University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Promotes Mary Woody, PhD, to Associate Professor of Psychiatry
We are pleased to announce that Mary Woody, PhD, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Dr. Woody earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Binghamton University, having completed her clinical psychology internship at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH). She remained in Pittsburgh for postdoctoral training in Pitt Psychiatry’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded clinical research training for psychologists T32 program before joining the Pitt Psychiatry faculty.
Dr. Woody investigates the etiology and maintenance of adolescent depression, with a primary goal of identifying risk factors that can be targeted in clinical prevention and intervention programs. In the study of affective disorders, Dr. Woody has employed multiple different probes, including pupillometry, eye-tracking, response time to affective stimuli, steady state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to examine biomarkers of the presence and risk for mood and anxiety disorders. Dr. Woody is among the first to pioneer the use of SSVEPs—electroencephalogram (EEG) signals elicited when the brain is exposed to a visual stimulus. She is now working to translate this novel assessment tool to its logical clinical target via EEG neurofeedback, all while utilizing a novel augmented reality therapeutic environment that is especially engaging for adolescents. This line of work has resulted in a patent application filed by the University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute, with Dr. Woody named as the lead inventor.
Dr. Woody leads an NIMH Biobehavioral Research Awards for Innovative New Scientists (BRAINS) R01 to determine whether SSVEPs and media consumption of gun violence events can be used to predict future adolescent anxiety and depression. Dr. Woody is also principal investigator (PI) of a National Science Foundation grant, a Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation Child and Adolescent Depression Fellowship, and a Brain & Behavior Foundation Young Investigator Grant. Her prior grant support includes an NIMH K23 award. Dr. Woody has earned awards and honors including the Association for Psychological Science Rising Star Award, and an Anxiety and Depression Association of America Career Development Leadership Program Award. Dr. Woody is a foundational and highly active member of the Research Equity and Community Health Collaborative (REACH), and, nationally, she is involved in the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) and Society of Biological Psychiatry.
Dr. Woody has trained, mentored, or provided clinical supervision for graduate and medical students, clinical psychology interns, psychiatry residents, and postdoctoral trainees. She has provided research mentorship to trainees across disciplines including psychology, engineering and social work.
“Dr. Woody has developed innovative methods of assessment of affective bias and has employed those methods to create new treatment interventions. She is a skilled and generous teacher and mentor, and her mentees have been highly productive while working in her lab. In addition, she is highly engaged in service and an outstanding member of the scientific community,” said David Lewis, MD (Chair, Department of Psychiatry).
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Woody!