The Department kicks off its Researchers on the Rise lecture series on October 4, 2024 with presentations by two of its talented early-career researchers: H. Matthew Lehrer, PhD and Michelle Stepan, PhD.
Dr. Lehrer, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, received his PhD in health behavior and health education with concentrations in nutritional sciences and quantitative methods from the University of Texas at Austin. After earning his doctorate degree he joined the Pitt Department of Psychiatry as a postdoctoral scholar in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-funded Translational Research Training in Sleep Medicine T32 training program. Dr. Lehrer’s research examines the effects of long-term sleep and circadian disruption on biological and cognitive aging. As principal investigator of a National Institute on Aging K01 career development award, he is working to characterize risk for Alzheimer’s disease in retired night-shift workers by studying cognitive function, brain volume, and brain bioenergetics.
Dr. Stepan, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, earned her PhD in psychology in the cognitive neuroscience program at Michigan State University and joined the Department of Psychiatry as a postdoctoral scholar in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-funded Translational Research Training in Sleep and Circadian Science T32 program. Her research uses experimental manipulations of sleep duration and sleep architecture to investigate how sleep affects processes such as cognitive control, attention, memory, and emotion regulation, and how these processes relate to anxiety and mood disorders. Dr. Stepan is also interested in behavioral and pharmacological interventions to improve dysfunction caused by poor sleep. She is currently principal investigator of an NIMH-funded K01 award focused on the effect of acoustic enhancement of slow-wave activity on cognitive control and emotional reactivity in young adults with anxiety and depression symptoms.
Join us in person in the UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital Auditorium or attend virtually using the following Zoom information:
Zoom Link: https://pitt.zoom.us/j/91899692962
Passcode: 346114
For More Information. Please contact Shardai Key-Ward at keysj4@upmc.edu.
CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS. The entirety of this program will be a lecture by the speaker(s). All individuals able to control the content of this educational activity are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with any proprietary entity producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services, used on, or consumed by, patients. Registration is not required for this event. This event is free and there will be no refunds. The University of Pittsburgh is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution. The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM. Each physician should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. Other health care professionals are awarded .15 continuing education units (CEUs), which are equal to 1.5 contact hours. In accordance with Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education requirements on disclosure, information about relationships of presenters with commercial interests (if any) will be included in materials which will be distributed at the time of the conference. WPH is approved by the American Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. WPH maintains responsibility for this program and its contents. This program is being offered for 1.5 continuing education credits. The indicated number of clock hours of continuing education is provided through UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital’s Office of Educational Resources and Planning, a PA-approved provider of social work continuing education in accordance with all the applicable educational and professional standards of the Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapist. These clock hours satisfy requirements for LSW/LCSW, LPC and LMFT renewal. For more information, call (412) 204-9085.
