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Stroll for Strong Kids Pie Sale
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Team Pediatric Behavioral Health & Wellness is teaming up with Special Touch Bakery to raise funds for the 28th Annual Stroll for Strong Kids. Proceeds from the pie sale will benefit URMC’s Pediatric Behavioral Health & Wellness services.
Now through Friday, April 26th, you can order locally-made pies. All pies come frozen. Fruit pies are unbaked with baking instructions on the box. Cream pies are simply thawed and served.
Your order will be ready for pick up on Friday, May 10th, just in time for upcoming celebrations!
Order Locally Made Pies Here
Yeates Conwell Receives Carter Catlett Williams Award for Excellence in Aging Services
Monday, April 8, 2024
Congratulations to Yeates Conwell, MD for receiving this year's Carter Catlett Williams Award for Excellence in Aging Services!
This award is given by Lifespan of Greater Rochester Inc. at their annual Celebration of Aging at the Convention Center and honors those making remarkable contributions to the field of aging and long-term care services.
Bridge Art Gallery Call for Art Closes May 3rd!
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
There’s a little more than a month left to submit artwork for our Bridge Art Gallery's next call for art, Growth in Tough Times. We invite artists of all ages to respond to our call for art exploring resilience and overcoming challenges by completing the attached submission form or filling out our online form here. In addition, save the date for the show reception on May 29th from 4:30 PM to 6 PM at the Romano Room. Stay tuned for more details!
Read More: Bridge Art Gallery Call for Art Closes May 3rd!Pilot Award to Translate Mental Health and Deaf Cultural Screenings
Thursday, March 28, 2024
We are proud to share that Aileen Aldalur, PhD and Kimberly van Orden, PhD, alongside Wyatte Hall, MA, PhD, and researchers from Gallaudet University and UMass Chan Medical School were recently awarded the Quality Institute Healthcare Innovation Pilot Award from the UR Medicine Quality Institute.
This award will fund the team's project, "Creating Deaf Equity in Behavioral Health Assessment," which will translate several mental health screenings and Deaf cultural measures into ASL. These screenings will be piloted across UR Medicine in the upcoming years. Congratulations to the team for this well-deserved award!
Stroll for Strong Kids is June 1st!
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
The 28th Annual Golisano Children's Hospital Stroll for Strong Kids will be held on June 1st at Genesee Valley Park! This family-friendly event features a race/walk fundraiser to support programs that serve our kids and their loved ones as well as entertainment and lunch for youth participants. Our Pediatric Behavioral Health & Wellness team will be raising funds to support pediatric psychiatry programs. Interested in supporting the team's efforts? You can. . .
- Join the walk team and/or Donate to the team's fundraising efforts
- To donate, select a participant from the team and go to their profile to reach the "Donate" button. Select "Direct my gift to" and select "Pediatric Behavioral Health & Wellness" from the drop-down menu
- Purchase a pie through the team's Pie Sale until 4/26
- Participate in Pediatric Behavioral Health and Wellness's bottle and can drive! From now until 5/31, Upstate Bottle Return will be matching a portion for every 5¢ return at any of their locations. Just mention that you would like your return to support Pediatric Behavioral Health and Wellness’s fundraiser!
- Organize a Jeans Day in your program!
- Share the walk information and team page on social media!
Thank you to everyone's support in making this year's walk a success.
Deaf Wellness Center Celebrates 25th Anniversary
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
In March, our Deaf Wellness Center (DWC) celebrated its 25th Anniversary.
The foundations of this program began in 1990 when founder Dr. Robert Pollard joined UR Medicine and two years later, a National Institute of Mental Health grant provided funding for our Psychology Internship Program to bring on a deaf intern focused on serving deaf patients.
Since then, the program has grown to provide mental health and counseling services to deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind, deaf disabled, late-deafened, and CODA adults with the center officially receiving its name in 1999.
Adobe Donation Supports Youth Suicide Prevention
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
Ian Cero, PhD, Peter Wyman, PhD, and Anthony Pisani, PhD recently received a $20K donation from Adobe, Inc. to fund initial research into the potential uses of AI for suicide prevention among high-risk adolescents. This pilot will evaluate the potential for Adobe’s image-generating AI platform (Firefly) to improve suicide safety planning for youth and adults in their lives. The pilot will be conducted with patients discharged from our Child and Adolescent Partial Hospitalization Program with youth and supportive adults collaborating to use Firefly to visualize images personally important to their safety plan.
