News

University of Pittsburgh Awards Tenure to Nadine Melhem, PhD

We are delighted to announce that Nadine Melhem, PhD, has been appointed Tenured Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Melhem examines the biological processes that link childhood adversity to suicidal behavior in children, adolescents, and young adults. She also studies the mechanisms underlying suicide risk and the impact of suicide on young survivors. In particular, Dr. Melhem focuses on characterization of the suicide phenotype, describing its familial transmission, studying the role of stress responses in its etiology, and improving our understanding of suicidal behavior at the clinical and biological levels to improve treatment.

Dr. Melhem currently leads an American Foundation for Suicide Prevention grant, as well as two National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01s—one focused on inflammation and stress response in familial and nonfamilial youth suicidal behavior, and the other on identifying predictors in the HPA axis and inflammatory pathways for suicidal behavior in youth. Dr. Melhem additionally co-leads a third NIMH R01 investigating the biological substrates of maladaptive stress response in early childhood.  

“Dr. Melhem is an outstanding member of the scientific community,” said David Lewis, MD (Chair, Department of Psychiatry). “She has an impressive record of innovative and influential research, is highly regarded as a dedicated teacher and mentor, and is a superb contributor to national scientific organizations. We are most fortunate to have her on our faculty.”

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Melhem!