We are delighted to announce that Ariel Gildengers, MD, has been promoted to Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Gildengers received his MD from the New Jersey Medical School and completed his psychiatry residency and a clinical fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, and a research fellowship at the Intervention Research Center for Late...

We are now accepting poster presentation abstracts to be considered for our Annual Research Day, which will take place on Thursday, June 8, 2023 at Soldiers & Sailors Hall in Oakland. This full-day event will feature an exciting poster session, expanded opportunities to participate in roundtable discussions, engaging oral research presentations from a diverse group of scientists, and an awards ceremony—not to...

We are delighted to announce that Stephen Smagula, PhD, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Smagula received his PhD in epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. He then joined the Department of Psychiatry as a postdoctoral scholar in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded T32 training program in...

Marta Peciña, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), conducts research focused on the mechanisms of antidepressant treatment response, and uses placebos to investigate how expectancies and learning mechanisms impact mood improvement. In a recent paper published in JAMA Psychiatry, Dr. Peciña and investigators including Alex Dombrovski, MD (Pittsburgh Foundation Endowed Professor in Brain and Mind Research and...

A team of investigators from Pitt Psychiatry, César Escobar-Viera, MD, PhD; Nadine Melhem, PhD; and Marta Peciña, MD, PhD, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Pittsburgh Schools of Education, Public Health, and Arts and Sciences, have received a University of Pittsburgh Momentum Fund Award for their project, “Examining Psychosocial Correlates of Loneliness and Perceived Isolation Among...

We are delighted to announce that Howard Aizenstein, MD, PhD (Charles F. Reynolds III and Ellen G. Detlefsen Endowed Chair in Geriatric Psychiatry and Professor of Bioengineering and Clinical and Translational Science), has received the American College of Psychiatrists (ACP) 2023 Geriatric Research Award. The Award recognizes outstanding contributions to research in geriatric psychiatry. An internationally...

We are pleased to announce that James Tew, MD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), has been appointed UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH) Vice President, Medical Affairs. Dr. Tew received his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and completed his psychiatry residency training and a clinical fellowship in geriatric psychiatry here at WPH. He joined the Psychiatry faculty in 2006, and he has made...

Congratulations to Hader Mansour, MD, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), who was named a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Clerkship Preceptor of the Year at the annual Curriculum Colloquium Awards. The Clerkship Preceptor of the Year Award recognizes faculty clinical preceptors who consistently provide outstanding clinical instruction in the clerkship setting for Pitt Med students. Ryan Peterson...

We are delighted to announce that Loren Roth, MD, MPH (Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry) has received the American College of Psychiatrists (ACP) Distinguished Service in Psychiatry Award. The Distinguished Service Award recognizes significant achievements and leadership in the field of psychiatry. Broadly, Dr. Roth has demonstrated a profound commitment to patient advocacy that is evident through his...

Loss of control while eating refers to a sense of being unable to control what or how much one is eating. Objectively large loss-of-control eating indicates that the loss of control is coupled with the consumption of an unambiguously large quantity of food (overeating). Conversely, subjectively large loss-of-control eating is not accompanied by overeating. Loss-of-control eating, regardless of episode size, is...