Transitions in Psychiatry Education
Friday, March 8, 2024
After 21 years at URMC, and over 18 in our Department, Marylee Gramlich will be departing from URMC, the Department’s Education team, and her role as the Education Administrator; her last day with us will be March 29. Marylee has been a champion for all things education! She is a consummate advocate for our learners and our faculty, an excellent steward of our Education resources, a builder of community, and a beacon of warmth to all who are new to the Department of Psychiatry. She has been the heartbeat of this part of our Department, and we are all indebted to her for her countless and tireless contributions. While Marylee is surely one of a kind, and irreplaceable, our Psychiatry Education team will be working toward fortifying the team with some additional resources and support.
In addition, Vicki Perry, the fearless Psychiatry medical student education coordinator, and coordinator for our Geriatric Fellowship Program, will be leaving our department in March. 
Laura Cardella, MD, Director of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry says, "Vicki has been the clerkship coordinator for longer than I have been the clerkship director. She has a level of institutional awareness that not many of us do. She is quick to lend a hand when asked, has helped facilitate more than a thousand medical students through the psychiatry clerkship, and deeply cares about them and their education."
Please join us in thanking Marylee and Vicki for their years of service!
Advanced Certificate in Addictions Counseling Program Rounding the Bend on Pilot Year
Friday, March 8, 2024
The Advanced Certificate in Addictions Counseling Program, a partnership between our Strong Recovery Services, the Warner School of Education, and the School of Medicine and Dentistry, is rounding the bend on its pilot year. The team of faculty, staff, and students who made this program possible feel tremendous pride in the learning community that we’ve collaboratively created.
This program is designed to meet the educational needs of master-prepared professionals who are interested in obtaining the Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Use Counseling (CASAC) credential. What makes our program unique is the targeted curriculum of substance use disorder education that is often missing from master-level human service degrees. Therefore, in two short semesters, a student will obtain all the necessary educational hours to meet the requirements to become a CASAC trainee.
Additionally, the program includes two tracks, one for students interested in gaining more alcohol and other drug clinical internship experience at Strong Recovery, and the other track is designed for students interested in learning more about clinical supervision. In total, the commitment is two semesters, and the cohort begins every fall. The deadline to apply program is July 15th, 2024.
Interested in learning more about this program and becoming a Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor? An informational session will be held on March 28th at noon. Click here to register.
Biomarker changes in spinal fluid could help diagnose Alzheimer's early
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Media Spotlight: Geriatric psychiatrist Emily Clark, DO, spoke to Medical News Today (Feb. 28) about a long-term study on early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Clark said the new findings confirm the differences in biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid and blood plasma in patients who developed the disease in the future and those who didn't. "A temporal manner of biomarker changes has been a hypothesis for many years that has been validated as biomarker testing advancements have been made in research settings," said Clark.
Read More: Biomarker changes in spinal fluid could help diagnose Alzheimer's earlyKristina Washington Named Sr. Administrator for Adult Acute/Crisis/MIPS
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
We are excited to share that Kristina Washington, LCSW will be promoted to the new position of Senior Administrator for Adult Acute/Crisis/MIPS services. In this role, Kristina will provide administrative oversight, guidance, and support for all of our adult inpatient crisis programs such as the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program, Mobile Crisis, and Crisis Call Line, as well as other acute programs such as the Adult Partial Hospitalization Program.
Kristina joined the department almost 23 years ago and has served in various admin support, clinical, and leadership roles across our ambulatory and acute/crisis services. Her most recent has been as the Clinical Director of our Adult Partial Hospitalization Program for almost 2 years to date. Kristina brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to this new role and I look forward to working with her to continue to support and advance our Acute/Crisis/MIPS services for adult patients.
Please join us in congratulating Kristina on her new role!
Perspectives for Black History Month and Beyond: Q&A with Dr. Arielle Sheftall
Friday, February 9, 2024
Arielle Sheftall, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry with expertise in understanding and addressing mental health disparities. In this Q&A session, Sheftall discusses key research findings, providing valuable perspectives for Black History Month and beyond.
Read More: Perspectives for Black History Month and Beyond: Q&A with Dr. Arielle SheftallWhen the biggest student mental health advocates are the students
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
Read the New York Times Article
Student-led efforts can play a vital role, too, says Peter Wyman, a professor of psychiatry, co-director of the Center for Study and Prevention of Suicide, and director of the Network Health and Prevention Program. Peer leaders can be “significant influencers,” he says, in helping friends to avoid risk-taking behaviors, like vaping or drugs, and to embrace coping behaviors, like seeking counseling. The closer a teen is to the peer leader delivering a prevention message or demonstrating a healthy coping behavior, the bigger the impact, Wyman says.
Itza Morales Named Staff Wellness Officer
Monday, January 29, 2024
We are excited to announce the appointment of Itza Morales, MSB, CASAC as the new Staff Wellness Officer for the Department of Psychiatry. In this role, Itza will partner with Autumn Gallegos, PhD, our Faculty Wellness Officer, to promote and implement wellness initiatives throughout the department. Together, they will aim to make ongoing wellness a consistent part of the fabric of our work environments.
