News

We are delighted to announce that Rebecca Price, PhD, has been appointed Tenured Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Price’s research investigates how the mind processes information in anxiety, depression, and suicidality. Her work bridges cognitive, affective, developmental, and clinical approaches to psychology and neuroscience, using techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, pupillometry, eye tracking, and neurocognitive tasks. Dr. Price has tested several novel interventions for depression, suicidality, and anxiety, including the first randomized controlled trial for the administration of ketamine for suicidal patients.

Dr. Price is principal investigator of three R01s funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), including a Biobehavioral Research Awards for Innovative New Scientists (BRAINS) Award that is focused on delineating the effects of intravenous ketamine administration on depressive neurocognition and broadening the clinical potential of ketamine by pairing it with computer-based neurocognitive training. Her second R01 funds testing of the effectiveness of intravenous ketamine for rapid and durable suicide risk reduction among medical inpatients hospitalized following a suicide attempt, and her third R01 focuses on experimental manipulation of orbitofrontal cortex function and behavioral context with the aim of developing an integrative translational model of compulsive behaviors. In addition, Dr. Price is co-investigator on two NIMH R01s, one focused on multimodal assessment of near-term risk processes for suicide ideation and behavior, and the other on neurocomputational mechanisms of antidepressant placebo effects. Dr. Price also serves as a consultant on four NIMH grants in the Pitt Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, and at Brown University.

Dr. Price has published her research in journals including The American Journal of Psychiatry, Molecular Psychiatry, and Biological Psychiatry, and has presented her work at symposia such as the Annual Scientific Conference of the Society of Biological Psychiatry and the Annual Meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. 

Dr. Price is the recipient of several prestigious awards including the Donald F. Klein Early Career Investigator Award from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, and she was named an Association for Psychological Science Rising Star. Dr. Price also received the University of Pittsburgh Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award, which honored her high-quality, early-career research contributions, as well as recognition of her national and international prominence as a scholar. 

“Dr. Price has developed an innovative and highly translational research program for which she has earned numerous top recognitions from the University of Pittsburgh and national and international scientific organizations,” said David Lewis, MD (Chair, Department of Psychiatry). “Dr. Price is creative, collaborative, and highly respected by her colleagues and mentees—we are very fortunate to have her in our Department.”

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Price!