Aug. 20, 2026

NEW! UTSW provides DEA registration fee exemption

As a reminder, UT Southwestern clinical providers are eligible for a DEA registration fee exemption if your DEA registration is used exclusively in the performance of your official duties at UT Southwestern. When completing your DEA registration or renewal application, you will need to indicate that you are requesting the fee exemption and provide the following information:

Institution Name: UT Southwestern Medical Center

UTSW Tax ID#: 75-6002868

Certifying Official: Tarek K. Rajji, M.D.

Title: Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry  

Certifying Email: PsychFacultyAffairs@UTSouthwestern.edu

Certifying Phone: 214-648-5555

If you have any questions regarding the DEA registration process or your eligibility for the fee exemption, please contact Jasmina Vuksanovic for assistance.

NEW! Psychiatry colleagues are running for EAC

Employee Advisory Council (EAC) voting ends on Aug. 21. This year's nomination slate includes several Psychiatry Department members Brisa Afanador, Nakita Gee, Adrianna Harris, Sharlenta Johnson, Melody Lundquist, Austin "Kali" Rhodes, and Khameka Webb-Anderson.

‌The EAC is a peer-nominated group that helps enhance communication, promote employee engagement, and build community. Council members represent five different districts across UT Southwestern and partner with UTSW President Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D., to provide perspectives on topics important to the campus community. To learn more, visit the EAC SharePoint. Vote at the link below (UTSW authentication is required).

NEW! Girls Empowered by Mavericks (GEM) seeks speakers

UT Southwestern is proud to be the Official Team Doctors of the Dallas Mavericks and presenting sponsor of the Girls Empowered by Mavericks (GEM) program. GEM aims to engage, inspire, and empower girls (9-14) through continued development and success. Participants learn to value their whole self, discover and develop their inherent strengths, and receive the support they need to navigate challenges. UTSW provides speakers on a variety of health topics for their school visits and hoop camps. Individuals interested in being added to the GEM roster of speakers should fill out the form below. 

Is your online academic profile page up to date?

New faculty recruits, students, and professional collaborators access our faculty profiles for many reasons. Keeping these pages up to date ensures the most pertinent information is available, and faculty can update their pages directly via Profile+ (UT Southwestern VPN access required).

In the Biography section, faculty can share their professional history and interests, and the "meta description" is a search engine optimization tool to benefit users. Faculty are allowed to upload CVs, but you must first ensure your CV passes an accessibility check (both as a Word document and as a pdf) and be careful not to include your home address or other personal details. The Links & Social section relates only to official institutional sites (e.g., a research lab or our department's LinkedIn page) and cannot include any personal websites or social feeds.

You can add your publications manually or select from a list. You can star the ones you want to appear at the top. Only 10 items appear on a page, and most users will not click through long lists of papers, so be thoughtful about what you include.

UTSW Library offers APC Journal Search Database

UTSW's Library has developed a faster way of determining which journals have waivers or discounts for open access publishing. The APC Journal Search Database is now available in the Article Processing Charges Guide (UTSW authentication is required). You can search by journal or publisher or by keywords in a journal title (e.g., "Psychiatry"). The search results display the Journal Title, Publisher, Open Access Model, and Discount Value ("Full" means the APC is fully covered). Note: As of Aug. 1, less than 25 articles remain in the article cap for Wiley journals, and once the maximum is reached (estimated to happen in mid to late September), UTSW authors will need to find alternative funding for Wiley articles. 

Welcome Wayne Young, CEO of TBHC

We are pleased to welcome Wayne Young, M.B.A., M.Ed., as Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the Texas Behavioral Health Center (TBHC) and Vice President of Behavioral Health Integration and Partnerships at UT Southwestern.

‌Mr. Young comes to UT Southwestern from The Harris Center for Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) in Houston, for which he was CEO. He brings three decades of experience in behavioral health care and its leadership. At The Harris Center, he led more than 2,600 team members who delivered behavioral health and intellectual and developmental disability services to almost 90,000 patients each year.

