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Antipsychotic drugs can cause metabolic dysfunction that increases the risk for developing type 2 diabetes. These medications block dopamine D2-like receptors, including D2 and D3 receptors, which are expressed in pancreatic β-cells (in addition to the central nervous system). Dopamine and norepinephrine are catecholamines that act in the pancreas as peripheral regulators of metabolism. Pancreatic catecholamine...

Investigators at Pitt Psychiatry have recently published studies in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) and Translational Psychiatry on the molecular biology of the human brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS): Diurnal rhythms across the human dorsal and ventral striatum In a paper recently published in...

Congratulations to Carla Mazefsky, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology), & Sarah Stahl, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical and Translational Science), who have received Medical Student Research Mentoring Merit Awards from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Research Mentoring Merit Awards recognize outstanding Longitudinal Research Project mentorship of graduating...

Two recent studies from the Department of Psychiatry have enhanced our understanding of the role of cortical GABA neurons in health and disease. In Biological Psychiatry, Pitt Psychiatry investigators analyzed indices of parvalbumin-expressing basket cells axon terminals across regions of the visuospatial working memory network in schizophrenia. A paper published in Cerebral Cortex examines GABA neuron transcript...

We are delighted to announce that Boris Birmaher, MD (Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Endowed Chair in Early Onset Bipolar Disease) has received the Award for Leadership in Child, Adolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry from the American College of Psychiatrists. The Award recognizes an individual who has made sustained and substantial contributions to child, adolescent and young adult mental health as...