Three Psychiatry Postdoctoral Research Trainees Receive University of Pittsburgh Postdoctoral Association Awards
Congratulations to Ligia Antezana, PhD; Carolina Soares, PhD; and Lindsay Taraban, PhD, who received Best Poster Presentation Awards at the University of Pittsburgh Postdoctoral Association 2025 Postdoctoral Data & Dine Symposium. Dr. Antezana, Dr. Soares, and Dr. Taraban were counted among 11 total award recipients selected from 130 submissions.
Dr. Antezana is a clinical psychologist who conducts research in the lab of Carla Mazefsky, PhD (Nancy J. Minshew, MD Chair in Autism Research and Professor of Psychiatry, Clinical and Translational Science, and Psychology). Her work focuses on studying restricted and repetitive behaviors and cognitive and affective mechanisms in autistic people, and her award-winning poster was entitled “Characterizing Patterns and Correlates of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Autistic Adults.”
Dr. Soares earned her PhD in biochemistry. She conducts research on neuroscience and memory-related diseases in the lab of Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology), where she studies the interplay between Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers from biofluids and PET imaging using statistical modeling. Her award-winning poster was entitled "Profiling Amyloid-Negative, Tau-Positive Individuals with Two Tau PET Tracers: Implications for Tauopathies.” Dr. Soares was additionally selected as a Fan Favorite Poster Award in the category of Clinical and Surgical Sciences.
Dr. Taraban is a clinical and developmental psychologist interested in understanding and strengthening the protective role of the parent-child relationship in the context of early life stress. She conducts research in the lab of Judith Morgan, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology), and her award-winning poster was entitled “Maternal Parenting-Related Confidence Predicts Neural Co-Regulation among Mother-Infant Dyads.”
Congratulations to Dr. Antezana, Dr. Soares, and Dr. Taraban!