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Access the UPMC/Pitt Mental and Physical Health Resource Guide

The Department of Psychiatry Advocacy Workgroup has created a Mental and Physical Health Resource Guide for employees of the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC. The guide provides information on how to find information and support on topics including but not limited to workplace accommodations and accessibility, leaves of absence, and short-term disability. Click here to view and print the Mental and Physical Health...

JAMA Pediatrics: Role of Sleep and White Matter in the Link Between Screen Time and Depression in Childhood and Early Adolescence

Figure from Lima Santos et al. JAMA Pediatrics 2025

As adolescents increasingly use screen-based devices to watch videos, text, use social media, videochat, and play games, health care professionals have grown concerned that excessive screen time could contribute to mental health problems (such as depression) in this population. Excessive screen time may impact sleep duration and brain structural connectivity—such as white matter organization—which are critical for...

Psychiatry Resident News: Ali McCathern, MD, Recognized Regionally and Nationally

Alexis McCathern, MD

Congratulations to Alexis McCathern, MD (PGY5 child & adolescent psychiatry fellow; chief resident of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship), who has been recently recognized by the University of Pittsburgh/UPMC, as well as by the American Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). Dr. McCathern has been selected as a recipient of the AACAP Educational Outreach Program (EOP) for child and...

The Department of Psychiatry Welcomes New Faculty Members Anastasia Samaras, MD; Madeline Scott, PhD; and Robert Tessier, MD, MPH

Department welcomes Drs. Samaras, Scott and Tessier

The Department of Psychiatry extends a warm welcome to three new faculty members: Anastasia Samaras, MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry) Dr. Samaras earned her MD from Eastern Virginia Medical School, where she additionally completed psychiatry residency, serving as chief resident. Dr. Samaras then undertook geriatric psychiatry fellowship training at Mass General Brigham in Boston, and served for two years as a...

UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital Welcomes the Clinical Psychology Intern Class of 2025-2026

2025-26 Clinical Psychology Interns

Please join us in welcoming the 2025-2026 Clinical Psychology Intern class! The American Psychological Association-accredited program is led by Leslie Horton, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology), and Rebecca Price, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Clinical and Translational Science, and Psychology). This yearlong experience adheres to a clinical science model of training and professional...

Journal of Neuroscience: Opioid Receptors Modulate Inhibition within the Prefrontal Cortex Through Dissociable Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms

Image from Joffe et al. Journal of Neuroscience 2025

The prefrontal cortex is critical for regulating affective and motivational processing, and dysfunction of these processes is associated with psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and drug and alcohol use disorders. Because prefrontal cortex function is maintained by a diverse pool of GABAergic interneurons, the manipulation of prefrontal cortex interneurons has potential to...

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