September 2024

Dear Friends:

Today, September 30, 2024, after 17 years of service, I am stepping down from my role as chair of the Department of Psychiatry to return to the faculty. The department will be in excellent hands under the direction of my colleague Stephan (Steve) Taylor, M.D. 

Dr. Taylor is currently associate chair for research and regulatory affairs for the department and was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2021. I am delighted that he has been named our interim chair as of October 1, 2024, and I am excited to see where his outstanding leadership takes us.

It has been an enormous privilege to serve as chair working with our tremendous faculty, staff, and trainees. Here at the Michigan Medicine Department of Psychiatry, our residency, fellowship, psychology post-doc and social work training program alumni are an important part of our community. I hope to see you at national conferences, and, for those living outside of Michigan, please reach out when you are able to return to Ann Arbor as I'd love to catch up with you!

Sincerely,

The photo below shows many of the Psychiatry faculty at this year's Silverman Research Conference with Dr. Gregory Dalack in the middle in the blue suit.

Psychiatry Mug Club

Last spring, we initiated the Department of Psychiatry Mug Club in an effort to grow alumni support for our trainees’ educational development. For a nominal gift to the Psychiatry Annual Fund, our dedicated alumni received their own one-of-a-kind, custom designed mugs.

To date, 25 alumni have become members of the Mug Club. As you can see from the photos below, shared by some of our inaugural Mug Club members, not only are these mugs cute, but they also demonstrate the pride you feel for your alma mater. 

You can join the Mug Club in Spring 2025 when we'll unveil a NEW mug edition!

Dr. Jenny Seibert

Dr. Josh Bess

Dr. Chris Petersen’s dog Razz

Faculty Spotlight: Donovan Maust, M.D., M.S.

Dr. Maust is one of the few fellowship-trained geriatric psychiatrist health services researchers in the country. His work focuses on how the health care system provides care to persons living with dementia and the extent to which this care is determined by the clinicians who happen to be providing the care. A consistent area of his research has been psychotropic prescribing to older adults, though this has expanded to more broadly address the health care workforce caring for persons living with dementia (PLWD).

Read on to learn more about Dr. Maust's many NIH- and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs-funded projects.

The photo below shows Dr. Maust with his wife and daughters at the recent Willard C. Blackney Jr. and Geraldine LaTendresse Blackney Research Professor of Geriatric Psychiatry professorship installation event.