We are delighted to announce that Meryl Butters, PhD, has been promoted to Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Butters is an internationally recognized expert in geriatric mental health. Through her exploration of the interface of depression and cognitive decline, she has contributed important new insights related to our understanding of dementia symptoms in the elderly...

Chronic low back pain and depression are common and frequently co-occurring in late life. Yet treatment can be challenging as these conditions are risk factors for each other, and both interfere with the other’s treatment response. Opioids may be a marker of poor treatment response for both depression and pain. In addition, there is limited evidence of the efficacy of opioids for patients with chronic pain, and...

Congratulations to Joseph Pierri, MD, Neeta Shenai, MD, and Daniel Varon, MD, who have been honored for excellence in education at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine annual Curriculum Colloquium. The event recognizes outstanding faculty contributions to medical education through classroom and clinical teaching, mentoring and innovation. Faculty and students submit nominations for the awards, and...

“During the whole of my training, I had only one female mentor,” remembers Mary Phillips, MD MD (Cantab) (Pittsburgh Foundation-Emmerling Endowed Chair in Psychotic Disorders and Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical and Translational Science). “If you never see a woman as a leader, you risk internalizing the belief that women can’t succeed in that role.” Dr. Phillips counts herself among the Neurochicks, an...

Save the date! On Thursday, June 4, 2020, the Department of Psychiatry will host our 20th annual Research Day. This annual event provides the opportunity to highlight diverse research projects conducted by Pitt Psychiatry’s talented faculty, postdoctoral scholars, trainees and staff. Research Day also offers plenty of opportunities for networking, building new collaborations, and reconnecting with colleagues (and...

Tools that help psychiatrists and psychologists measure emotion dysregulation—the inability to effectively modulate the intensity or duration of emotional responses—are critical to the diagnosis and treatment of numerous psychiatric disorders. However, for youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), scientists have questioned the suitability of existing measures, given that young people with ASD can have highly...

(Pictured L-R: Justin Shuster, MD, Laima Spokas, MD, Camila Aponte, MD, Jessica Kettel, MD, PhD) We are delighted to recognize the achievements of the clinician-educator faculty members below, who have recently been appointed to medical director roles at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH). Camila Aponte, MD (Medical Director: UPMC Center for Eating Disorders) Dr. Aponte joined the Department of Psychiatry...

For Department of Psychiatry clinical faculty and trainees, one of the most rewarding aspects of providing behavioral health care at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH) is the opportunity to develop innovative clinical interventions. Two projects, recently funded by The Beckwith Institute’s Frontline Innovation Program, aim to help young people experiencing psychiatric disorders. Phone-based Intervention for...

Three studies are featured below as Pitt Psychiatry “game changers” for their contributions to research on visualizing the human brain. Longitudinal Changes in Brain Activation during Anticipation of Monetary Loss in Bipolar Disorder Investigators including Anna Manelis, PhD, and Mary Phillips, MD, have, for the first time, examined longitudinal changes in brain activation during win and loss anticipation to...

On a recent morning at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH), a staff member was greeted by a WPH safety officer. Following a quick exchange about elevator service, the officer said, “Hey, you have an awesome day!” WPH safety officers are visible throughout the hospital, maintaining a regular presence on the inpatient units and responding to calls for assistance with challenging patient encounters. They are the...