Prior to that position, Mr. Young was Senior Vice President of Behavioral Health Services at JPS Health Network in Fort Worth, which included a 20,000-visit psychiatric emergency room and inpatient psychiatric hospitals/pavilions with more than 130 total beds, along with multiple clinics and four partial hospitalization programs. Mr. Young has also held numerous leadership roles on state and national committees focused on advancing mental health resources, including serving as past Chair of the American Hospital Association’s Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Section and as the inaugural Chair of the HHSC’s Behavioral Health Advisory Committee.

As CEO of TBHC, Mr. Young will provide executive leadership and oversight across the full continuum of behavioral health services at Texas Behavioral Health Center.

Jha Lab awarded $5.4M NIH grant for trial on tirzepatide for methamphetamine use disorder

Dr. Manish Jha, M.D., has been awarded a two-year $5.4 million NIH-National Institute on Drug Abuse UG3 grant to launch a four-site Phase 2B randomized controlled trial of tirzepatide for methamphetamine use disorder. With this trial, Dr. Jha and a team including Dr. Christian Hendershot, Ph.D., of University of Southern California, Dr. W. Kyle Simmons, Ph.D., of Oklahoma State University, and Dr. Phillip Coffin, M.D., of the Center on Substance Use and Health, will evaluate, safety, tolerability and potential efficacy of tirzepatide, a dual agonist of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and glucose dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) receptors, in individuals with moderate or severe methamphetamine use disorder. 

Brown Lab awarded NIH grant to study pregnenolone for alcohol use disorder

Dr. Sherwood Brown, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., has received an NIH-National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism grant to evaluate pregnenolone, a naturally occurring neurosteroid, as a novel treatment for individuals with co-occurring alcohol use disorder (AUD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). AUD is a major public health problem, and the presence of MDD is associated with poorer clinical outcomes, including relapse. Current treatments often improve depressive symptoms more effectively than alcohol use, highlighting the need for therapies that address both conditions simultaneously.

A team, including Dr. Brown as contact principal investigator and Dr. Francesca Filbey, Ph.D., UT Dallas and adjunct faculty at UT Southwestern, as multiple principal investigator, will conduct a 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of pregnenolone (500 mg/day) in 100 adults with AUD and MDD. Outcomes will include alcohol consumption and craving, as well as depressive and anxiety symptom severity. The study will also examine neural mechanisms using resting-state functional connectivity and cue-induced craving measured with functional MRI.

IR support has changed effective Aug. 1

As part of the ambulatory clinics' transition to the Health System, James “Jim” Dimitroff's role transitioned to support those clinical operations effective Aug. 1. While we will greatly miss having Jim, this change aligns our administrative and academic areas with the standard UTSW IR support model already used across many departments. We appreciate Jim's years of outstanding service to Psychiatry and thank everyone for their partnership as we implement this transition.

The department is excited to share that, effective Aug. 1, we have entered into a service agreement with IR. This agreement will provide support across all areas of the department, except for the UTSW Ambulatory Clinics, as they will continue to receive support from Jim.

This agreement includes:

• Labor for Windows/Mac computers, basic printer support, mobile devices, consultations for new purchases, new hardware setup, rounding, and general desktop consulting. Generic purchases (laptops, etc.) may be purchased through the procurement portal without a quote. Specialized purchases will still require a quote, which IR can provide.
• Assistance with installation of software
  NOTE: Due to administrative accounts being limited on campus, you may need assistance with installing software. This can be handled by submitting a request through the Employee Service Center. Software is typically purchased through the Software Core department; to request a license for an application provided by the Software Core, please go through this link found in the Employee Service Center.
  Please note that in some instances (e.g., SPSS), Software Core-approved licenses must be purchased through an approved third-party website. In these cases, a Onecard should be used for purchases, or the Allowable Purchases Grid must be consulted prior to using a personal card.

