Investigators including Jessie Northrup, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), and Carla Mazefsky, PhD (Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology), from Pitt Psychiatry, have conducted a study of how emotion dysregulation—challenges in modulating the intensity and duration of emotional reactions—may relate to aggressive or self-injurious behaviors in autistic individuals. The study, published in Autism Research...

We are thrilled to announce that Susanne Ahmari, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), has been awarded an inaugural Pitt Health Sciences Ascending Star Award, which recognizes highly productive, creative, mid-career faculty members from across the Health Sciences. Dr. Ahmari is an expert in the identification of the molecular, cellular, and circuit mechanisms underlying obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)...

Substance use disorder is a public health crisis for which new treatments are urgently needed. In rare cases, regional brain damage (for example, following a stroke) can lead to addiction remission, and such cases can be used to identify therapeutic targets for neuromodulation. A group of investigators, including Khaled Moussawi, MD, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Bioengineering), from Pitt...

Although multiple specific sleep characteristics can contribute to risk factors for alcohol and cannabis use and related problems in later adolescence and young adulthood, most research has examined a limited range of sleep characteristics within a narrow age span. In a recent study, Pitt Psychiatry investigators including Brant Hasler, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Clinical and...

Pitt Psychiatry extends a warm welcome to two new faculty members who have joined our Department: Jihui Lee, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry) Dr. Lee earned her PhD in biostatistics at Columbia University, and completed postdoctoral training at Weill Cornell Medicine in the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology (Department of Healthcare Policy and Research). Dr. Lee’s research focuses on the analysis of...

We are pleased to announce that Jessie Northrup, PhD, has been promoted to Assistant Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Northrup earned her PhD in clinical and developmental psychology from the University of Pittsburgh, and conducted her clinical psychology internship at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital. Her research focuses on emotion regulation in individuals with...

We are delighted to announce that Victor Villemagne, MD (Professor of Psychiatry), has been awarded the prestigious 2022 Aging Mind Foundation Award for his project on in vivo assessment of neuroimmune response to Alzheimer’s disease pathology and neurodegeneration. The highly competitive, annually awarded grant is given to a scientific research study that seeks to elucidate the cause of Alzheimer’s disease and...

Pitt Psychiatry extends a warm welcome to three recent additions to our faculty: Abigail Geisler, DO (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry) Dr. Geisler earned her medical degree at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. Upon receiving her DO, she completed residency training in psychiatry at Allegheny Health Network, where she was named chief resident and resident of the year. Dr. Geisler joined the Pitt...

Congratulations to Danella Hafeman, MD, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), who has been named director of the Department’s Psychiatry Research Pathway (PRP) for residents. Dr. Hafeman succeeds David Volk, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), who has provided outstanding leadership of the program since 2012. In addition, we are pleased to announce that Zachary Freyberg, MD, PhD (Assistant Professor of...

Vaccine hesitancy around COVID-19, in which individuals neither fully accept nor fully reject the COVID-19 vaccine, presents a major health threat in the midst of the current pandemic. In some instances, traditional approaches for addressing vaccine hesitancy in health care can increase feelings of reluctance. Motivational interviewing, a collaborative conversation style for strengthening motivation and commitment...