Psychiatry Residents Present Robust Research at the 7th Annual Psychiatry Research Pathway Symposium

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, MD (PGY4 psychiatry resident), and including panelists Marie Anne Gebara, MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), Fabio Ferrarelli, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), and Carmen Andreescu, MD (Professor of Psychiatry). Following the discussion, four residents presented their research: 

• Kalyan Tripathy, MD, PhD (PGY2) | Multimodal Phenotyping and Novel Interventions in Youth with Treatment-Resistant Depression and Anhedonia
• H. Nur Eken, MD (PGY3) | Approach, Knowledge and Current Practices around Ketamine Infusion in a Consultation - Liaison Psychiatry Setting
• Douglas Teixeira-Leffa, MD, PhD (PGY3) | Neurodevelopmental Roots: ADHD and its Relationship to Alzheimer’s Dementia in Older Age
• Katherine Lyman, MD (PGY4) | Seasonal Transcriptional Rhythms in Human Postmortem Brain Tissue

New this year, thirteen faculty members delivered brief “rapid-fire talks” answering the question, What is on the horizon in your field?, in a session moderated by Zachary Freyberg, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Cell Biology; PRP co-Director). Thank you to the individuals below who spoke on the following topics: 

• Leonardo D’Aiuto, PhD – 11.7 Tesla Diffusion MRI and Tractography to Probe Human Brain Organoid Microstructure) 
• Danella Hafeman, MD, PhD – Precision Imaging Approaches: What Can We Say About the Patient in Front of You? 
• Britny Hildebrandt, PhD – Food for Thought: Using Translational Approaches to Understanding Binge Eating
• Karen Jakubowski, PhD – Sleep Coercion: A Novel Type of Intimate Partner Violence with Unexplored Health Implications
• Helmet Karim, PhD – Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
• Traci Kennedy, PhD – Here-and-Now Support for ADHD: Leveraging Smartphones to Develop a Mobile-Health Intervention (mHealth) for Young Adults with ADHD
• Marta Peciña, MD, PhD – Placebo Effects: Mapping Expectancy Mood Interactions in Major Depressive Disorder
• Rui Peixoto, PhD – Development of Corticostriatal Circuits in Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Adriane Soehner, PhD – Sleep Electroencephalogram (EEG) Features Are Promising Biomarkers of Psychiatric Disease Risk
• Stephen Smagula, PhD – Consumer Wearables for Objective, Remote, Continuous Monitoring of Sleep-Wake/Activity Patterns
• Joseph Stujenske, MD, PhD – Understanding Brain States Regulating Emotion for Therapeutic Advancement
• Mary Torregrossa, PhD – Polysubstance Use Disorder
• Andrea Weinstein, PhD –  Neuropsychology and Ecological Momentary Cognitive Testing