Exclusions:

• Server Support work requiring a third-party contractor such as with a printer/copier repair is not included.
• Parts are not covered under this agreement. If parts must be ordered, Client Services will provide the department with all necessary information to execute a valid purchase requisition.

Service Level Agreement Contact times:

• Routine Issues: Client will be contacted within five business hours.
• Critical Issues: Client will be contacted within two business hours.
• Issues requiring immediate support can be escalated to Roland Brunette or James Fliege.

Process:

All support requests should be submitted through the Employee Service Center. Please note that before submitting a service request, employees should speak to their department administrator first to ensure the service is required and no other solution is available.

• Submitting a request through the Service Center creates a support ticket that is routed directly to the appropriate team or technician based on the user and department, helping to ensure a faster response. 
• For urgent or time-sensitive issues, users should contact Roland Brunette or James Fliege or call the Help Desk and clearly indicate that the request requires immediate attention.

Misc.:

• Acquiring new software licenses
  NOTE: Software must be on the approved list for use at UTSW. You can review this list here. If it is not currently on the approved software list, it may need to go through the ISAC review and approval process, which can also be found in the Employee Service Center. Some software application licenses are provided through the UTSW Software Core management team. You can find a list here.
• Special Note regarding Adobe licenses
  NOTE: Adobe Creative Cloud license can be purchased through the Software Core. If you only need one or two applications, such as Acrobat Pro or Illustrator, it's more cost effective to manage that through your own VIP license with Adobe. Psychiatry has its own VIP license, so if you need to request to remove/add/edit access to Adobe products, simply use the Employee Service Center link above to submit a request for the Adobe product that you need and the end user to assign it to. Alternatively, IR can train your administrative team on how to self-manage licenses, obtain quotes, and process through the procurement portal as needed.

Cullum provides a DPRIT overview

Dr. C. Munro Cullum, Ph.D., acting in his role as Scientific Director of the Texas Alzheimer's Research and Care Consortium (TARCC), recently provided an overview of the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (DPRIT).

That overview is linked below.

Redeem CE Broker Professional Account promo codes before Aug. 20

The free upgrade promotional codes for the CE Broker accounts required by the Texas Medical Board (TMB) and the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (TBHEC) will EXPIRE on Aug. 20. We encourage you to redeem your complimentary code so you can take full advantage of this benefit. This enhanced membership offers tools such as renewal tracking, alerts for missing requirements, centralized transcript management, and credential tracking to help simplify continuing education compliance. If the code is not redeemed, the benefit may not be available.

As a reminder, TMB will transition to CE Broker as its official platform for tracking continuing education compliance for license renewal, effective Sept. 1. As a result, all TMB licensees will be responsible for maintaining and monitoring their continuing education records in CE Broker. TBHEC has been already using CE Broker.

Eligible licensees should have received an email from the department administration with detailed instructions on updating their information, redeeming their complimentary Professional membership, and accessing their unique redemption code. Please check your email for your unique redemption code. Only 33% of the codes have been redeemed so far.

Licensees should also review or create an EthosCE profile at the EthosCE webpage and confirm that their information is current. Maintaining accurate license information in EthosCE helps ensure eligible UTSW CME credits are automatically reported to CE Broker. For UTSW assistance, email the Office of Continuing Education or schedule a 1:1 appointment.

If you have any questions, please email Shelly Sheets.

NEW! Reading order reviews are manual checks

Accessibility checkers often flag the reading order for a manual check. In the menu option “Review” in Microsoft Word, select the “Read Aloud” option and press the play icon in the box that appears to learn how the screen reader interprets your text. Note that wherever an image anchor is placed is where its alt text will be announced. In PowerPoint, reading order will be flagged as an item to investigate from the accessibility checker. In the resulting screen, the checker will show you the order of the slide elements for you to make sure they follow your intended flow to rearrange items as needed to retain the intended meaning.

Digital Accessibility Office Hours are available

Learn how to create more accessible digital documents and get answers for case-specific questions by logging in to Digital Accessibility Office Hours from Noon-1 p.m. every Tuesday on Teams. The sessions are run by digital accessibility experts who can assist with best practices and individualized advice.

