Working for Kids: Building Skills TM, led by Judy Cameron, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry was one of 29 companies to emanate from the University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute in 2017. The team is now offering this educational program, which educates communities about child brain development and interventions needed to help children succeed later in life, through Working for Kids: Building Skills LLC. Initially...

Alcohol use is responsible for about 4% of all deaths worldwide. Alcohol abuse and dependence are also frequently seen in individuals diagnosed with head and neck cancer. Defining the factors that contribute to this increased risk for these cancers is critical to the ultimate goal of reducing cancer development. Because about 30% of all types of cancers involve the HRAS oncogene, its expression is of importance to...

Alexandre Dombrovski, MD and Susanne E. Ahmari, MD, PhD have been elected to the membership of the American Society of Clinical Investigators (ASCI). The Society, one of the nation’s oldest and most respected medical honor societies, is comprised of young physician-scientists from all medical specialties. Members are elected for their outstanding records of scholarly achievement in biomedical research. Dr. Ahmari...

Published in Translational Psychiatry Severe worry arises from a complex blend of maladaptive affective and cognitive processes. Contrary to other forms of anxiety, there is no consensus in the field regarding the neural basis of worry. No previous study has looked at cerebral blood flow changes associated specifically with in-scanner induction and reappraisal of worry. In the first study of its kind, Department of...

Dana Rofey, PhD, has spent her career studying the relations between cognitive, structural, and functional brain status and response to and provision of weight management programs. She has developed an impressive body of interrelated clinical work and programming and scientific studies related to eating, gender identity, and adolescent/early adult health behavior. Her research has been consistently funded by the...

The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) selected three faculty members (Drs. Jay Fournier, Danella Hafeman and Judith Morgan) and a Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) student (Dr. Wonjae Chung) in the Department of Psychiatry to receive travel awards. ACNP annually selects distinguished young scientists in the field of neuropsychopharmacology to receive these awards, which offer an opportunity...

Published in Molecular Psychiatry Department of Psychiatry members John Enwright, PhD; Dominique Arion, PhD; and David A. Lewis, MD, along with colleagues from other departments, have identified cell type-specific molecular alterations in schizophrenia, which could propel strategies for identifying novel therapeutic targets. The researchers investigated the molecular alterations associated with schizophrenia at the...

Jessica Levenson, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist treating adolescents and adults for mood and sleep disorders. Her research interests are designing and evaluating interventions for adolescents that enhance sleep health specifically to promote mental and physical health broadly. She uses qualitative and quantitative approaches to develop stakeholder-informed interventions that are likely to be effective...

Early identification of individuals at high risk for the onset of bipolar spectrum disorder (BPSD) is key from both a clinical and research perspective. In this study, Dr. Hafeman and colleagues built a risk calculator to predict the five-year onset of BPSD in youth at familial risk. This study tested the degree to which a time-to-event model, including measures of mood and anxiety, general psychosocial functioning...

Congratulations to Sansea Jacobson, MD on her election as Co-Chair of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Training and Education Committee. This committee of 13 national leaders, in collaboration with the AACAP Alliance for Learning and Innovation (AALI), is charged with the task of creating and promoting high-quality, innovative educational resources and initiatives to support learners...