Issue 46 | January 3, 2024 | |
Editor's Note: To download pictures in this issue, simply click the red X over images and select "Download Pictures." Each picture in this issue will instantly appear as intended. | |
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Dear Faculty, Staff and Trainees,
The holiday season is behind us, but after months with no shortage of grim news, I’m dedicating 2024’s first issue to highlighting some tremendously good news in the field of psychiatry that we should all be grateful for.
Perhaps you’ve heard of a “Golden Age for Medicine” being heralded by The New York Times and the National Institutes of Health. As Dr. Jennifer Doudna, the Nobel laureate behind the gene-editing technology Crispr, says, “We’re at an extraordinary time of accelerating discoveries.”
Every month, it seems, a new breakthrough is announced in immunotherapies or cancer treatments. Potential mRNA applications against H.I.V., Zika, tuberculosis, respiratory syncytial virus, and many forms of cancer are being developed, and a “world-changing” vaccine for malaria administered to 18 million people last summer could save millions of lives.
And psychiatry is seeing its own era of whirlwind advances. Breakthrough antidepressants with fewer side effects are coming to market in 2024, including new medicines aimed at treatment-resistant depression. Our own Advanced Depression Treatment Center (ADepT) is employing novel and effective treatment including intranasal Esketamine, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and ECT, to fulfill its mission of combating difficult-to-treat depression through high-quality, personalized treatments.
One recent breakthrough is especially noteworthy. In August, the FDA approved Zurzuvae, the first oral medication for postpartum depression (PPD). PPD affects up to 10% of mothers, and can impact fathers too. As Tiffany Farchione, director of the FDA’s Division of Psychiatry, noted this will help countless people battling “extreme, and sometimes life-threatening, feelings.”
In a media environment where outrage and despair sells, perspective helps. These breakthroughs don't go viral like bad news does. But they will help billions of people, alleviating suffering on the same scale as breakthroughs like penicillin or the Salk vaccine did before them.
I know we're all excited for this “Golden Age of medicine," and specifically psychiatry, on a scale not seen in decades. And with our Faculty Physicians providing care to more than 1.6 million outpatients and inpatients every year, across more than 40 medical specialties, I’m so proud of the role our Department is playing as the era of medical discovery unfolds.
Jill A. RachBeisel, MD
Dr. Irving J. Taylor Associate Professor and Chair, Department
of Psychiatry
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Dr. Alicia Lucksted's grant submission for implementing brief Written Exposure Therapy (WET) in outpatient mental health services will be submitted to the NIH next month. In addition to Alicia, the team also includes Jill Marsteller, PhD from Johns Hopkins, Dr. Peter Phalen, Dr. Richard Goldberg, Dr. RachBeisel, and Dr. Madeline Marks.
Alicia is also in the middle of a NIDA-funded R34 developing a cognitive-behavioral intervention for people living with HIV and substance use who are deterred from good engagement with care by experienced, anticipated, and internalized stigma. She is also, with a team of others, creating and piloting a behavioral activation and peer coaching program in the VA, for Veterans with serious mental illnesses who want to reduce their social isolation and increase their community engagement. Once that pilot is complete they will pursue VA funding for a randomized trial in that system, AND will also apply for NIH or similar funding to test it in non-VA community mental health settings where the same need exists.
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Richard Goldberg Ph.D., a full professor in the Division of Psychiatric Services Research, has been on our faculty since 1998. He has also been the Director of the VA Capitol Health Care Network (VISN 5) Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC) since 2012. His research focuses on the development, evaluation, and implementation of recovery-oriented treatments and services for individuals with serious mental illness. Current research projects are looking at early episode psychosis services and the delivery of Peer Specialist led interventions. In addition to chairing the Department’s Advancement and Promotion and Tenure Committee and serving on the IRB Committee, Dr. Goldberg is also actively involved in clinical training and education.
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Tasha Roane, a social worker at the Fayette Clinic, has been with the program for almost exactly one year now.
Tasha immediately dived into her position and the Division by becoming the DEI Champion for the clinic. In this role she has been instrumental in her contributions to the larger DEI Committee. Tasha was also a member of the Juneteenth Committee. In the words of Marsha Gorth, "Her enthusiasm and positive attitude is infectious."
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Mia Thompson has been at our Department for over 16 years, working in Human Resources. Dr. RachBeisel recently described her as "a rock" at the Department for her dependability, "can-do" outlook, creative solutions, and problem-solving.
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We are pleased to start off 2024 with exciting events and opportunities!
Our second DEI grand rounds the Rachel Gundry lecture is scheduled for Thursday, Jan 18 at noon and will be in person. Maria Christina Crouch (Deg Hit'an and Coahuiltecan Nations), PhD, is a clinical-community psychologist and a postdoctoral research fellow at Yale School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry. Her talk is titled: “American Indian and Alaska Native Culture is Medicine: Historical Trauma, Substance Misuse, & Treatment”. Dr. Crouch will be available to participate in an extended Q/A session immediately following her presentation from 1-2pm.
