The annual TransPride Pittsburgh Health and Wellness Conference, held over three days in October, addressed the theme Rising to the Challenge—a dual meaning intended to encourage professionals to meet the needs of the trans community, as well as to elevate the voices of community members. The conference included trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming speakers, as well as cisgender speakers who were encouraged...

Recent papers from the Department of Psychiatry examine clinical initiatives around consultation-liaison psychiatry and first-episode psychosis, consultation-liaison psychiatry in the obstetrical setting, and the expansion of telepsychiatry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry: First-Episode Psychosis and the Role of the Psychiatric Consultant Timely recognition...

Investigators including Pitt Psychiatry’s Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology), have published a paper in Nature Medicine investigating the correlation between microglial activation, abnormal tau tangles (a pattern known as Braak stages), and dementia symptoms. Recent research has suggested that microglial activation is a key player in the progression of tau pathology, which...

Pitt Psychiatry extends a warm welcome to three new faculty members who have joined our Department at the rank of assistant professor: Elizabeth Hale, MD Dr. Hale earned her MD from the University of Toledo College of Medicine, and completed her general psychiatry residency at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH), serving as chief resident for ambulatory services. Following residency, Dr. Hale completed a...

We are delighted to announce that Alfredo Sklar, MD, PhD, has received an EEG & Clinical Neuroscience Society (ECNS) Young Investigator Award. The award, which recognizes significant contributions to translational research in the field of neuro-psychiatric electrophysiology and neuroimaging, was presented at the ECNS annual meeting earlier this month. Dr. Sklar is a graduate of the UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital...

We are delighted to announce that Alexandre Dombrovski, MD, has been appointed Tenured Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh. An expert in geriatric psychiatry and suicide, decision science, functional neuroimaging, and computational psychiatry, Dr. Dombrovski studies the neuropsychological basis for how and why a person makes the decision to end their life. Dr. Dombrovski currently...

Congratulations to Kelley Victor, MD, who received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award at the 2021 Dr. Loren Roth Quality and Patient Safety Awards. Dr. Victor was rated by her patients as a Top UPMC Physician by Specialty for Pediatric Psychiatry. Dr. Victor completed her residency training in child and adolescent psychiatry at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, and is currently a psychiatrist for Children's...

We are delighted to announce that Anneliese (Lisa) Murphree (Department of Psychiatry Director of Faculty Recruitment & Program Innovation) has been named a UPMC MyHealth Role Model! Lisa was nominated by her colleagues in the Department of Psychiatry Chair’s office. They wrote: “In March 2020, just as the pandemic struck, Lisa gave birth to her first child. Two months later, when her daughter was still an infant...

The Psychiatry Research Pathway (PRP) Symposium provides UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital residents engaged in research the opportunity to present their work to an audience of fellow residents, faculty mentors, T32 postdoctoral research program directors, and other members of our academic development community. This year, 10 residents presented current and/or future research, followed by Q&A and lively discussion...

The fourth biennial Child and Adolescent Bipolar Services (CABS) conference, held virtually, addressed the theme “Untangling Bipolar Disorder in Youth: Comorbidity, Differential Diagnosis and Treatment.” The CABS conference presents current research and clinical knowledge about the treatment of bipolar disorder and comorbid conditions to professionals, patients, and families, and is organized by Boris Birmaher, MD...