Pitt Psychiatry’s Research Day, Part I: Our Scientific Community

The 24th annual Department of Psychiatry Research Day, held on June 11, 2026, was attended by 620 members of our scientific community at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum on the University of Pittsburgh campus. (Click here to read Part II of our Research Day recap.)

Lunchtime Roundtables

Our 27 roundtables were attended by 220 facilitators and participants, and focused on topics including Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Psychiatry, Writing Your First First-Author Paper, Advances in Digital Mental Health, and Managing People, Not Just Science. 

Plenary Session

Attendees gathered for the afternoon plenary session featuring Speed Dat(a)ing, Fast Pitch Psychiatry, and a vigorous debate on precision psychiatry, pitting Team Big Data against Team Focused Data. The day concluded with a celebration of honors and awards.

Speed Dat(a)ing Presenters:
 

• Kelly Beck, PhD - Designing for Implementation: Program to Improve School Environments for Autistic and Neurodivergent Children
• Andrew Gerlach, PhD - Fishing for Mechanisms Underlying Repetitive Negative Thinking
• Thomas Kraynak, PhD - Development of a Neural Signature of Worry
• Ashley Parr, PhD - Developmental Variation in Basal Ganglia Tissue Iron, Neurocognitive Functioning, and Impulsivity Is Associated with Substance Use Trajectories in Youth
• Manivel Rengasamy, MD - Leveraging the Multiverse and Replication Science to Delineate Immunological Links to Suicide Risk
• Aliona Tsypes, PhD - Mood Shapes Exploratory Behavior in Daily Life

Fast Pitch Psychiatry Presenters:

• Kristen Eckstrand, MD, PhD – I’m the Problem, It’s Me
• Melanie Grubisha, MD, PhD – Make a Mouse!
• Karen Jakubowski, PhD – Sleeping with One Eye Open: Intersection of Violence and Sleep
• Max Joffe, PhD – Can Mice Just Drink It? Step 1 to Determine How Drugs Affect the Brain
• Deepak Sarpal, MD – We Should Study Treatment Response
• Nadine Melhem, PhD – Program for the Neurobiology of Stress Response and Suicide

Debate: Pursuing Precision Psychiatry at Pitt

This debate between two teams examined two complementary strategies for advancing precision psychiatry.

Team Big Data

• Helmet Karim, PhD
• Kyle Ketchesin, PhD
• Michele Levine, PhD
• Frances Wang, PhD

Team Focused Data

• Kenneth Fish, PhD
• Matthew Geramita, MD, PhD
• Danella Hafeman, MD, PhD
• Rebecca Price, PhD

Research Staff Members of the Year

Congratulations to the individuals below, who were named 2026 Research Staff Members of the Year in one of three categories: Emerging, Experienced, or Established. An additional award was presented to the Research Team of the Year. 

• Abby Neiser (Emerging) – BITE lab
• Abby Regal (Emerging) – Perinatal Health and Behavior Lab
• Ronette Blake (Experienced) – Center for Adolescent Reward, Rhythms & Sleep
• Hollis Edvardsson (Experienced) – Youth and Family Research Program
• Firoza Lussier (Experienced) – Pascoal Lab
• Allison Caswell (Established) - Sleep, Affective Neuroscience, and Development Lab
• Michelle Wilson (Established) - Youth and Family Research Program
• Regulation of Emotion in Autistic Adults, Children, & Teens Program Staff (Research Team of the Year) – REAACT Lab

Research Review Committee Members of the Year

Four faculty members were recognized for their outstanding quality and quantity of reviews:

• Karen Jakubowski, PhD 
• Kyle Ketchesin, PhD
• Rachel Kolko Conlon, PhD
• Thomas Kraynak, PhD

Mentor Awards

Two faculty members were recognized for achievement in mentorship. 

• Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD – Emerging Mentor Award
• Daniel Buysse, MD – Distinguished Mentor Award