Faculty

Leslie E Horton, PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology

Contact Details

3811 O'Hara St.
Pittsburgh
 
PA
 
15213
Email
Website
YETI Lab

Education & Training

PhD
Clinical Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Clinical Psychology, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC
Clinical Psychology, University of Pittsburgh

Selected Honors & Awards

Young Investigator Award, International Congress on Schizophrenia Research

Research Interests

Threat dysregulation/social dysfunction & risk; Cognition and affect in adolescence; Ambulatory assessment methodology
Selected Research Publications & Products
  1. Wigman JTW, Ching AE, Chung Y, Eichi HR, Lane E, Langholm C, Vaidyam A, Byun AJS, Haidar A, Hartmann J, Nunez A, Dwyer D, Nasarudin AA, Borders O, Scott I, Tamayo Z, Matneja P, Cho KI, Addington J, Alameda LK, Arango C, Breitborde NJK, Broome MR, Cadenhead KS, Calkins ME, Chen EYH, Choi J, Conus P, Corcoran CM, Cornblatt BA, Diaz-Caneja CM, Ellman LM, Fusar-Poli P, Gaspar PA, Gerber C, Glenthj LB, Horton LE, Hui CLM, Kambeitz J, Kambeitz-Ilankovic L, Keshavan MS, Kim SW, Koutsouleris N, Langbein K, Mamah D, Mathalon DH, Mittal VA, Nordentoft M, Pearlson GD, Perez J, Perkins DO, Powers AR 3rd, Rogers J, Sabb FW, Schiffman J, Shah JL, Silverstein SM, Smesny S, Yassin W, Stone WS, Strauss GP, Thompson JL, Upthegrove R, Verma S, Wang J, Wolf DH, Wolff P; Accelerating Medicines Partnership Schizophrenia (AMP SCZ); Rowland LM, D'Alfonso S, Pasternak O, Bouix S, McGorry PD, Kahn RS, Kane JM, Bearden CE, Woods SW, Shenton ME, Nelson B, Baker JT, Torous J. Digital health technologies in the accelerating medicines Partnership Schizophrenia Program. Schizophrenia (Heidelb). 2025 Jun 3;11(1):83. doi: 10.1038/s41537-025-00599-w. PMID: 40461469; PMCID: PMC12134270.
  2. Haudrich EA Burns EK, Gupta T, Haas GL & Horton LE. The day-to-day influence of trauma exposure and sleep dysfunction on everyday stress in youth at familial high-risk for psychotic disorders. Schiz. Res. 2024 Dec; 274: 535-544. PubMed PMID: 39586206. DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2024.10.024.
  3. Wannan CMJ, Nelson B, Addington J, Allott K, Anticevic A, Arango C, Baker JT, Bearden CE, Billah T, Bouix S, Broome MR, Buccilli K, Cadenhead KS, Calkins ME, Cannon TD, Cecci G, Chen EYH, Cho KIK, Choi J, Clark SR, Coleman MJ, Conus P, Corcoran CM, Cornblatt BA, Diaz-Caneja CM, Dwyer D, Ebdrup BH, Ellman LM, Fusar-Poli P, Galindo L, Gaspar PA, Gerber C, Glenthj LB, Glynn R, Harms MP, Horton LE, Kahn RS, Kambeitz J, Kambeitz-Ilankovic L, Kane JM, Kapur T, Keshavan MS, Kim SW, Koutsouleris N, Kubicki M, Kwon JS, Langbein K, Lewandowski KE, Light GA, Mamah D, Marcy PJ, Mathalon DH, McGorry PD, Mittal VA, Nordentoft M, Nunez A, Pasternak O, Pearlson GD, Perez J, Perkins DO, Powers AR 3rd, Roalf DR, Sabb FW, Schiffman J, Shah JL, Smesny S, Spark J, Stone WS, Strauss GP, Tamayo Z, Torous J, Upthegrove R, Vangel M, Verma S, Wang J, Rossum IW, Wolf DH, Wolff P, Wood SJ, Yung AR, Agurto C, Alvarez-Jimenez M, Amminger P, Armando M, Asgari-Targhi A, Cahill J, Carrin RE, Castro E, Cetin-Karayumak S, Mallar Chakravarty M, Cho YT, Cotter D, D'Alfonso S, Ennis M, Fadnavis S, Fonteneau C, Gao C, Gupta T, Gur RE, Gur RC, Hamilton HK, Hoftman GD, Jacobs GR, Jarcho J, Ji JL, Kohler CG, Lalousis PA, Lavoie S, Lepage M, Liebenthal E, Mervis J, Murty V, Nicholas SC, Ning L, Penzel N, Poldrack R, Polosecki P, Pratt DN, Rabin R, Rahimi Eichi H, Rathi Y, Reichenberg A, Reinen J, Rogers J, Ruiz-Yu B, Scott I, Seitz-Holland J, Srihari VH, Srivastava A, Thompson A, Turetsky BI, Walsh BC, Whitford T, Wigman JTW, Yao B, Yuen HP, Ahmed U, Byun AJS, Chung Y, Do K, Hendricks L, Huynh K, Jeffries C, Lane E, Langholm C, Lin E, Mantua V, Santorelli G, Ruparel K, Zoupou E, Adasme T, Addamo L, Adery L, Ali M, Auther A, Aversa S, Baek SH, Bates K, Bathery A, Bayer JMM, Beedham R, Bilgrami Z, Birch S, Bonoldi I, Borders O, Borgatti R, Brown L, Bruna A, Carrington H, Castillo-Passi RI, Chen J, Cheng N, Ching AE, Clifford C, Colton BL, Contreras P, Corral S, Damiani S, Done M, Estrad A, Etuka BA, Formica M, Furlan R, Geljic M, Germano C, Getachew R, Goncalves M, Haidar A, Hartmann J, Jo A, John O, Kerins S, Kerr M, Kesselring I, Kim H, Kim N, Kinney K, Krcmar M, Kotler E, Lafanechere M, Lee C, Llerena J, Markiewicz C, Matnejl P, Maturana A, Mavambu A, Mayol-Troncoso R, McDonnell A, McGowan A, McLaughlin D, McIlhenny R, McQueen B, Mebrahtu Y, Mensi M, Hui CLM, Suen YN, Wong SMY, Morrell N, Omar M, Partridge A, Phassouliotis C, Pichiecchio A, Politi P, Porter C, Provenzani U, Prunier N, Raj J, Ray S, Rayner V, Reyes M, Reynolds K, Rush S, Salinas C, Shetty J, Snowball C, Tod S, Turra-Faria G, Valle D, Veale S, Whitson S, Wickham A, Youn S, Zamorano F, Zavaglia E, Zinberg J, Woods SW, Shenton ME. Accelerating Medicines Partnership Schizophrenia (AMP SCZ): Rationale and Study Design of the Largest Global Prospective Cohort Study of Clinical High Risk for Psychosis. Schizophr Bull. 2024 Apr 30;50(3):496-512. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbae011. PMID: 38451304; PMCID: PMC11059785.
  4. Deam MM, Gupta T, Bridgwater MA, Haas GL, Horton LE. Associations between interpersonal trauma and social impairments in adolescents with and without a family history of psychosis. Schizophr Res. 2024 Feb;264:280-281. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2024.01.002. Epub 2024 Jan 9. PMID: 38198880; PMCID: PMC11867766.
  5. Bridgwater MA, Horton LE, Haas GL. Premorbid adjustment in childhood predicts later ability to manage emotions in first-episode psychosis. Schizophr Res. 2021; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2021.11.041.

