Katalin Szanto, MD Promoted to Professor by Pitt School of Medicine
Katalin Szanto, MD focuses her research on the psychopathology, treatment, and prevention of suicidal behavior, particularly geriatric suicide. She conducted a psychological autopsy study, a successful suicide prevention program in primary care, and has extensive experience in interviewing practitioners who have lost patients by suicide. She founded the Longitudinal Research Program in Late-Life Suicide at the University of Pittsburgh to understand the interacting risk and protective factors related to biological and psychosocial factors of aging that lead to the elevated suicide rate in late-life. Her studies use neurocognitive assessments, game theory experiments, and decision process measures to understand how individual differences in cognitive abilities and decision-making contribute to suicide risk. She has contributed greatly to advancing the careers of trainees in both the clinical and research arenas.
She is a talented clinician who has been treating those who attempted suicide and their families over three decades. She is currently providing services at the Pittsburgh VA Health Care System, treating veterans who have a high suicide risk and who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or mood and substance abuse disorders. “Dr. Szanto takes caring for her patients to a new level, actively educating their families so they can make informed decisions, participating in outreach to suicide survivors and parents who have lost children to suicide, and supporting healthcare professionals who have lost patients to suicide,” notes David Lewis, MD, Department Chair. “She has established a strong international reputation in her field.”
The Department of Psychiatry is pleased to announce her promotion to the rank of Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Please congratulate Dr. Szanto on her well-deserved promotion!