Investigators at Pitt Psychiatry have recently published studies in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) and Translational Psychiatry on the molecular biology of the human brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS): Diurnal rhythms across the human dorsal and ventral striatum In a paper recently published in...

Congratulations to Carla Mazefsky, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology), & Sarah Stahl, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical and Translational Science), who have received Medical Student Research Mentoring Merit Awards from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Research Mentoring Merit Awards recognize outstanding Longitudinal Research Project mentorship of graduating...

Two recent studies from the Department of Psychiatry have enhanced our understanding of the role of cortical GABA neurons in health and disease. In Biological Psychiatry, Pitt Psychiatry investigators analyzed indices of parvalbumin-expressing basket cells axon terminals across regions of the visuospatial working memory network in schizophrenia. A paper published in Cerebral Cortex examines GABA neuron transcript...

We are delighted to announce that Boris Birmaher, MD (Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Endowed Chair in Early Onset Bipolar Disease) has received the Award for Leadership in Child, Adolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry from the American College of Psychiatrists. The Award recognizes an individual who has made sustained and substantial contributions to child, adolescent and young adult mental health as...

New research from Pitt Psychiatry investigators provides insight into the development of anxiety, depression, and/or bipolar in adolescence. A Biological Psychiatry study examines the association between trauma exposure, reward neural circuitry function, and affective and anxiety disorders. In the Journal of Affective Disorders, investigators study whether child maltreatment and cognitive function influence the...

Children and adolescents with autism are nine times more likely than peers without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to require emergency room visits for psychiatric reasons, and twelve times more likely to require psychiatric hospitalization by age 21. Additionally, research suggests that poor emotion regulation is associated with a higher likelihood of co-occurring psychiatric disorders. The Emotion Dysregulation...

Many adolescents experience poor or insufficient sleep. However, research suggests that stigmatized youth, including those who identify as racial, gender, and/or sexual minorities, may experience even poorer sleep than those who do not experience stigma. Poor sleep quality is associated with mental health issues that are faced disproportionately by transgender or by gender minority adolescents (defined here as...

We are pleased to announce that Helmet Karim, PhD, has been promoted to Assistant Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Karim’s research focuses on the predictive role of the acute neural changes associated with treatment response in major depressive disorder (MDD). He is principal investigator of a National Institute of Mental Health-funded K01 career development award,...

In a recent General Hospital Psychiatry paper, Oommen Mammen, MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), and James Tew, MD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), described the importance of communicating about suicide risk with families of individuals with borderline personality disorder who are chronically suicidal. We spoke with Dr. Mammen, the paper’s lead author, about how to help families arrive at a shared...

On March 25, 2021, Pitt Psychiatry clinician-educator faculty and UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH) trainees and staff gathered virtually for the Department’s 9th Clinician Educator Showcase. The Showcase is an annual opportunity for clinician-educators to learn about promising clinical innovations and the latest quality improvement initiatives. The event includes career development roundtable discussions...