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Sarah Lichenstein Selected for NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program Sarah Lichenstein and her mentor, Dr. Shirley Hill Sarah Lichenstein, a graduate student in the University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry?s Behavioral Genetics Research Program, has been selected by the National Science Foundation to participate in its Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). Ms. Lichenstein is pursuing a PhD in...

Sleep Disturbances as the Hallmark of PTSD Germain, A. The hypothesis that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep disturbances are the hallmark of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), proposed by Ross and colleagues in 1989, has stimulated a wealth of clinical, preclinical, and animal studies on the role of sleep in the pathophysiology of PTSD. A recent review article by Dr. Anne Germain revisits this influential...

Late-life depression and risk of vascular dementia and Alzheimer?s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of community-based cohort studies. Diniz BS, Butters MA, Albert SM, Dew MA, Reynolds CF Late-life depression is one of the most common psychiatric illnesses in older adults, affecting 15% of adults aged 65 or older in the United States (approximately 6 million people). Previous studies have shown an...

Community Wellness Classes: For Adults Who Want to Learn About Mental Health and Addiction Issues and Treatments Register now for any or all of the new classes sponsored by Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC, Allegheny Family Network, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Southwestern PA. Classes are led by experts in the mental health and addiction fields, along with family advocates...

Aaron Koenig, MD Selected as Janssen Resident Psychiatric Research Scholar The American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education (APIRE) has announced that Aaron Koenig, MD, a PGY-3 Resident, has been selected for a one year Janssen Resident Research Scholars fellowship. The program focuses on clinical and health services research in all areas of behavioral health research, and is designed to identify and...

Cortisol Response to Social Stress in Parentally Bereaved Youth Dietz LJ, Stoyak S, Melham N, Porta G, Matthews KA, Walker M, Brent, DA. The death of a parent is one of the most stressful events that a child can experience, and is associated with increased risk for psychiatric illness and impairment. Less is known about the effects of parental bereavement on physiological systems that initiate and regulate...