News

We are pleased to announce that Rachel Kolko Conlon, PhD, has been promoted to Assistant Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Dr. Conlon earned a PhD in clinical psychology from Washington University in St. Louis after completing her clinical internship at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital. Upon receiving her doctorate, Dr. Conlon remained in Pittsburgh for postdoctoral research training with the Department of Psychiatry’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded Clinical Research Training for Psychologists T32 program. She completed additional postdoctoral work through the Department’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)-funded T32 training program in sleep medicine. She then joined the Pitt Psychiatry faculty as a research instructor. 

Dr. Conlon’s research focuses on examining intervention outcomes for obesity, eating disorders, and related conditions in children, adults, and families. Her postdoctoral work examined intergenerational obesity risk and the mechanisms and interventions related to sleep and circadian rhythms in the context of obesity. Currently, Dr. Conlon conducts patient-oriented research to answer critical questions about how to effectively address intergenerational obesity risk and promote eating, sleep, and circadian rhythm-related health behaviors in perinatal individuals, as well as in infants and their families. Dr. Conlon is principal investigator (PI) of an NHLBI-funded R01 grant studying how maternal-infant sleep and circadian rhythm patterns are associated with infant appetite, and how, together, they may impact infant weight gain. She also leads an industry grant from the Sleep Number Corporation, investigating their sleep health scale using psychometric and biometric data. A highly valued scientific collaborator, Dr. Conlon serves as co-investigator on six additional grants related to obesity and eating disorders, five funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and one internally sponsored award. She has published her research in journals including the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine and Pediatric Obesity. At the University of Pittsburgh, she is co-founder of the Psychiatry Maternal Perinatal Infant Research Collaborative (M-PIRE), which brings together faculty and trainees with both research and clinical interests related to pregnancy, the postpartum period, and infancy.

Dr. Conlon has contributed much to the educational missions of the Department and University, having taught undergraduate, graduate, and medical students, as well as residents. She currently co-leads the weekly Health Behavior Research group meeting for faculty, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and staff. In addition, Dr. Conlon mentors trainees though the Academy for Eating Disorders Early Career Investigator Student Interest Group Mentorship Program. At the UPMC Center for Eating Disorders, she has served as a clinical program supervisor for five years, and she is also a clinical rotation supervisor for psychology interns training in behavioral weight management.

“Dr. Conlon has developed as a key contributor to research programs since joining our faculty, and has made tremendous strides in the development of an original research program designed to answer key questions in the field of obesity and eating disorders,” said David Lewis, MD (Chair, Department of Psychiatry). 

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Conlon!