The 20th annual Department of Psychiatry Research Day on June 9, 2022, represented a joyful reunion for more than 400 faculty members, trainees, and staff, who had not attended a large in-person event together since 2019. The morning session featured 110 posters at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh. In the afternoon, attendees gathered across the street at the University...

For individuals in need of a kidney transplant, disparities related to race and ethnicity have persisted for decades, with Black and Hispanic patients at a disadvantage relative to non-Hispanic White patients, regarding receipt of organ transplantation. Mary Amanda Dew, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Clinical and Translational Science, and Acute and Tertiary Care (Nursing)...

Over 50% of depressed older adults do not achieve remission with first-line antidepressant treatment, and only half of older adults improve with augmentation or switch to another medication. Multiple factors contribute to poor treatment response including incorrect diagnosis, comorbid physical or psychiatric conditions, and somatic symptoms that overlap with other illnesses. Older adults also experience...

Deepak Sarpal, MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), conducts research on the neurobiology of psychosis, focusing on schizophrenia. With a particular interest in treatment outcomes in psychotic disorders, Dr. Sarpal recently published two papers examining the effects of clozapine on treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Clozapine is an antipsychotic medication that exhibits superior efficacy for psychotic symptoms...

We are delighted to announce that Robert Sweet, MD (UPMC Endowed Professor in Psychiatric Neuroscience and Professor of Neurology and Clinical and Translational Science), has received the American Psychiatric Association 2022 Research Mentorship Award. This prestigious award honors an academic psychiatrist who has fostered the pursuit of student research through direct mentorship of individual students or by the...

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women. In addition to traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors, the influence of psychosocial factors on cardiovascular health has become more widely recognized. In particular, psychological trauma has been linked to increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Interpersonal and sexual violence, including assault, sexual abuse, and intimate partner...

David Brent, MD (Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Epidemiology, and Clinical and Translational Science and Endowed Chair in Suicide Studies), has received the Lifetime Achievement Research Award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). This award honors suicide prevention researchers whose career and body of work have had a significant and broad impact on the field of suicide...

The Services for Teens at Risk (STAR)-Center is a nationally recognized suicide prevention program that combines clinical and outreach services designed to combat the problem of child and adolescent suicide. The STAR-Center provides outpatient assessment and treatment for depressed and anxious children and teens, and offers acute treatment to depressed and suicidal youth through the Center’s intensive outpatient...

People engage in a range of behaviors to maintain close relationships. Gendered social experiences, including gender role expectations for women to prioritize the needs of others and to create and maintain close relationships, may be related to cardiovascular disease risk in women. Self-silencing, inhibiting self-expression to avoid relationship conflict or loss, is related to poor mental health and self-reported...

Individuals with substance use disorders have disrupted circadian and sleep/wake rhythms, and growing evidence suggests a bidirectional relationship between circadian rhythm disruption and substance abuse. Notably, circadian clocks are integral to the modulation of reward behaviors, and astrocytes—a highly abundant glial cell type that contains a circadian molecular clock—have emerged as key regulators of circadian...