News

We are pleased to announce that LalithKumar Solai, MD, has been promoted to Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
At UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH), Dr. Solai serves as Medical Director, Patient Safety. In addition, he is medical director of the Center for Interventional Psychiatry (CIP), overseeing care for patients with severe, difficult-to-treat depression and other debilitating psychiatric disorders. Under Dr. Solai’s leadership, the CIP has maintained a national reputation as a top provider of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), widely considered the gold-standard treatment for severe depression. Dr. Solai has also substantially expanded the range of therapies provided by the CIP, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and ketamine.

As chief of geriatric psychiatry, Dr. Solai also leads WPH’s Geriatric Psychiatry Services, including the Geriatric Psychiatry Inpatient Unit, the Long-Term Care program, the Bellefield Enhanced Support Team (BEST) program, the Benedum Geriatric Center and UPMC Senior Care–Shadyside.

Dr. Solai is a dedicated and accomplished educator who has taught extensively at all levels, particularly in the realm of resident and fellow training at WPH. He led the PGY2 Aging & Cognition Series for ten years, and was the associate director for the geriatric psychiatry fellowship, a training program with a national reputation for clinical and educational excellence in late-life mental health.

“Dr. Solai is a widely respected expert in geriatric psychiatry, as well as interventional psychiatry,” said David Lewis, MD (Chair, Department of Psychiatry). “He continually pushes to improve access to behavioral health care for two challenging patient populations—the elderly and those suffering from treatment-resistant psychiatric disorders—and has brought numerous great ideas to fruition through innovative programs.”

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Solai!