Itza has a long history of promoting wellness in Addiction Psychiatry. She has served as Strong Recovery’s Wellness Champion for the past 5 years. In that role, she has guided the implementation of many wellness initiatives. She will continue her position as Co-Director of Operations of Strong Recovery but will allocate some of her time to fulfill this pivotal role for the department.
George Nasra Named Associate Chair for Adult Ambulatory Care
Friday, January 26, 2024
In this role, Dr. Nasra will provide leadership and strategic direction for our adult ambulatory services. He will also facilitate collaboration across our different programs.
Dr. Nasra brings a wealth of expertise, having previously led the DSRIP integration efforts and played a pivotal role as Associate Medical Director of Behavioral Health in the Accountable Health Partner (AHP). His extensive collaboration with affiliate hospitals, particularly through our primary integration programs and telepsychiatry-based emergency psychiatry program highlights his commitment to advancing our department's goals.
Under Dr. Nasra's leadership, the Division of Collaborative Care and Wellness has flourished, becoming one of the largest divisions of its kind in the country. Today, our department stands as one of the most integrated in the country, a testament to Dr. Nasra's dedication and strategic vision.
During this transitional period, Dr. Nasra will continue his role as Clinical Chief of our Division of Collaborative Care and Wellness in the interim.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Nasra on his new leadership role!
Gold & Silver Star Recipients Show ‘What URMC is All About’
Tuesday, January 9, 2024
Each year, we pause to recognize those whose exemplary work has earned top recognition from patients, families, and colleagues at URMC through the ICARE Stars program.
Hundreds of Gold and Silver Star recipients in a variety of roles across the organization were honored at a virtual ceremony Dec. 19. As echoed by numerous speakers, these superstars—recognizable by their gold and silver ID badges—are proof that the Medical Center is only as good as its people and the quality work they deliver every day—from each interaction with patients and, importantly, with each other.
“These outstanding individuals and their actions reflect our best work,” said Chief Operating Officer Kathy Parrinello. “You serve as role models for what URMC is all about and the actions we celebrate today demonstrate the best of our organization and what makes URMC a great place to work.”
For decades, the ICARE Star program has long provided a simple way to recognize faculty and staff publicly through written words of thanks. The ICARE Values (Inclusion, Integrity, Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence) not only guide our interactions with those we serve but are critical to our success as a whole, said Jackie Beckerman, Senior Director of ICARE Commitment and Chief Patient Experience Officer.
“You consistently go above and beyond and serve as role models for others,” she said. “In a field as challenging as health care, you always show up with your best. Today we celebrate you and everything you do, day in and day out.”
Chief Medical Officer Michael Apostolakos, MD, called the accomplishments “humbling,” and one of the reasons many patients and families leave satisfied with the care they receive.
“People who show the ICARE values set a culture of engagement for others,” he said. “The level of engagement of our staff is directly related to patient and family satisfaction. Your actions create a culture that lets us give the best care to patients and we can’t thank you enough for that.”
Chief Nursing Executive Karen Keady praised the teamwork behind each individual award, noting the critical importance of every role within this organization.
“A special shout-out to our many nursing recipients, as busy as we are–you continue to offer great clinical care and interpersonal skills that take us to the next level–and I could not be more proud of each and every one of you.”
Vicky Hines, Chief Operating Officer of the UR Medical Faculty Group, praised the ICARE program. Hines, who has worked at URMC for 38 years, and said: “It has always been our remarkable people, like our Gold and Silver Star recipients, that have brought me the greatest sense of joy throughout my tenure at the Medical Center. Your commitment to our patients and to each other, is an inspiration to us all.”
Psychiatry employees representing a number of our services- including but not limited to Psychiatric nursing, our inpatient, outpatient, and partial services, and Psychiatric social work- were among those honored during this ceremony. Congratulations to all that were recognized and thank you for your continued hard work! View a recording of the celebration.
Want to Improve the Well-Being of Health Workers? The System Itself Must Change
Monday, January 8, 2024
There is increasing evidence of work-related harm to the brain with chronic high-level uncontrolled (but not controlled) stress. This will have implications for work-related mental health issues, and now evidence of cognitive impairments, neuroanatomical changes. Some are reversible if stress is reduced but the time window of the reversibility is not known.
Michael Privitera, MD, MS, alongside leadership from the Total Worker Health Program, published a NIOSH Science Blog article discussing the need for systemic interventions in the workplace using the Total Worker Health Program as an example of healthy work design.
Read More: Want to Improve the Well-Being of Health Workers? The System Itself Must Change