The Department of Psychiatry is pleased to announce that Rui Peixoto, PhD, has joined the Department as assistant professor. Dr. Peixoto received an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Universidade de Coimbra in Portugal in 2003 and earned his PhD in Neuroscience from Duke University Medical Center and the Universidade Nova de Lisboa in 2011. His graduate work with Dr. Michael Ehlers at Duke focused on...

Pictured above (left to right): Drs. William Klunk, David Lewis, Mary Phillips, Boris Birmaher, and Bernie Devlin The Department of Psychiatry is proud to announce that five current members of the faculty have been named Highly Cited Researchers for 2018: Boris Birmaher, MD; Bernie J. Devlin, PhD; William E. Klunk, MD, PhD; David A. Lewis, MD; and Mary L. Phillips, MD. Distinguished Emeritus Professor David J...

Department of Psychiatry researchers and their colleagues recently published findings from the largest study to date for whole-genome sequencing in autism in the journal Science. The article is one of the first papers released in the initial round of results to emerge from the National Institute of Mental Health’s PsychENCODE Consortium — a nationwide research effort that seeks to decipher how noncoding DNA, often...

Mark your calendars and join us on Thursday, June 13, 2019 when the Department of Psychiatry will host its 19th Annual Research Day at the University Club in Oakland. This full-day event highlights the broad range of research taking place in the Department and celebrates the many accomplishments of our outstanding faculty, trainees and staff. Research Day features a morning poster session showcasing the work of...

In many disadvantaged communities, where mental health professionals are scarce, training local lay counselors chosen from the very communities they serve offers an effective, boots-on-the-ground approach to preventing depression among older adults. University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry investigators, led by Professor Emeritus Dr. Charles F. Reynolds III, in collaboration with researchers from Goa...

It is widely known that adequate amounts of high-quality sleep are essential to good physical, mental, and cognitive health, but exactly how sleep contributes to the various aspects of health remains unknown. A large body of evidence suggests that deep sleep, also known as slow-wave sleep, is particularly important for cognitive health, a topic discussed by Department faculty members in a review recently published...

Congratulations are in order for Drs. Marianne Seney, Ryan Logan, and Deepak Sarpal (pictured above), who received travel awards to attend the annual meeting of The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP). In addition, Konasale M. Prasad, MD, MBBS was elected as a member of ACNP, and Rebecca Price, PhD, was elected as an associate member. The ACNP Annual Meeting, which was held on December 9–13, 2018 in...

Two pivotal studies by a Department of Psychiatry researcher were recognized in the November 2018 commemorative issue of the journal Menopause. The papers helped overturn a long-held idea that hot flashes are a harmless annoyance of midlife by demonstrating that they are associated with risks for cardiovascular disease. Rebecca Thurston, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Clinical and Translational Science, Epidemiology...

The brains of people with early-onset Alzheimer’s and Down syndrome share a distinct pattern of amyloid buildup that is not seen in late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Future studies on the origin of this unique pattern could reveal important mechanisms of amyloid beta accumulation and possibly targets for early intervention. People with early-onset Alzheimer's disease often develop symptoms of cognitive decline in...

The talent and expertise of Department of Psychiatry faculty, residents, and alumni of our Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship Program were prominently on display at this year’s Annual Meeting of the Association of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (ACLP), which took place November 13-16, 2018 in Orlando, FL. The theme for this year’s meeting, Branding Consultation-Liaison (C-L) Psychiatry: Defining the...