University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Promotes Lori Scott, PhD, to Associate Professor of Psychiatry
We are delighted to announce that Lori Scott, PhD, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Dr. Scott earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Penn State University. Having completed her clinical internship at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH), Dr. Scott remained in Pittsburgh to undertake postdoctoral training in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded clinical research training for psychologists T32 program. She joined the Department of Psychiatry as assistant professor in 2014.
Dr. Scott’s research focuses on improving our understanding of the interpersonal and affective processes that confer risk for self-harm and aggression in adolescents and young adults. She focuses in particular on young people at risk for borderline personality disorder and other disorders of negative affect, such as depression and anxiety. She is an expert in using physiological assessment tools to measure emotional responses to real-world scenarios, and linking these measures to emotion responses in daily life using ecological momentary assessments.
Dr. Scott currently leads an NIMH R01 focused on improving scientists’ ability to identify dynamic affective and physiological responses to social rejection that predict acute increases in a vulnerable individual’s risk for suicide. Her overall aim for this work is to improve behavioral health care providers’ ability to predict suicidal behavior in the near term. In addition, Dr. Scott co-leads Project 2, “Daily Life Emotion Dysregulation in Autistic Adults with Ambulatory Psychophysiology,” of the recently funded NIMH Autism Center of Excellence (P50) grant, focused on mental health in autistic adults.
Dr. Scott currently serves on the board of directors of the North American Society for the Study of Personality Disorders. She has previously been honored with an Early Career Investigator Award from that organization, as well as served as chair of the membership committee, and member of the scientific program committee. In addition, Dr. Scott has received the Outstanding Early Career Contribution Award from the International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders. She has served on the editorial boards of two journals, the Journal of Personality Disorders and Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, and reviewed grants for the German Research Foundation.
An excellent teacher, clinical supervisor, and mentor, Dr. Scott co-directs a psychiatry resident course on psychological theories and development, serves as a research mentor for graduate students, and is the primary clinical supervisor for clinical psychology interns who complete a clinical research rotation on personality and suicide risk assessment.
“Since the start of her career, Dr. Scott has consistently maintained a remarkably clear and well-defined vision for her research on risk for suicide, self-injury, and violence; the physiological and neuroendocrine underpinnings of affective and behavioral dysregulation; and the developmental course of borderline personality disorder across the lifespan,” said David Lewis, MD (Chair, Department of Psychiatry). “She is recognized as an expert in her field, is highly collaborative in her research, and is an outstanding teacher and mentor.”
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Scott!