REMINDER Psychiatry Town Hall is March 4

The Psychiatry Department Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, March 4, from Noon-1 p.m. via Zoom will include a presentation and Q&A session by members of Health System leadership including Dr. Jonathon Efron, M.D., Traci D'Auguste, Dr. Susan Hernandez, D.N.P., M.B.A., RN, Dr. Hicham Ibrahim, M.D., Dr. Christopher Madden, M.D., and Chris Rubio. Other topics include information about the NAMIWalk in May and a presentation about digital accessibility. Watch your email for a zoom link or use the link below to log in.

NEW! Nominations are now open for UTSW Pinnacle Awards

Nominations for the 2026 UT Southwestern Pinnacle Awards are now open. The Pinnacle Awards recognize full-time or part-time Classified or Administrative and Professional employees who embody excellence, innovation, teamwork, and compassion – qualities that elevate our mission in education, research, and clinical care.

The awards will be presented in the following six categories:

• Distinguished Service Award

• Spirit of UT Southwestern Award

• Pinnacle Award for Excellence

• Pinnacle Award for Innovation

• Pinnacle Award for Teamwork (recognizes a team or cross-functional group of individuals) 

• Pinnacle Award for Compassion

To learn more about each award and submit nominations, visit the UT Southwestern Pinnacle Awards website. Nominations will be accepted through March 22.

Identify, protect intellectual property through UT Southwestern before conferences/publishing

The Office for Technology Development has introduced a new 2026 Conference IP Pre-Disclosure & Planning Form to better facilitate and track public disclosures during this calendar year. The form should be submitted for any abstract, poster, or paper submission planned for a conference where novel research results will be presented. Filing this form helps protect the researcher and the university from misuse of intellectual property.

Want to learn more about the intellectual property and technology commercialization process? This slideshow explains how the process works and why it is important to take part.

Call for posters: Celebration of Excellence

UT Southwestern is accepting poster submissions for its 8th Annual Celebration of Excellence in May. The Celebration of Excellence is an opportunity to learn more about UT Southwestern's accomplishments over the past year and what to expect going forward. As part of that celebration, organizers are requesting posters for display and judging. Winners will have an opportunity to speak about their work during the celebration. Submissions are open to UT Southwestern staff, faculty, and medical students. The categories for submission are People (i.e., employee engagement and retention), Safety (i.e., harm reduction, event reporting), Quality (i.e., mortality, safety, efficiency, access to care), Service (i.e., hospital, ambulatory), and Financial Performance (i.e., finance, volume/growth). Posters are due by March 17. Poster coaching is available at this link. You can learn more about the Celebration of Excellence by clicking the link at the top of this article or by emailing the Celebration of Excellence organizers here.

International Play Therapy Week celebrated

Play therapy is an evidence-based counseling intervention for children. To celebrate International Play Therapy Week (Feb. 1-7), Autumn Brown, LCSW, RPT-S, Sara Loftin, LPC-S, RPT-S, Sami Falk, LPC Associate, and Alexis Santa-Cruz, LPC Associate, delivered baskets filled with treats to various units at Children’s Medical Center. They also hosted other events, including a Play Therapy Play Break and handing out items on the sky bridge. Play therapy provides a safe environment for children to express their feelings and gain a sense of control to better cope with medical experiences. It is a way of being with the child that honors their unique developmental level and looks for ways of helping in the “language” of the child – play. This intervention is evidence-based for children who are developmentally 2-10 years old.  

Library acquires Read and Publish agreements with Springer Nature and JAMA Network

The University of Texas System has negotiated with Springer Nature to support open access (OA) publishing. All articles accepted for publication from corresponding UT Southwestern authors are eligible to be automatically published as OA under the terms of this agreement, with no separate article processing charges, and will be available under a CC BY, CC BY-NC, or CC BY-NC-ND license. Psychiatry journals in this agreement are Academic Psychiatry, Current Psychiatry Reports, Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry, European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Molecular Psychiatry, and Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

Also, UT Southwestern has negotiated a 1-year Read and Publish agreement with the JAMA Network (including JAMA Psychiatry), which enables corresponding UT Southwestern authors to publish research articles as open access in most JAMA Network publications without incurring article processing charges from Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2026.