NEW! Dr. Charles Ho, M.D., earned his medical degree from UT Southwestern and completed General Psychiatry residency and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship at UT Southwestern. Dr. Ho joins the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry division as a faculty psychiatrist in the Behavioral Health Integration and Guidance (BHIG) initiative, Children’s Health Outpatient Clinic, and Community Psychiatry Workforce Expansion (CPWE) program.

NEW! Madison Cooper recently joined the Department of Psychiatry as a Clinical Research Assistant II in the Jha Lab. She graduated from Southern Methodist University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, and brings experience working with children and families through her previous lab work at SMU's Kids in Development Lab.

NEW! Jack DeSalvo recently joined the Psychiatry Department as a Clinical Research Coordinator, coordinating study operations, managing protocols, and supporting clinical data collection across research initiatives. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience with a minor in chemistry. Prior to joining UT Southwestern, he worked in respiratory neurobiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where his research focused on fentanyl-induced respiratory depression using translational physiological models. 

NEW! Emily Manasian recently joined the Cullum Lab as a Clinical Research Assistant. She earned her master's in clinical psychology from Eastern Michigan University. Her previous research experience includes collecting neuropsychological data from toddlers and using EEG to better understand phonological processes in younger and older adults.

Dr. Matthew Clem, Ph.D., recently joined the team at the Texas Behavioral Health Center as a Clinical Assistant Professor. Dr. Clem grew up in Virginia and moved to Texas in 2010 after meeting his wife, an Austin native. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Radford University, a master’s degree in educational psychology from The University of Texas at Austin, and a doctoral degree from UT Southwestern Medical Center. After completing a two-year fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at the University of Virginia, he returned to Dallas, where he worked in a group forensic psychology practice before transitioning to independent practice as a neuropsychologist and expert witness in criminal and civil cases.

Dr. Harini Suresh, M.D., recently joined Child and Adolescent Psychiatry as a Clinical Assistant Professor. Dr. Suresh graduated from medical school at UT Southwestern Medical Center and completed an adult psychiatry residency at Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess before serving a child psychiatry fellowship at UT Southwestern. She will provide clinical outpatient care at Children's Health, supervising fellows and residents, and provide psychiatric care through TCHATT (Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine). 

Dr. Faiz Kidwai, D.O., M.P.H., has joined UT Southwestern Medical Center as a Clinical Assistant Professor and will serve as an attending psychiatrist at the Texas Behavioral Health Center. His academic interests lie at the intersection of forensic and public psychiatry, with a particular focus on providing recovery-oriented care to justice-involved individuals and improving systems for competency restoration. Dr. Kidwai is board-certified in general adult, forensic, and community psychiatry. He earned his medical degree from Kansas City University and completed his psychiatry residency and forensic psychiatry fellowship at SUNY Upstate Medical University. He subsequently completed a Public Psychiatry Fellowship at Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute.

Asmi Dhotre recently joined the Department of Psychiatry as a Clinical Research Assistant II in Dr. Manish Jha's Lab. She graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. She is particularly interested in understanding clinical disorders and exploring therapeutic strategies to improve psychological well-being. 

Olivia Rosario, LMSW, is a PGY-1 Clinical Social Work Fellow. She graduated from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Psychology and a minor in Social Work. She earned her Master of Social Work degree from The University of Texas at Arlington. After graduation, she worked for a local community mental health clinic.

Dr. Shawn McClintock, Ph.D., was featured in an American Psychological Association (APA) Monitor on Psychology article about brain stimulation titled, "What’s new, what’s next: Using brain stimulation to treat mental illness." Read the article here.

Dr. C. Munro Cullum, Ph.D., was noted for his work with the Clinical Core of the North Texas Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in UT Southwestern news release. Read the news release here.

Dr. Cullum's 2026 Karen Postal Outstanding Mentorship Award win was also featured in the Center Times Plus. See the article here.

