vanwoerden, PhD

Pitt Psychiatry extends a warm welcome to two new research faculty members:

Ahmad Mayeli, PhD (Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry)

Dr. Mayeli received his PhD in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Oklahoma, and completed postdoctoral research training in the Pitt Department of Psychiatry. As a postdoc, Dr. Mayeli’s research focused on unraveling the intricate neurobiology of psychiatric disorders, with a particular emphasis on sleep disturbance in schizophrenia. In the laboratory of Fabio Ferrarelli, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), he is continuing this work, focusing on studying sleep abnormalities in psychotic diseases and potential interventions to improve such abnormalities. Dr. Mayeli has served as first and/or corresponding author of recent peer-reviewed articles in journals including Nature Communications, JAMA Psychiatry, and Molecular Psychiatry.

Salome Vanwoerden, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry)

Dr. Vanwoerden earned her PhD in clinical psychology, with a minor in quantitative methods, from the University of Houston after completing a clinical internship in the Pitt Department of Psychiatry at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital. She remained in Pittsburgh for postdoctoral research training through the Department’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded T32 clinical research training for psychologists program, and an NIMH F32 fellowship. Dr. Vanwoerden’s postdoctoral research focused on the effects of maternal borderline personality disorder on toddler theory of mind development. She currently leads an NIMH-funded K01 career development award focused on investigating dysfunctional behavior with friends during middle childhood as a precursor to borderline personality disorder pathology.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Mayeli and Dr. Vanwoerden!