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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...

Neuropsychopharmacology: New Research on Suicide Biomarkers and on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Neuropsychopharmacology

Pitt Psychiatry investigators have recently published papers in Neuropsychopharmacology reporting findings on biomarkers for suicidal behavior, as well as on harm avoidance in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Hair Cortisol Concentrations as a Putative Biomarker for Suicidal Behavior Suicide is a leading cause of death for young adults in the United States, but predicting who will attempt suicide is a...

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Promotes Heather Joseph, DO, to Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Dr. Heather Joseph

We are pleased to announce that Heather Joseph, DO, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Joseph earned her DO from Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, and she came to Pittsburgh to complete residency training in Psychiatry at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital. She next undertook a clinical fellowship in child and adolescent...

JAMA Psychiatry: Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation of the Dorsomedial PFC and Expectancy-Driven Placebo Mood Effects - A Randomized Clinical Trial

Figures from Pecina & Colleagues JAMA Psychiatry 2026 Article

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that antidepressant placebo medications are not merely control conditions in clinical trials. Rather, the expectations and learning processes engaged with use of placebo actively shape mood outcomes through neural and molecular mechanisms. These effects recruit circuits involved in valuation, interoception, and affective regulation, and engage neurochemical pathways known to...

A.E. Bennett Clinical/Translational Research Award and More News from Society of Biological Psychiatry Annual Meeting

SOBP 2026

At the 2026 Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP) Annual Meeting in New York City, Pitt Psychiatry faculty and trainees gathered for a program focused on Building Better Brains: From Synapses to Cities. Department members presented and learned more about recent research, networked with friends and colleagues, and picked up a few awards! A.E. Bennett Clinical/Translational Research Award Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD...

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Promotes Marie Anne Gebara, MD, to Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Dr. Gebara

We are pleased to announce that Marie Anne Gebara, MD, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Gebara earned her MD from the American University of Beirut (Lebanon), then came to the United States for psychiatry residency training at Washington University in St. Louis Barnes Jewish Hospital. Upon completing her residency, she undertook a...

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