Savanna Dieste, a graduating Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student, was recognized in Center Times Plus for her 2026 Ida M. Green Award. Dieste was honored for her work in suicide risk and prevention. Read the article here.

Dr. Molin Shi, Ph.D., recently contributed to a MedBlog titled "How psycho-oncology helps young adults with cancer," including a video recording. Access the MedBlog here.

NEW! Dr. Shawn McClintock, Ph.D., has been accepted to the Southwestern Academy of Teachers (SWAT). Comprising leaders from UT Southwestern's four schools, the academy provides a focus for the exchange of ideas and a platform for enhanced interactions among basic, clinical, and social scientists. Membership in SWAT comes with the title "Distinguished Teaching Professor." 

NEW! Dr. Adrianna Martin, Ph.D., has been selected as a recipient for the UT Southwestern and Parkland Health Equity Scholars program for the 2026-2028 cohort, focusing on integrating behavioral health in adult sickle cell care. Dr. Martin joined the faculty in 2026 to help develop psychological services in the Sickle Cell Center. She is a graduate of the UTSW Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program and returned to UTSW after completing a fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine. 

NEW! Dr. Adam Brantley, M.D., PGY3, has been chosen to receive one of the two 2026-2027 Psychiatry Resident In-Training Examination (PRITE) Fellows at the American College of Psychiatrists.

Graduating Clinical Psychology Doctoral Students celebrated their upcoming fellowships along with their mentors at the annual Internship Luncheon on July 31. At the luncheon, the fourth-year students were presented certificates and their mentors shared a few words about them. The students' official graduation commencement from the Graduate School will take place in May 2027.

The Department of Psychiatry celebrated employee milestones with a luncheon on July 30 in ND14. See photos of the honorees below with Dr. Tarek Rajji, M.D., Chair of the Department of Psychiatry.

Five-Year Honorees (from left) Dr. Melanie Chung Sherman, D.S.W., LCSW, Tonia Bell, Dr. Rajji, Amber Barker, and Dr. Latoya Frolov, M.D.

10-Year Honorees (from left) Shavonna Williams, Dora Irma Garcia, Dr. Hila Abush Segev, Ph.D., Dr. Rajji, Abigail Nunez-Chavez, Elisabeth Martinez, and Zulema Jasso.

15-Year Honorees (from left): Prem Babbili, Maria Monastirsky, Melody Lundquist, Dr. Rajji, Mariam Andersen, and Leigh Hornberger

20-Year Honorees (from left): Amy Conger, Dr. Rajji, and Dr. Alyson Nakamura, M.D.

30-Year Honorees (from left): Aida Ramirez-Boyce, Dr. Rajji, and Yolanda Barner-Thomas

50-Year Honoree: Dr. Dwight German, Ph.D. and Dr. Rajji

NEW! Faculty and Clinical Psychology doctoral students presented at the recent at the American Psychology Association (APA) convention. Dr. Kipp Pietrantonio, Ph.D., and Clinical Psychology doctoral student Maya Hubbard presented the poster, "Supporting Student Parents and Care Givers: Challenges, Strategies, and Solutions. Dr. Pietrantonio also presented a symposium titled, "Rethinking Inequality: Averaging Psychological Science to Advance Economic Justice." Clinical Psychology graduate student Davon Breedlove presented two posters and offered speaker introduction for two sessions at the convention. His two posters were titled, "Parenting Stress as a Developmental Mechanism in Functional Neurological Disorder" and "Comparative Autism Spectrum Disorder Profiles in Girls with Turner Syndrome and 7p22.3 Microdeletion."

Children's Health had its second annual Play Therapy Day Conference on July 24. This year’s conference focused on Mental Health Concerns in Kids and brought together experts in play therapy alongside specialists in higher levels of care, psychiatry, suicide prevention, and autism. 

