News

• Wendi Cross, PhD was a coauthor on a paper published in Crisis examining the effectiveness of active learning strategies in suicide prevention gatekeeper training.

• Several members of Psychiatry published a paper in Social Science and Medicine analyzing the perspectives of African American males experiencing civil unrest to determine factors influencing community violence. Racist policies and practices, economic opportunity and mobility, and displays of power in the community impacted escalating violence.

• Wilfred Pigeon, PhD, alongside Jason DeViva, PhD of Yale School of Medicine, published an editorial expanding on Werner et al.'s research on fear of sleep as a clinically significant construct in trauma and PTSD.

• Anton Porsteinsson, MD was a coauthor on a paper examining hippocampal volume and cortical thickness in subjects with the Apolipoprotein ε4 allele. There was a correlation between hippocampal volume atrophy and cortical thinning and cognitive change in APOE ε4/ε4 subjects with early Alzheimer's disease.

• Steven Silverstein, PhD was a coauthor in this review of mental health needs in people with visual impairment. The paper suggest that a better understanding of the mechanisms linking visual impairment with mental health challenges is needed in order to improve the detection and treatment of mental health problems in this population.

• Catherine Cerulli, JD, PhD was a coauthor on this study using machine learning to analyze social media for the reasons given for staying in/ leaving abusive relationships. The results of the study will provide insight into the dynamics of partner violence.

• Thomas O'Connor, PhD was a co-author in this paper examining the influence of prenatal androgen exposure on children's gender-typed behavior.
• Yeates Conwell, MD was a co-author on an article examining existing research surrounding suicide in individuals with Lewy body dementia.
• Steve Silverstein, PhD was a co-author in a paper published in Psychiatry Research looking at how nicotine affects performance on cognitive tasks.
• Yeates Conwell, MD was a co-author on a paper examining associations between well-being, suicide and self-harm in older adults.

• Eric Caine, MD was a coauthor in this study examining social media data to analyze people's psychosocial concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pediatric Behavioral Health & Wellness Outpatient Services' Racial Justice Committee is partnering with The Bridge Art Gallery for their first call for art of 2021! The show, Youth for Racial Justice: Not A Moment But A Movement, is open to all youth under age 21. The deadline for submissions is January 8th, 2021 by emailing the Bridge Art Gallery or by dropping off pieces at Pediatric Behavioral Health & Wellness locations. Please share with anyone you think may be interested in participating!

• Steven Silverstein, PhD contributed to the investigation of the effects of Parkinson's disease on retinal activity in this study using Flash Electroretinography data parameters from 21 participants as a non-intrusive measure of retinal activity.
• Peter Wyman, PhD, Anthony Pisani, PhD, Lacy M. Morgan-DeVelder, MS, LMFT, Karen Schmeelk-Cone, PhD, and Eric Caine, MD helped evaluate suicide prevention and mental health programs for US Air Force personnel. The Wingman-Connect program studied is the first to reduce suicidal ideation and depression symptoms in a general Air Force population.
• Marsha N. Wittink, MD, MBE completed a qualitative study of community oncologists and older adults with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) to determine influences on initial treatment and transplant decision-making.
• Mark Oldham, MD characterized frequent neuropsychiatric complications relating to COVID-19. Evaluating how inconsistent terminology can place constraints on mental status research/diagnosis, and expressing the importance of shared classification and nomenclature.
• Elizabeth Karras, PhD led a trial focusing on whether firearm safety messaging is related to changes in safe storage intentions and behaviors in US military veterans.
• Mark Oldham, MD was a coauthor on a paper published in Psychosomatics reviewing subtypes of personality changes due to other medical conditions.
• Mark Oldham, MD and Hochang Ben Lee, MD, alongside I?Hsin Lin, PhD, Keith Hawkins, PsyD, Fang?Yong Li, MPH, David Yuh, MD of Yale School of Medicine, published a paper on the relationship between depression and cognitive and functional decline after coronary artery bypass grafts.

Tziporah Rosenberg, PhD, LMFT, has been appointed as the new Associate Chair of Education, effective as of January 1st, 2021. In this role, Dr. Rosenberg will lead our overall education and training agenda in the Department of Psychiatry. She succeeds Deborah King, PhD who retired from the role at the end of September.

In addition to serving as an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Family Medicine, Rosenberg also currently serves as the Director for Training and Education in our Division of Collaborative Care and Wellness and has been an important member of our leadership team integrating behavioral health across our community's primary care practices. She is also Director of the Institute for the Family's Family Therapy Services and a member of the Behavioral Health Integration Team for Accountable Health Partners, our region's premier integrated network of community and faculty providers and regional hospitals largely affiliated with URMC.

During the extensive search for this important leadership position, Dr. Rosenberg presented a compelling vision for inter-professional training and interdisciplinary education. We are very excited and proud to welcome the new Associate Chair of Education who is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.

Speaking on Dr. Rosenberg, Hochang Ben Lee, MD says, "Her leadership skills in education and training prowess are already well-known across our medical center and beyond."

Dr. Rosenberg comments, " I am looking forward to continuing the tradition of excellence with which Deborah King served in this vital leadership role, and also seeding some possibilities for innovation around interprofessionalism, team-based care, and reinforcing a culture of shared learning among all of our Department's dedicated staff, faculty, and leadership."

Please join us in welcoming and congratulating Dr. Rosenberg in her new role!