Faculty

Danella M Hafeman, MD, PhD

Danella M Hafeman, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Contact Details

3811 O'Hara St.
Pittsburgh
 
PA
 
15213
Email
Website
CABS Clinic
Mood and Mind Lab

Education & Training

MD
Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons
PhD
Epidemiology, Columbia University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh

Current Appointments

Director, Psychiatry Research Pathway

Selected Honors & Awards

Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Depression, Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation
Outstanding Resident Award, National Institutes of Mental Health

Research Interests

Bipolar disorders; Neuroimaging; Mindfulness
Selected Research Publications & Products
  1. Hafeman DM, Rooks B, Merranko J, Liao F, Gill MK, Goldstein TR, Diler R, Ryan N, Goldstein BI, Axelson DA, Strober M, Keller M, Hunt J, Hower H, Weinstock LM, Yen S, Birmaher B. Lithium versus other mood stabilizing medications in a longitudinal study of bipolar youth. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. (In Press)
  2. Hafeman DM, Merranko J, Joseph HM, Goldstein TR, Goldstein BI, Levenson J, et al.: Early indicators of bipolar risk in preschool offspring of parents with bipolar disorder. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2022.
  3. Hafeman DM, Ostroff N, Feldman J, Hickey MB, Phillips ML, Creswell D, Birmaher B, Goldstein TR. Mindfulness-based intervention to decrease mood lability in at-risk youth: Preliminary evidence for changes in resting state functional connectivity. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2020.
  4. Hafeman DM, Merranko J, Goldstein TR, Axelson D, Goldstein BI, Monk K, Hickey MB, Sakolsky D, Diler R, Iyengar S, Brent DA, Kupfer DJ, Kattan MW, Birmaher B. Assessment of a person-level risk calculator to predict new-onset bipolar spectrum disorder in youth at familial risk. JAMA Psychiatry. 2017.
  5. Hafeman DM, Merranko J, Axelson D, Goldstein BI, Goldstein T, Monk K, Hickey MB, Sakolsky D, Diler R, Iyengar S, Brent D, Kupfer D, Birmaher B. Toward the definition of a bipolar prodrome: Dimensional predictors of bipolar spectrum disorders in at-risk youths. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2016;173(7):695-704.

Clinical Interests

Bipolar disorders; Pediatric mood disorders; Transition-age youth

Education Interests

Research mentorship; Postdoctoral career development; Resident research mentorship

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

PRP Residents and Mentors

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...

Behavioral Health Experts, Patients & Families Attend Child and Adolescent Bipolar Spectrum Services Conference

Rasim Diler, MD and Boris Birmaher, MD

The fifth Child and Adolescent Bipolar Services (CABS) conference, focused on pediatric bipolar disorder spectrum disorders, addressed the theme, “Irritability and Bipolar Spectrum Disorders in Youth: Facts and Myths-Assessment, Monitoring and Treatment.” The CABS conference presents current research and clinical knowledge about the treatment of bipolar disorder and comorbid conditions to professionals, patients...

JAMA Psychiatry: Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents With Bipolar Disorder 

Dr. Tina Goldstein

Up to 50% of youth with bipolar spectrum disorder attempt suicide, and of all psychiatric diagnoses, bipolar spectrum disorder imparts the greatest risk of death by suicide in adolescents. Although multiple psychosocial interventions are effective for mood stabilization and for decreasing the risk of mood episode recurrence, no treatment specifically targets suicidal behavior in youth with bipolar spectrum disorder...

Danella Hafeman, MD, PhD, Receives 2023 Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Gerald R. Klerman Award

Dr. Danella Hafeman

Please join us in congratulating Danella Hafeman, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), who has received the 2023 Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF) Gerald R. Klerman Award. The Klerman award honors outstanding clinical research achievement by a BBRF young investigator. Dr. Hafeman is a clinical expert in pediatric mood disorders and her research focuses on the prediction of bipolar disorder in...

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Promotes Danella Hafeman, MD, PhD, to Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Dr. Danella Hafeman

We are delighted to announce that Danella Hafeman, MD, PhD, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Hafeman earned her MD and her PhD in epidemiology from Columbia University. She then came to Pittsburgh for residency training at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH), and following a clinical fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry, Dr...