Dr. Hamed Ekhtiari, M.D., Division Chief of Addiction Psychiatry, led a Brain Gym for Recovery workshop for 20 trainers to start the division's new Brain Gym trial. The intervention has two phases with two packages – Neuroscience-Informed Psychoeducation for Recovery (NIPER) and Neurocognitive Empowerment for Addiction Treatment (NEAT) – and will provide brain rehabilitation for cognitive functions important for recovery.

Ila Iverson, a Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student, recently presented a poster at the Mid-Year Meeting of the International Neuropsychology Society in Dublin, Ireland. Her poster was titled "Applying the ECLECTIC + GRIT Framework: Neuropsychological Assessment of Sub-Saharan African Refugees." Other authors on the poster include her supervisors Dr. Beatriz Macdonald Wer, Ph.D., and Dr. Veronica Bordes Edgar, Ph.D.

Emory Oakes, an undergraduate intern for the Inspiring Careers in Mental Health program, gave a poster presentation summarizing her contributions supporting the program's recruitment and evaluation efforts at the closing ceremony for the UT Southwestern Healthcare Summer Internship Program through the Office for Institutional Opportunity. 

NEW! Ethics Grand Rounds starts Sept. 8

The first Ethics Grand Rounds lecture for the 2026-2027 series will be presented on Tuesday, Sept. 8, from Noon-1 p.m. The speaker will be Dr. Emily E. Anderson, Ph.D., M.P.H., Professor of Bioethics in the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Healthcare Leadership at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. She will present "Ethical Considerations for Conducting Health Research During Armed Conflict." Additional information about this lecture may be found on the university events calendar.

The full 2026-2027 Ethics Grand Rounds schedule is available here. For additional information, contact Ruth Vinciguerra.

NEW! TARCC Symposium is now accepting abstracts

Abstract submissions are now being accepted for the 2027 Texas Alzheimer's Research and Care Consortium (TARCC) Scientific Symposium. Applications are due by midnight on Oct. 19. Submissions will be subject to review and will be chosen based upon scientific merit and relevance to the TARCC mission. The TARCC Symposium will take place on Jan. 14, 2027. Click here for more information on the TARCC Symposium.

Psychiatry Department Town Hall is Sept. 2

The next Psychiatry Department Town Hall meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 2, from Noon-1 p.m. via Zoom. Watch your calendar for the Zoom link.

ACNP membership and promotion application deadline is Sept. 24

The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) membership committee will accept new membership nominations and promotion applications through Thursday, Sept. 24. Instructions to nominees and promotion candidates are available on the ACNP website. Contact the ACNP Executive Office by email or by phone at 615-324-2360 for assistance.

Apply for the Lyda Hill Biomedical Innovation Fund by Oct. 31

The Lyda Hill Biomedical Innovation Fund will accept applications through Oct. 31. The fund is designed to stimulate collaborative bioengineering research and drive high-impact translation by The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and UT Southwestern (UTSW) researchers and clinicians. Funded by Lyda Hill Philanthropies, this award opportunity aims to accelerate the work of joint-institutional research teams who demonstrate high potential to rapidly translate and commercialize their work, aiming to advance the pipeline of promising and commercially viable scientific breakthroughs to improve health. Click here for more details from last year's information session.

Annual Research Conference is Nov. 13

Save the date for the Annual Research Conference, on Friday, Nov. 13, from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. All physicians, nurses, and allied health care professionals who are interested in conducting or currently coordinate research at Children's Health, UT Southwestern, Scottish Rite for Children, and Parkland are welcome. This year's theme is "Clinical Research for Impact: Advancing Patient Care Together."

2027 LEAD program deadline is Aug. 28

Leadership Emerging in Academic Departments (LEAD) is now accepting applications for the Class of 2027. The LEAD Program is an in-house program at UT Southwestern designed for junior faculty who aspire to develop their leadership skills. The program uses didactic lectures, case studies, and experiential activities to explore topics including self-discovery, communication, influence, negotiation, difficult conversations, and inspiring trust. Participants also work with an executive coach and anchor the LEAD learning objectives with an individual capstone leadership project. The deadline to apply is Aug. 28 at 5 p.m.