We will have ongoing community building circles for the remainder of the academic year. In January, the circles will be located at MPRC. They are open to any member of the department who would like to join. Please see the sign up links below:
Wed, Jan 17 at 1:30pm - https://volunteersignup.org/HCF83
Thurs, Jan 25 at 1:30pm - https://volunteersignup.org/PWJQP
Finally, the Dept of Psychiatry would like to invite up to 5 members (faculty and staff) to join our sponsored table at this year’s SOM Diversity dinner. If you would like to attend, please e-mail Dr. Forrester at aforrest@som.umaryland.edu by Friday, Jan 22. Due to the limited table space, we are unable to accommodate additional guests. Please see the details here:
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A Look Back on Holiday Cheer... | We had a few Division holiday gatherings, as well as the Department Holiday Party. Below, we've compiled holiday pictures from DPSR, DART, and the overall Department as we celebrate a year of progress. | |
The Department Holiday Lunch | |
Department-Wide Holiday Party | |
A Successful 2023 Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health | |
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We had a very successful annual conference on advancing school mental health! As you may know, this was our first time hosting the conference in person since 2019. We were not sure what to expect in terms of attendance this year given the gap in in-person meetings. We ended up doubling our #s from the last conference with about 2,500 joining us this year in New Orleans! We had participants from every single state in the U.S. and from several other countries. Maryland was well represented with several leaders from Maryland’s Department of Health and Department of Education.
The program was dense and full of tremendous content! We encourage you to check it out. Participants had overwhelmingly positive feedback and I am optimistic that the ripple effects of this meeting will positively impact so many youth around the nation.
Huge credit goes to Sylvia McCree-Huntley and Christina Walker for their tireless efforts to pull off such a large event. I would also like to acknowledge Taneisha Carter and Perrin Robinson for their tremendous support of the conference, and Janice Mace for leading our moderators.
We had a large team of research and clinical faculty and staff attend and support all aspects of the conference, including moderating all sessions. This included: Elizabeth Baker, Sarah Barber, Tiffany Beason, Yourdanos Bekele, Eliya Bernstein, Jill Bohnenkamp, Diamond Carr, Elizabeth Connors, Jennifer Cox, Dana Cunningham, Victoria Daley, Misty Davis, Ebonee Dixon, Kristina Floyd, Aijah Goodwin, Melissa Ambrose, Richenda Hobbs, Asia Humphries, Jerica Knox, Zahra Ladhani, Jennifer Lease, Janice Mace, Caitlyn McNulty, Madeline Morey, Deja’ Moses, Claire Noll, Malena Nygaard, Karah Palmer, Nikita Parson, Brittany Patterson, Nyjae Pride, Sumer Rahe, Sam Reaves, Gabrielle Sanchez, Joseph Santangelo, Cindy Schaeffer, Dawn Shanklin, Claudia Sosa, Rikki Spiegler, Helen Tracey, Maya Wallace, Ellie Wu, and Ashley Woods.
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On December 11, Dean Gladwin announced that UMSOM will receive a $29 million research award over four years from the National Institutes of Health to lead a multicenter trial that aims to improve health outcomes in people who inject opioid drugs and are hospitalized with infectious complications of their drug use.
Faculty affiliated with the Institute of Virology and the Kahlert Institute for Addiction Medicine at UMSOM will be conducting the research. Principal IHV investigators include Sarah Kattakuzhy, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine at UMSOM and Associate Director of the Kahlert Institute.
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On December 12, 2023, Governor Wes Moore appointed Dr. Alden Littlewood as a member of the State Board of Physicians for a term that will expire in July 2027.
The Governor has submitted Dr. Littlewood's nomination to the Maryland State Senate for confirmation. Her term will begin immediately upon her taking the oath of office.
Congratulations on a tremendous honor, Dr. Littlewood!
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Don't Miss...
Our First Faculty Meeting of 2024
On Thursday, January 11 from noon to 1:30, we'll hold our first Faculty Meeting of 2024 at SMC Campus Center, Room 208.
In-person attendance is mandatory for all clinical and research faculty! Lunch will be provided.
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Please add the following talk to your schedules (UM-MIND, Pin-generallist and Dept. Psychiatry):
1 pm
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Conte Center seminar, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center
Arnold Kriegstein, MD, PhD; Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Dept. Neurology, University of California San Francisco
will present: “Species-specific Features of Human Brain Development Present or Absent in Organoids”
(Host: Dr. Robert Schwarcz)
Zoom link: https://umaryland.zoom.us/j/94174515453?pwd=RnlSL2dzUlZYcmRKVGhoR0Y2ZUh5Zz09
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Dr. Deanna Kelly was interviewed in a National Geographic article titled "Schizophrenia in Women." In it, she argues that schizophrenia deserves more attention from policymakers and the medical community, as women with schizophrenia are more prone to being misdiagnosed, while people who receive early care get better faster and stay well longer.
To read the article in full, click here.
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Dr. RachBeisel gave an interview with Maryland Public TV, "Coping with Holiday Depression & Anxiety." In it, she shed light on how holiday depression and anxiety isn't a disorder, even a seasonal one--and how people can combat the negative holiday feelings.
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Don't Miss: January's Big Kahlert Institute Event | | | | |
