University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Promotes LalithKumar Solai, MD to Associate Professor of Psychiatry
Congratulations to LalithKumar Solai, MD on his promotion to the rank of Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Dr. Solai received his medical degree from Kilpauk Medical College in Madras, India and completed his internship and residency training at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. After completing a two-year fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC) in 1998, Dr. Solai was recruited as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Solai has held a number of major clinical administrative roles within WPIC and as such has contributed significantly to the creation of new services and the expansion and improvement of existing clinical services for our elderly clients with behavioral health issues. In 2005, he was appointed the medical director of WPIC?s Geriatric Psychiatry Services and in 2013 also assumed the role of Chief of that service line. In these capacities, Dr. Solai developed the only regional Nursing Home Behavioral Unit at the Kane Regional Center at Gen Hazel, which serves institutionalized older adults with dementia and behavioral problems which cannot be met by existing providers and services. He also created a much needed program ? the Bellefield Enhanced Support Team (BEST) for Elderly ? where intensive services are provided to patients with acute clinical problems which do not warrant hospitalization. Dr. Solai also began serving as the medical director of the WPIC Electroconvulsive Therapy Services program in 2014. He has since initiated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) services within this program. His dedication to providing the highest quality of clinical care can also be seen by his service on several important hospital and UPMC committees.
Dr. Solai is also a talented teacher and mentor. Since 2005 he has been the associate director of our Clinical Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship. He has also presented numerous lectures to every level of trainee and regularly trains residents in the use of ECT, and also leads an annual week-long ECT fellowship for trainees from all over the world. Dr. Solai was a founding faculty member of the Department?s Clinician Educator Faculty Development Program and actively participates in the Academic Administrator Clinician Educator resident mentoring program.
In addition to his significant clinical, administrative, and educational activities, Dr. Solai has contributed to several clinical trials and quality research projects during the course of his career. In 2005 he obtained a grant from the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) to conduct a quality improvement project related to the diagnosis and treatment of delirium in emergency department settings. He was also a co-investigator on two grants under the auspices of the Pennsylvania Geriatric Education Center and the University of Pittsburgh?s University Center for Social and Urban Research. His research efforts have resulted in nine peer-reviewed journal articles, two book chapters, and one review article. He has also presented at national meetings including the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatrists (AAGP), where he chaired a symposium on managing behavioral disturbances of dementia in clinical practice in 2012 and 2015.