NEW! Microsoft Word offers real-time suggestions

Word includes a tool for checking accessibility in your document. It will indicate if there are any issues and the kinds of issue they are. Access the tool through the Word menu: Tools > Check Accessibility. It will open in the side panel for you to use. Keep it running and visible while you work for real-time suggestions on how to make your document more accessible.

Learn more about this tool and more on this webpage.

Tools to meet accessibility requirements

Are you wondering how to ensure your electronic documents meet the accessibility requirements going into effect in April? Use the "Check Accessibility" feature in Microsoft Office applications. Achieve a "Looks good! No issues found" confirmation on Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files before sharing them.

Not sure what to do when the app flags issues that need correction? View helpful advice within the Microsoft application, as well as resources prepared by the Digital Accessibility team at UT Southwestern. Need more help? Complete a Digital Accessibility Service Request.

Dr. Luc Amdahl, M.D., joins the UT Southwestern Psychiatry Department as a Clinical Assistant Professor and Inpatient Psychiatrist at Clements University Hospital. Dr. Amdahl grew up in Hanover, New Hampshire. He earned his M.D. from the University of Miami followed by a residency at Boston University/Boston Medical Center. He has worked in outpatient private practice with TMS in Austin for more than three years. His clinical interests include treatment-resistant depression, interventional psychiatry, anxiety disorders, and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.

Dr. Adrianna Martin, Ph.D., has joined the Sickle Cell Clinic as an embedded faculty psychologist. Dr. Martin will split her clinical time between UT Southwestern and Parkland. She was born in Jamaica and grew up in Houston. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, where she also completed an APA-accredited internship with rotations at Moncrief Cancer Institute (now Simmons Cancer Center) and Parkland Memorial Hospital’s Consultation-Liaison Psychology Service. She recently completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine, with specialized training in both the PTSD Clinic and the Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. Dr. Martin’s clinical interests include trauma, addiction, and health psychology in medically complex populations.

Dr. Courtney Tran, Ph.D., has joined the Weight Wellness Clinic as its new embedded Psychologist. Dr. Tran was born and raised in Plano with a significant part of her upbringing spent in Garland within the Vietnamese American refugee community. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and completed her internship at UT Southwestern Medical Center, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at UT Southwestern within Parkland Hospital’s Behavioral Health Clinic. Dr. Tran’s clinical background is rooted in health psychology, with particular interests in medical and interpersonal trauma, chronic disease management, and the impact of social determinants of health on access to care, including mental health services, among individuals from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Dr. Aref Pariz, Ph.D., earned his doctorate in Physics from IASBS in Iran and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Ottawa and The Royal Institute for Mental Health Research in Ottawa, Canada, studying neuromodulation and brain networks. He joins UT Southwestern’s Department of Psychiatry as an Assistant Instructor in Dr. Hamed Ekhtiari’s lab, where he investigates how tES/tCS and other stimulation methods can be optimized to personalize treatment for individuals with addictive and related conditions.

NEW! Dr. Carrie McAdams, M.D., Ph.D., recently contributed a MedBlog titled, "Eating disorders often driven by trauma and a quest for safety." Read the article here.

NEW! A UT Southwestern study on concussions highlighted in last week's edition of The Pulse was featured on the front page of the The Dallas Morning News on Feb. 19. Read the article here (may be subject to paywall).

Dr. Munro Cullum, Ph.D., and Cason Hicks, M.S., took part in the study that tracked concussion reports in high school athletes. Partially funded by ConTex, the Texas Institute for Brain Injury and Repair (TIBIR) at UTSW, and the O’Donnell Brain Institute, the study showed that urban and lower-income districts reported fewer concussions when compared with higher-income suburban districts. The findings were most apparent in smaller sports with fewer participants. Read the UTSW news release on the study here.

Dr. Jeffrey Schaffert, Ph.D. was recently a guest on the Learning From Leaders monthly podcast from Southwestern Medical Foundation. Watch the episode here.

Dr. Schaffert was also featured in a MedBlog titled, "Miracles do happen! Rare case of normal pressure hydrocephalus successfully treated." Read this story here.

