Adolescence is a vulnerable period for externalizing behaviors (e.g., disruptive, rule-breaking behaviors including aggression, delinquency, or substance use) as the ability to self-regulate behaviors and emotions is still maturing. Impulsivity is a risk factor for externalizing behaviors, although the unique relationships between specific impulsivity facets and externalizing behavior development are unclear...

On March 27, 2025, Pitt Psychiatry clinician-educator faculty and UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH) staff, residents, and clinical fellows gathered on the second floor of WPH for the Department’s annual Clinician Educator Showcase. Career Recognitions Department Chair David Lewis, MD, recognized career milestones and lifetime achievements of two faculty members. Ghennady Gushchin, MD, PhD, transitioned to...

Congratulations to David Brent, MD (Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Epidemiology, and Clinical and Translational Science and Endowed Chair in Suicide Studies), who has received the American College of Psychiatrists 2026 Award for Leadership in Child, Adolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry. The Award recognizes an individual who has made sustained and substantial contributions to child, adolescent...

Early adolescence is associated with major changes in sleep-circadian processes, which, combined with biopsychosocial factors, contribute to a decline in sleep duration. Insufficient sleep in childhood and adolescence is associated with future adverse cognitive and mental health outcomes including depression and anxiety. As part of a Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Young Investigator Grant, scientists from...

The Department of Psychiatry is delighted to announce results of the 2025 Residency Match for the General Psychiatry, Child, Triple Board, and Family Medicine/Psychiatry tracks. Please welcome the new class of 2025 PGY1 psychiatry residents: GENERAL PSYCHIATRY • Osasumwen Benjamin (Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University) • Sahar Delavari (Tehran University of Medical Sciences) • Sayna Matinrazm...

We are pleased to announce that Ashley Parr, PhD, has been promoted to Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Parr received her PhD in neuroscience from Queen’s University (Ontario, Canada), then came to the University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry for postdoctoral training in developmental neuroscience. She joined the Psychiatry faculty in 2022...

Congratulations to Thomas Karikari, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), and Rebecca Thurston, PhD (Pittsburgh Foundation Chair in Women's Health and Dementia and Professor of Psychiatry, Clinical and Translational Science, Epidemiology and Psychology), who have each received a University of Pittsburgh Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award! Dr. Karikari, who received an award for distinguished research in...

Multiple Pitt Psychiatry investigators have recently published studies in Molecular Psychiatry. Below is a roundup of recent original research on adolescent neurodevelopment, aging and cognition, and the association between sleep and psychosis. Adolescent maturation of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex glutamate: GABA and cognitive function is supported by dopamine-related neurobiology Pitt Psychiatry investigators...

In interventional psychiatry research, investigators marry technology development with new knowledge of alterations in neural circuitry in psychiatric disorders. The 2025 Department of Psychiatry Interventional Psychiatry Showcase, attended by faculty, staff, and trainees, focused on transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS). Through lively lunchtime roundtables...

Congratulations to Tejal Bhojak, MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), who has been honored for excellence in teaching by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr, Bhojak received a Clerkship Preceptor of the Year Award at the University of Pittsburgh’s annual Curriculum Colloquium, which recognizes faculty clinical preceptors who consistently provide outstanding clinical instruction in the clerkship...