We are delighted to announce that Boris Birmaher, MD, and David A. Brent, MD, have each been named Distinguished Professor by the University of Pittsburgh. Boris Birmaher, MD (Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Endowed Chair in Early Onset Bipolar Disease) Dr. Birmaher, an international expert in child and adolescent psychiatry, has been a member of University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry faculty...

“I came to this research with a specific question inspired by recent literature showing that, in adults with bipolar disorder, lithium is superior to other mood stabilizers,” said Dr. Danella Hafeman, lead author on a recent study in Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. “But there was not similar research around mood stabilizers in young people with bipolar disorder,” she added. Dr...

Department of Psychiatry faculty and UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH) residents attended the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), disseminating their expertise through 26 workshops, posters and presentations on numerous topics in the field, as well as on well-being for physicians and career development for medical students and residents. The annual conference...

The paper described below was selected as a Journal of Affective Disorders Editor’s Choice. Is worry good for you? According to a study focused on anxiety in older adults, and published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, a moderate level of worry can enhance connectivity among brain regions involved in emotion regulation—while excessive worry yields the inverse effect. Generalized anxiety disorder is common in...

We are pleased to announce that Loren Sobel, MD, MS has won a Candidates’ Council Psychoanalytic Paper Prize, a prestigious national award given by the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA). Dr. Sobel is a UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH) resident graduate, as well as a graduate of the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center training program in psychoanalysis. He is a member of the volunteer faculty at WPH...

The Department of Psychiatry is delighted to announce that Caitlin Conner, PhD, Lisa Mengwall-Weinstock, MD, and Maggie Whelan, MD, PhD, have joined our faculty. Caitlin Conner, PhD After completing a clinical internship at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Dr. Conner earned her PhD in clinical science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2017. She then joined the University of...

Working memory, the ability to maintain a limited amount of information “in mind” to guide everyday thoughts and behaviors, is a core cognitive process. Its function depends on activity in a network of brain areas distributed across the cerebral cortex. Each of these areas display different patterns of activity while information is being maintained. These differences are correlated with, and might depend on...

On October 10, 2019, Pitt Psychiatry clinician-educator faculty and UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH) trainees and staff filled the WPH meeting rooms, classrooms and auditorium for the Clinician Educator Showcase. The Showcase, now in its eighth year, is an annual opportunity to learn in-depth about promising clinical innovations and the latest quality improvement initiatives. The day also provides ample time...

Pictured above: Drs. Priyanka Amin, Thersilla Oberbarnscheidt, Shelly Kucherer, Dan Bender and Ran Li. The Department of Psychiatry extends a warm welcome to the physicians below, who join our clinician-educator faculty at the rank of assistant professor. Priyanka Amin, MD Dr. Amin earned her MD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Following her graduation from medical school, she joined Western...

Congratulations to Rebecca Thurston, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Clinical and Translational Science, Epidemiology and Psychology, who has been named 2019–2020 President, North American Menopause Society. “It is a privilege to lead this fantastic organization devoted to the study and care of midlife women,” said Dr. Thurston. Dr. Thurston is an expert in the field of mid- and late-life women’s mental and...