Determining how brain activity gives rise to compulsive behaviors is vital for understanding the neural underpinnings of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Individuals with OCD display disrupted performance and abnormal lateral orbitofrontal cortex activity during reversal learning tasks, yet it is unknown whether compulsions and reversal learning deficits share a common neural substrate. A group of investigators...

Neuroimaging studies of structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provide invaluable insights into the changes underlying neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, but frequently combine data collected from multiple scanners and experimental conditions. These conditions can yield data containing substantial technical variability and biases due to differences in sites, scanners, and image...

We are delighted to announce that Hader Mansour, MD, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), has been selected by the University of Pittsburgh Department of Physician Assistant Studies Class of 2021 as Preceptor of the Year in Behavioral Health. Dr. Mansour is medical director of the Addiction Medicine Services inpatient unit at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH). For the past several years, he has supervised...

Severe worry is a complex transdiagnostic phenotype independently associated with increased morbidity, including cardiovascular diseases, cognitive impairment, and accelerated brain aging. A group of investigators, including Pitt Psychiatry scientists Andrew Gerlach, PhD (postdoctoral scholar); Helmet Karim, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Bioengineering); Joseph Kazan, MD (postdoctoral scholar); Howard...

Pitt Psychiatry investigators have examined the social determinants of risk for alcohol use disorder among Black drinkers, who have elevated rates of alcohol-related health problems and mortality compared to White drinkers. Sarah Pedersen, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology); Traci Kennedy, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry); Jordan Holmes, BA, (Research Project Assistant); and Brooke Molina...

Congratulations to Jody Glance, MD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), who has been appointed to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Academy of Master Educators, which recognizes and rewards excellence in education. Dr. Glance has taught learners from graduate and medical students to residents and fellows. Moreover, she has played a key role in shaping Pitt Psychiatry’s educational offerings. Dr...

The WoodNext Foundation has committed $6.2 million to fund two research projects related to the association between genetics and sleep disruptions, led by Colleen McClung, PhD (Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical and Translational Science, and Director, Center for Adolescent Reward, Rhythms and Sleep), and Stephen Chan, MD, PhD, FAHA (Professor of Medicine, and Director, Vascular Medicine Institute). Project 1...

Over the course of three days in early November, the Center for Sleep and Circadian Science hosted the Fall 2021 SWIM (Sleep and Circadian Workshop on Indispensable Methods) Workshop and the Center’s 6th Annual Sleep and Circadian Science Research Day. SWIM is an intensive training program on state-of-the-art sleep and circadian science research methodologies. Twenty-nine trainees from across the US participated in...

We are delighted to announce that Tobias Teichert, PhD, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Teichert received his PhD in psychology from Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany) and completed postdoctoral training at the Columbia University Department of Neuroscience. After serving for a year as an Associate Research Scientist at Columbia, Dr...

Following a virtual conference in 2020, the 2021 Annual Meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) was presented in a hybrid format, online and in-person in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Honorific Award Congratulations to Susanne Ahmari, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), who received the 2021 ACNP Eva King Killam Research Award. This award honors outstanding translational research...