News

The Department of Psychiatry is pleased to welcome three talented, early-career scientists to its faculty. With a reputation as a leader in basic science and translational research focusing on mental health disorders, the Department continues to expand its research in these important areas.

Danella Hafeman, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Dr. Danella Hafeman's research focuses on cognition and emotion in youth at genetic risk for bipolar disorder. She earned her MD and her PhD in epidemiology at Columbia University. She is a graduate of the psychiatry residency program at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, where she also completed clinical and research fellowships in child and adolescent psychiatry. With support from a K23 award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and a Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation Fellowship award, Dr. Hafeman is investigating compensatory neural networks for the cognitive control of emotion and testing a mindfulness-based intervention to target mood lability in youth at risk for bipolar disorder.

Maria Jalbrzikowski, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Dr. Maria Jalbrzikowski's primary research interests are in the areas of neuroimaging genetics, neurodevelopmental risk factors for psychiatric disorders, clinical high risk for psychosis, and first-episode and early-course psychosis. After earning her doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology and completing an internship at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), she conducted postdoctoral research at UCLA and the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Jalbrzikowski is currently studying neurodevelopmental variation of intrinsic functional connectivity and its relationship to psychosis risk and gene expression with support from a K01 career development award funded by the NIMH.

Stephen Smagula, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Dr. Stephen Smagula's research focuses on the role of behavioral disruption in the development of late-life depression, and how behavioral (rest-activity rhythm and sleep-wake characteristics) and neurobiological (brain structural pathology) factors inter-relate to cause depression. He earned his PhD in neuroepidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Dr. Smagula obtained additional training as a postdoctoral scholar in the Pitt Department of Psychiatry's T32 training programs focusing on Translational Research Training in Sleep Medicine and Clinical and Translational Late-Life Mood Research. With funding from an NIMH-funded K01 award, he is currently investigating depression in dementia caregivers and linking brain structure and sleepwake risks.