Pitt Psychiatry News from the 2023 American College of Neuropsychopharmacology Annual Meeting

2023 ACNP Annual Meeting Collage

Many University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry faculty and trainees attended the 2023 American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) annual meeting to learn about and present new research, and connect with colleagues.

Below is a recap of Pitt Psychiatry news from the meeting: 

Honorific Award

Mary Phillips, MD, MD (Cantab) (Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Clinical and Translational Science, and Bioengineering, and Pittsburgh Foundation-Emmerling Endowed Chair in Psychotic Disorders), received the 2023 Women’s Advocacy Award. The Award is presented to an individual with outstanding success in the promotion and support of women to address gender imbalance in the field of brain and behavior disorders research. 

Dr. Phillips is an international leader in affective neuroscience. The more than 50 women that Dr. Phillips has personally mentored include National Institutes of Health (NIH) K awardees; NARSAD Young Investigator awardees; Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation mentees; NIH F30 awardees; and an Association for Women in Science awardee. Dr. Phillips’s mentees have received national recognition including ACNP, Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP), American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry travel and/or poster awards; an Association for Psychological Science Rising Star Award; and an American Psychiatric Association Research Colloquium Award, among others. 

Dr. Phillips has advocated for women in science nationally. Serving on numerous committees both for ACNP and SOBP, Dr. Phillips has been involved in many initiatives supporting early-career women in science. Through this work, she perceived a gap in mentorship for women who aspired to leadership positions, so she formed and served as chair of the SOBP Women’s Leadership Group, and developed a Woman’s Leadership Group series of lunchtime meetings. This group is now a permanent committee within SOBP, and organizes a well-attended lunch at the annual meeting.

New Members

Please join us in congratulating the following individuals who have been accepted as ACNP members or fellows:

New Associate Member

  • Deepak Sarpal, MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry) – Dr. Sarpal conducts research on the neurobiology of psychosis, focusing on schizophrenia.

New Members

  • Fabio Ferrarelli, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry) – Dr. Ferrarelli studies neural oscillations, particularly during sleep, and how such oscillations affect fundamental aspects of brain function.

  • Zachary Freyberg, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Cell Biology) - Dr. Freyberg’s research focuses on improving our understanding of how the mechanisms of dopaminergic neurotransmission are associated with disorders such as addiction, schizophrenia, and Parkinson’s disease.

  • Marta Peciña, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry) - Dr. Peciña investigates the neurobiology and treatment of depression, as well as individual differences in mechanisms of antidepressant treatment response.     

Fellow:

  • Konasale Prasad MD, MBBS (MD) (Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Bioengineering) – Dr. Prasad uses a convergent approach of neuroimaging and molecular genetics to investigate neurobiology associated with variations in risk genes and environmental agents.

Travel Awards

Congratulations to the following Department members who received 2023 ACNP travel awards:

  • Kristen Eckstrand, MD, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry) - Dr. Eckstrand’s research focuses on the neural circuitry underlying emotional abuse and depression in sexual minority youth.

  • Matthew Geramita, MD, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar) - Dr. Geramita’s research focuses on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying anxiety and compulsive behaviors using translatable mouse behavioral tasks, computational modeling, optogenetics, and in vivo electrophysiology.

  • Helmet Karim, PhD (Assistant Professor o Psychiatry and Bioengineering) - Dr. Karim’s research focuses on the predictive role of the acute neural changes associated with treatment response in major depressive disorder.

  • Kyle Ketchesin, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry) - Dr. Ketchesin investigates the epigenetic mechanisms underlying circadian dysfunctions in mood disorders, particularly depression.

  • Alfredo Sklar, MD, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry) - Dr. Sklar’s research is focused on characterizing impairments in visual processing and selective attention as well as their impact on functional outcomes among individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders following their first psychotic break.

  • Sierra Stringfield, PhD (Research Instructor in Psychiatry) - Dr. Stringfield’s research is centered around understanding the behavioral consequences of cellular and circuit-level changes induced by drug exposure.

  • Joseph Stujenske, MD, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry) - Dr. Stujenske’s research focuses on the circuit mechanisms of fear and anxiety disorders.

Congratulations to all!