News

The Department of Psychiatry welcomes Camila Aponte, MD, Brian C. Thoma, PhD, and Mary Woody, PhD, to the Faculty

The Department of Psychiatry is delighted to announce that Camila Aponte, MD, Brian C. Thoma, PhD, and Mary Woody, PhD, have joined the faculty at the rank of assistant professor.

Dr. Aponte earned her MD from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia. After receiving her medical degree, she completed a residency in adult psychiatry and a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Prior to joining the Department of Psychiatry, she served as an attending physician in adult, child and adolescent psychiatry at Washington Hospital, Mon Valley Hospital and Psychiatric Care Systems private practice. In addition to child and adolescent psychiatry, Dr. Aponte’s clinical interests are in psychiatric disorders in underserved populations. At UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, her clinical service will be in the eating disorders and child and adolescent units.

Dr. Thoma received his undergraduate degree in English literature and psychology from the University of Pittsburgh and then his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Utah. He returned to Pittsburgh as a trainee in the Clinical Psychology Internship Program at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital. After receiving his doctorate, Dr. Thoma joined the Department of Psychiatry’s Innovative Methods in Pathogenesis and Child Treatment postdoctoral training program. His research focuses on behavioral health in LGBT adolescents and he has also studied HIV-related sexual risk behaviors among gay men. He has published multiple scientific articles on these subjects and presented his research at annual meetings of organizations such as the American Psychological Association, the National HIV Prevention Conference and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Dr. Thoma is the recipient of a National Institute of Mental Health-funded K01 award entitled “Biological Mechanisms of Suicidal Behavior among Sexual Minority Adolescents.”

Dr. Woody earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Binghamton University and completed the Clinical Psychology Internship Program at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital. She then became a fellow in the Clinical Research Training for Psychologists postdoctoral training program in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Woody has published numerous articles on cognitive-affective and biological risk factors for depression and other internalizing problems across development. She is the recipient of a K23 career development award, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, entitled “Visuocortical Dynamics of Affect-Biased Attention in the Development of Adolescent Depression.”

Please join us in welcoming Drs. Aponte, Thoma and Woody to the Department of Psychiatry faculty!