The 40th Annual Pittsburgh Schizophrenia Conference
The annual Pittsburgh Schizophrenia Conference, now in its 40th year, presented the latest clinical and research findings to an audience of 338 psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, psychologists, service coordinators, researchers, and mental health policy administrators, as well as to patients and families.
K.N. Roy Chengappa, MD (Professor of Psychiatry) serves as course director for the conference and leads UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH)’s Comprehensive Recovery Services, which serves individuals living with psychotic disorders. “Zachary Freyberg, MD, PhD, from the University of Pittsburgh, and Mahavir Agarwal MBBS, MD, PhD, from the University of Toronto, jumpstarted the conference with their erudite and elegant presentations of insulin and its evolving importance to the cardiometabolic health and the brain in persons with schizophrenia. This area of research is very likely to yield practice changing treatments for persons with serious mental illnesses,” said Dr. Chengappa. “In addition, Dr. Rohan Ganguli was presented a lifetime achievement award for his service to patients with serious mental illness, and for grounding this conference for over two decades and pioneering its constituency to include patients and families as important stakeholders.”
Matcheri Keshavan, MD (Harvard University), presented the Gerard E. Hogarty Excellence in Schizophrenia Research Award to Shaun Eack, PhD (University of Pittsburgh James and Noel Browne Endowed Chair and Professor of Social Work and Professor of Psychiatry). Dr. Eack’s primary interests include the development, implementation, and evaluation of psychosocial treatment methodologies to improve the care of people with schizophrenia and related disorders. His presentation reviewed recent advances and new discoveries underscoring the fundamental role of psychosocial treatments to supporting recovery from schizophrenia and other mental health conditions. In addition, Dr. Eack discussed the integration of pharmacological and psychosocial treatments in schizophrenia.
Elizabeth Kistler, MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry); Patrick Frailey, MD (PGY4); and Mariel Piechowicz, MD (PGY4), discussed developing written materials for patients with schizophrenia on the effects of COVID-19 infection, Paxlovid use, and clozapine levels.
Invited speakers included Robert Cotes, MD, DFAPA (Emory University), who provided an overview of SMI Advisor, a clearinghouse of knowledge and resources for professionals and for patients with serious mental illness and their families.
Jessica Gannon, MD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), presented the Lorraine Williams Peer Scholarships to four deserving peers with the lived experience of serious mental illness for Lifetime achievement, Advocacy and Scholarship.
Music and art are consistently included at the Pittsburgh Schizophrenia Conference. Composer Flavio Chamis described his work with Infinity, a group of musicians who are also WPH patients receiving treatment for schizophrenia. Formed in 2018, the group meets to play music as part of their recovery, and have also collaboratively created original compositions. An online exhibition of artworks featured multimedia work by artists of WPH Comprehensive Recovery Services Oxford outpatient clinic, where patients participate in art therapy as part of psychiatric rehabilitation groups.