The UPMC Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) has named Kim Kirchner, C-TAGME, Director, Operations for the Office of Residency Training, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, as the 2018 Outstanding Coordinator of the Year. The chief residents nominate candidates for this award, which was presented at the GMEC Annual Coordinators Symposium held April 5, 2018. Kim was selected from coordinators among 139...

Kristen Eckstrand, MD, PhD, Chief Resident, Psychiatry Research Pathway, has been selected by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to participate in the Research Colloquium for Junior Investigators during the 171st APA Annual Meeting on May 5-9, 2018 in New York, NY. She will participate in the Molecular, Translational, Neuroscience research area and will present her project " Ventral Striatal Reward...

For the fourth year, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC) has been recognized as a “Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality” by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. This organization serves as the education arm of America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC also was named...

Jessica Gannon, MD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, has been selected as a 2018 New Investigator Award (NIA) recipient by the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology (ASCP). The organization will present the award to Dr. Gannon at a special awards ceremony at its annual meeting, which will take place May 29 to June 1, 2018, in Miami Beach, FL. The theme of this year’s meeting is Treatment of Psychiatric...

UPMC hosted the 4th Annual Triple Board & Post Pediatrics Portal Program Summit: Honing Your Skills and Becoming a Leader on April 6-7, 2018. This national event brings together physicians and students interested in combined training. Triple Board Co-chief Resident Sarah H. Arshad, MD, chaired the summit with help from her faculty adviser, Justin Schreiber, DO, MPH, Assistant Professor, and Jennifer DeBasi...

The Indo-American Psychiatric Association (IAPA) has selected Rameshwari Tumuluru, MD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, to receive its 2018 Outstanding Academician Award. She will receive the award at the organization’s annual scientific/business meeting to be held May 5, just prior to the American Psychiatry Association meeting in New York City. At the meeting, Dr. Tumuluru also will present a talk on the...

Pediatric anxiety disorders begin in childhood or early adolescence and frequently lead to other psychiatric disorders in adulthood, including anxiety disorders and depression. Anxiety disorders are associated with an overactive action monitoring system, as indexed by a larger event-related potential named the error-related negativity (ERN). This leads researchers to hypothesize that it could represent a potential...

Katalin Szanto, MD focuses her research on the psychopathology, treatment, and prevention of suicidal behavior, particularly geriatric suicide. She conducted a psychological autopsy study, a successful suicide prevention program in primary care, and has extensive experience in interviewing practitioners who have lost patients by suicide. She founded the Longitudinal Research Program in Late-Life Suicide at the...

Daniel Buysse, MD, UPMC Professor of Sleep Medicine and Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical and Translational Science, has been elected to the Association of American Physicians (AAP). He will be recognized at a formal dinner held during the organization’s annual meeting on Saturday, April 21, 2018 at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago, IL. “I am honored to be elected to such a prestigious organization,” he said. “Even...

Pictured (left to right): Crystal Doran, Carol VanZile, and Drs. Camellia Herisko and Ken Nash The Joint Commission arrived on March 12 for the triennial survey of the UPMC Presbyterian, UPMC Shadyside, and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC) facilities. The Joint Commission survey is an unannounced event that occurs every three years and focuses on the environment, processes, and clinical records. A...