The Department of Psychiatry is pleased to announce the promotion of Amy Byrd, PhD, to Assistant Professor of Psychiatry. Dr. Byrd’s primary research interest is the neurobiological processes underlying the development and persistence of reactive aggression. She focuses on adolescence, a particularly vulnerable developmental window characterized by changes in neural circuitry associated with threat and...

Many patients experiencing first-episode psychosis don’t receive medical care until they have endured psychotic symptoms for an extended period, which is referred to as duration of untreated psychosis (DUP). Such long periods of untreated psychosis—the average length is 74 weeks—are associated with poorer clinical outcomes, creating an urgent need to improve the means to reduce DUP. An important step toward this...

It is our pleasure to announce that Pierre Azzam, MD, has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Azzam is a highly respected specialist in consultation-liaison (CL) psychiatry and is dually certified in psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine. He earned his MD from Baylor College of Medicine in 2005 and completed his psychiatry residency...

Gina Perez, MD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, is Associate Chief, Behavioral Health Network and Telepsychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). Dr. Perez earned her medical degree at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed her residency at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital. After beginning her career at the University of Maryland and then serving as the Regional Medical...

A new study finds lesbian and bisexual teen girls are more likely than heterosexual girls to close down communication with their parents over the years. This loss of parent-child communication was linked to greater risk for marijuana and cigarette use when the teen turned 18, report Department of Psychiatry researchers and collaborators in the Journal of Adolescence. Most teens pull away from their parents as they...

Please join us for this special event held during the American Psychiatric Association meeting in San Francisco on Monday, May 20th from 8:00 am to 9:30 am. David A. Lewis, MD, Department Chair, and Kenneth C. Nash, MD, Vice Chair, Clinical Affairs will host the event. Click here to RSVP.

The Department of Psychiatry is delighted to announce that Camila Aponte, MD, Brian C. Thoma, PhD, and Mary Woody, PhD, have joined the faculty at the rank of assistant professor. Dr. Aponte earned her MD from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia. After receiving her medical degree, she completed a residency in adult psychiatry and a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at the Cleveland...

The ability to predict suicidal behavior in psychiatric patients is one of the most challenging and high-stakes aspects of clinical practice. However, psychiatric diagnoses are of limited value for prediction because the risk for suicidal behavior can vary substantially over the course of a psychiatric illness. Researchers including University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry investigators Nadine Melhem, PhD...

Suicidal behavior is often misunderstood as a strategic decision that follows a thorough evaluation of circumstances, alternative solutions and possible deterrents. Yet, clinicians know that those at-risk for suicide may not reliably assess the proportion of triggering circumstances relative to the impact of the suicidal act. Suicide can, at times, be especially difficult to understand because although it may...

Howard J. Aizenstein, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry Charles F. Reynolds III and Ellen G. Detlefsen Endowed Chair in Geriatric Psychiatry and Professor of Bioengineering and Clinical and Translational Science, was selected to receive the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Department of Mathematics 2019 Mathematics Alumni Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement. Dr. Aizenstein attended...