Congratulations to K.N. Roy Chengappa, MD (Professor of Psychiatry), who has been named a 2024 UPMC Grand Champion. The Grand Champion Award recognizes an individual who has provided unparalleled leadership in cultivating better communities. Dr. Chengappa is service line chief of Comprehensive Recovery Services at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH), which provides comprehensive specialized services to adults...

Congratulations to Jody Glance, MD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), who has been accepted to the Association of American Medical Colleges Mid-Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminar. The Mid-Career Seminar is designed for women physicians and scientists in academic institutions with demonstrated leadership ability. Dr. Glance holds multiple clinical and educational leadership positions at UPMC and...

The Psychiatry Research Pathway (PRP) Symposium provides UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital residents engaged in research the opportunity to present their work to fellow residents, faculty mentors, T32 postdoctoral research program directors, and interested members of our academic community. This year, the PRP Symposium began with a panel discussion focused on interventional psychiatry, moderated by Katherine Lyman...

Over the past decade, rates of suicidal ideation and behavior in American adolescents have increased dramatically. One strategy for preventing suicide is to develop interventions for use during elevated risk periods, such as immediately following inpatient discharge for suicidal adolescents. The time during and immediately after hospital discharge offers a critical window to enhance vulnerable youths’ coping skills...

Please join us in congratulating Mark Howard, Samantha Stilson, Jennifer Reifsneider, and Liz Yute ​​​​​​ from the Department of Psychiatry Office of Grants and Contracts (OGC), who have been recognized by the University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Research Administration Office. Mark, Samantha, Liz, and Jennifer received the following awards at the Research Administration Day ceremony on October 15, 2024...

We are delighted to announce that Andrea Goldschmidt, PhD, has received conferral of tenure at the rank of associate professor by the University of Pittsburgh. An expert in eating disorders and obesity research, Dr. Goldschmidt focuses on understanding eating behaviors that predict adverse weight-related outcomes, particularly in children and adolescents with elevated weight status. Among Dr. Goldschmidt’s key...

We are delighted to announce that Kymberly Young, PhD, has received conferral of tenure at the rank of associate professor by the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Young is an expert in the neural mechanisms of depression, and her work focuses on altered autobiographical memory in the illness, the translation of mechanistic findings from those findings to neurofeedback strategies, and the development of scalable, cost...

The Department of Psychiatry is pleased to announce that two faculty members, Beatriz Luna, PhD, and Mary Phillips, MD, MD (Cantab), have been elected to membership of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to...

Please join us in congratulating Abigail Schlesinger, MD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics), Charles Kahn, MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), and Elizabeth Kistler, MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), who have received 2024 UPMC Physician Excellence Awards. Honorees will be celebrated during the Dr. Loren Roth Quality and Patient Safety Awards later this month. Dr. Schlesinger received a...

The Department of Psychiatry has established a Center for Neural Circuit-Based Technology Interventions in Psychiatry (CNCTI-P), which will be led by Mary Phillips, MD, MD (CANTAB) (Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Clinical and Translational Science, and Bioengineering, and Pittsburgh Foundation-Emmerling Endowed Chair in Psychotic Disorders). Dr. Phillips is an international leader in affective neuroscience...