The Meet the PI lecture series continues with a presentation by Boris Birmaher, MD, a world renown expert in pediatric bipolar disorders.

Dr. Birmaher's scientific and clinical contributions have been both exceptional and field-changing. Through his work Dr. Birmaher has proved that biplor disorder does exist in children and adolescents and he has led the field in demonstrating the course of the illness and in developing strategies to treat it. He is the Principal Investigator for two high impact studies funded by the National Institute of Mental Health: Children of Bipolar Parents: A High Risk Follow-Up Study (BIOS) and the Course and Outcome of Bipolar Disorder in Youth (COBY) project. Dr. Birmaher has played a leading role in establishing national and international practice parameters for the management of these disorders in youth and his work has influenced the discussion on important public policy issues such as the use of antidepressants in adolescent depression.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a recurrent illness that usually onsets during adolescence and is accompanied by significant psychosocial impairment, high risk for suicidal behaviors, substance abuse and legal problems. Thus, it is important to identify the prodromal symptoms of this disorder early and to provide interventions that will delay its onset or in the best of the cases, prevent its onset. Also, since each recurrence is associated with worse prognosis, it is important to identify BD youth who are at risk for recurrences. Studies have identified risk factors for the risk of development of BD and the risk for recurrences. These factors, while important at the group level, do not answer a crucial clinical question: What is the risk of developing BD, or for a youth with BD, the risk of recurrences for an individual youth? This information may be utilized to tailor treatments for each specific individual. Dr. Birmaher will present findings from 15-years of ongoing longitudinal studies of youths whose parents have BD and youths already diagnosed with BD carried out at our Institution that address the above issues.

Date & Time. February 28, 2020 from 12:00pm to 1:30pm

Location. UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital Auditorium

Learning Objectives. At the conclusion of Dr. Birmaher's lecture participants will be able to:

1. Describe the prodromal symptoms of bipolar disorder.

2. Understand the course and outcome of bipolar disorder in youth and the factors associated with increased risk for recurrence

3. Explain the use of “risk calculators” to predict “personalized” risk to develop bipolar disorder as well as the risk of recurrence.

For More Information. Please contact Frances Patrick (patrickfm@upmc.edu)

The entirety of this program will be a lecture by the speaker(s). All individuals able to control the content of this educational activity are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with any proprietary entity producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services, used on, or consumed by, patients. Registration is not required for this event. This event is free and there will be no refunds. The University of Pittsburgh is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution.

Continuing Education Credit.  The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.  The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits^TM. Each physician should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.  Other health care professionals are awarded .15 continuing education units (CEUs), which are equal to 1.5 contact hours.  In accordance with Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education requirements on disclosure, information about relationships of presenters with commercial interests (if any) will be included in materials which will be distributed at the time of the conference.  WPH is approved by the American Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists.  WPH maintains responsibility for this program and its contents. This program is being offered for 1.5 continuing education credits.

The indicated number of clock hours of continuing education is provided through UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital’s Office of Educational Resources and Planning, a PA-approved provider of social work continuing education in accordance with all the applicable educational and professional standards of the Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapist.  These clock hours satisfy requirements for LSW/LCSW, LPC and LMFT renewal.  For more information, call (412) 204-9085.