Clinical Interests

Clinical high-risk for psychosis; Social functioning interventions; Evidence-based practices for early psychosis
Selected Clinical Publications & Products
  1. Horton LE, Mayanil T, & Bylsma LM. Clinical and programmatic considerations for enhancing developmentally-informed care in psychosis-risk programs. Psychiatr. Serv; 2025. PubMed PMID: 39818994. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ps.20240002
  2. Gupta T, Antezana L, Porter C, Mayanil T, Bylsma L, Maslar M & Horton LE. Skills program for awareness, connectedness, and empowerment: A conceptual framework of a skills group for individuals with a psychosis-risk syndrome. Front. Psychiatry. 2023 March; 14: PubMed PMID: 37025348. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1083368
  3. Schiffman J, Horton LE, Landa Y & Woods S. Considerations for providing feedback to patients and families regarding clinical high-risk for psychosis status. Schizophr Res. 2022; 244: 55-7. PubMed PMID: 35597133.
  4. Woods SW, Bearden CE, Sabb F, Stone WS, Torous J, Cornblatt BA, Perkins DO, Cadenhead KS, Addington J, Powers AR, Mathalon DH, Calkins ME, Wolf DH, Corcoran CM, Horton LE, Mittal VA, Schiffman J, Ellman LM, Strauss GP, Mamah D, Choi J, Pearlson GD, Shah JL, Fusar-Poli P, Arango C, Perez J, Koutsouleris N, Wang J, Kwon JS, Walsh BC, McGlashan TH, Hyman SE, Gur RE, Cannon TD, Kane JM, Antecevic, A. Counterpoint. Early intervention for psychosis risk syndromes: Minimizing risk and maximizing benefit. Schizophr Res. 2020; 227: 10-17. PubMed PMID: 37641537.

Education Interests

Research mentorship; Medical student/resident education; Clinical training

UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital Welcomes the Clinical Psychology Intern Class of 2024-2025

2024-2025 Clinical Psychology Intern Class

Please join us in welcoming the 2024-2025 Clinical Psychology Intern class! The American Psychological Association-accredited program is led by Tina Goldstein, PhD (Pittsburgh Foundation Endowed Professor in Psychiatry Research and Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Psychology), and Michele Levine, PhD (Professor of Psychiatry and Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, and Psychology)...

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Dr. Leslie Horton

In a recent paper published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Christian Porter (PhD student, Pitt School of Social Work); and Tushita Mayanil, MBBS (MD) (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry); Tina Gupta, PhD (postdoctoral scholar); and Leslie Horton, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), from Pitt Psychiatry, outlined the increased presence of dissociative identity disorder...

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EPINET: First-Episode Psychosis Research The UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH) Services for the Treatment of Early Psychosis (STEP) clinic is an outpatient program for the evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation of people who may be experiencing early signs of a psychotic illness. STEP is one of 20 clinics across Maryland and Pennsylvania that will be included in an Early Psychosis Intervention Network...

Career Development Awards are an Important Step in Transition to Next Phase of Research Careers

The Department of Psychiatry is a model of success for K awardees. The Department's successful funding rate for federal career development (K) awards is twice the national average, and typically 30-40 funded K awards are active at any given time. The keys to this success include the research environment, the generous availability of existing research funding, an outstanding collection of mentors, and very strong...