A team of investigators including Pitt Psychiatry scientists Rebecca Thurston, PhD (Pittsburgh Foundation Chair in Women's Health and Dementia and Professor of Psychiatry, Clinical and Translational Science, Epidemiology, and Psychology); Karen Jakubowski, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry); Minjie Wu, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry); and Howard Aizenstein, MD, PhD (Charles F. Reynolds III and Ellen G...

We are delighted to announce that Carla Mazefsky, PhD, has been promoted to Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Mazefsky earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University, having completed her clinical internship at the Brown University School of Medicine. She remained at Virginia Commonwealth University for postdoctoral training at the Virginia...

This month, the most recent class of early-career clinician-educator faculty graduated from the Clinician-Educator Faculty Development Program (CEFDP), a professional development opportunity for Department of Psychiatry early-career clinician-educators, specially designed to enhance clinical and academic skills, and to foster peer network connections. Because the transition to a faculty position in an academic...

The October 2021 Behavioral Health and Aging Conference addressed challenges that clinicians face when working with older patients, including assessing and managing suicide risk, assessing ability to operate a motor vehicle, and considering the therapeutic options for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The conference was attended by a diverse group of physicians, nurses, front-line staff, case managers, service...

We are delighted to congratulate Colleen McClung, PhD (Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical and Translational Science), who has received a 2021 Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF) Colvin Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Mood Disorders Research. Dr. McClung was honored at the recent International Mental Health Research Virtual Symposium, where she delivered a presentation on the relationship between...

We are delighted to announce that David Brent, MD (Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Epidemiology, and Clinical and Translational Science and Endowed Chair in Suicide Studies), has received the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) 2021 Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation Award for Research in Depression or Suicide. The award recognizes Dr. Brent’s 2020 article “Brief...

Congratulations to Shelly Kucherer, MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), who has received the Pittsburgh Psychiatric Society 2021 Early Career Psychiatrist Award! Dr. Kucherer joined the Pitt Psychiatry faculty in 2019, having completed her psychiatry residency training and a consultation-liaison psychiatry fellowship at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital. She is currently Associate Medical Director, Center for...

The annual TransPride Pittsburgh Health and Wellness Conference, held over three days in October, addressed the theme Rising to the Challenge—a dual meaning intended to encourage professionals to meet the needs of the trans community, as well as to elevate the voices of community members. The conference included trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming speakers, as well as cisgender speakers who were encouraged...

Recent papers from the Department of Psychiatry examine clinical initiatives around consultation-liaison psychiatry and first-episode psychosis, consultation-liaison psychiatry in the obstetrical setting, and the expansion of telepsychiatry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry: First-Episode Psychosis and the Role of the Psychiatric Consultant Timely recognition...

Investigators including Pitt Psychiatry’s Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology), have published a paper in Nature Medicine investigating the correlation between microglial activation, abnormal tau tangles (a pattern known as Braak stages), and dementia symptoms. Recent research has suggested that microglial activation is a key player in the progression of tau pathology, which...