Dr. Ruth Asch, Ph.D. was recently interviewed for the Society of Biological Psychiatry newsletter about her paper, "In Vivo PET Imaging of Presynaptic Density Reveals Stress-Associated Synaptic Deficits Related to Behavioral and Molecular Alterations in Rats" published in Biological Psychiatry CNNI. Read the interview with Dr. Asch here.

NEW! February's Golden Heart award for clinical excellence goes to Dr. Daniela Vela, Ph.D.

Dr. Shivani Raman, M.D., M.P.H., a Rural & Public Mental Health Track resident, has been elected as Chair of the American Psychiatric Association Public Psychiatry Fellowship for the 2026-2027 year.

NEW! UT Southwestern volunteers participated in the Black Men in White Coats Youth Summit on Feb. 21. The mentorship event exposed about 2,000 students from elementary school through college to careers in the medical field and taught them about the connection between emotions and the brain and how to practice mindfulness. The UTSW group included (above from left to right) faculty members Dr. Cate Orsak, M.D., and Dr. Emily Kahl, M.D., and residents Dr. Tanisha Adams, M.D., M.P.H. (front), Dr. Victoria Okuneye, M.D., Dr. Jennifer Oruebor, M.D., M.M.S. (front), Dr. Ayo Ifidon, M.D., Dr. Gameli Anthonio, M.D., and Dr. Nicholas Champagne-Aves, M.D.

NEW! Several UTSW students, staff, and faculty participated in the Texas Alzheimer's Research and Care Consortium (TARCC) Symposium as presenters, volunteers, and leadership, including Psychology Vice Chair Dr. Munro Cullum, Ph.D., and Psychology Division Chief Dr. Laura Lacritz, Ph.D. Dr. Cullum also serves as the Scientific Director of the conference. Next year's TARCC Symposium is planned for Jan. 14, 2027, in Austin.

NEW! SWAT event honors educators

The Southwestern Academy of Teachers (SWAT) invites the UT Southwestern community to join Celebrating Excellence in Education on March 5 from 4:30-6 p.m. in the McDermott Lecture Halls (D1.600), with a reception immediately following. ‌This ceremony will recognize the recipients of the UTSW 2025 Distinguished Educator Award and Outstanding Educator Award, as well as the 2025 inductees into the UT System’s Shine Academy. 

Dr. Sidarth Wakhlu, M.D., will be honored for his Outstanding Educator Award. Two of the 2025 inductees into the UT System’s Shine Academy are Psychiatry faculty member Dr. Elizabeth Heitman, Ph.D., and residency alumna Dr. Erica Garcia-Pittman, M.D.

Leadership program focuses on building trust, credibility

The next session in the Psychiatry Department Leadership Series will be held Monday, March 9 from Noon-1 p.m. This month's topic is "Building Trust and Credibility," and will be presented by Dr. Sarah Baker, M.D. Watch for an Outlook calendar invitation for the session. Recordings of the sessions are available on the Psychiatry Department SharePoint site afterward, along with a listing of upcoming topics. Future sessions are planned from Noon-1 p.m. on the second Mondays of each month from January through October 2026 (excluding August).

Next Ethics Grand Rounds focuses on pediatric gender medicine

The next Ethics Grand Rounds lecture will be "Pediatric Gender Medicine: Evidence and Ethics," presented by Dr. Moti Gorin, Ph.D., MBE. Dr. Gorin is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Colorado State University. The lecture is scheduled for Tuesday, March 10 from Noon-1 p.m. Details about this lecture may be found on the University's events calendar here. For more information, please email Ruth Vinciguerra.

In-person Psychiatry Grand Rounds are planned

Dr. Chadi Calarge, M.D., from the Baylor College of Medicine will present "Iron deficiency and adolescent brain development" at an in-person Psychiatry Grand Rounds from Noon-1 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11. The presentation will be held in NG3.112 with a reception and food in NG3.108.

This is the latest in-person Psychiatry Grand Rounds. Don't miss your opportunity to learn from visiting physicians and educators when they come to UT Southwestern. In-person attendance reflects well on the Psychiatry Department and offers you the opportunity to interact directly with the visiting speaker. Other upcoming in-person grand rounds are listed below.

March 25

Dr. Benoit Mulsant, M.D., M.S., FRCPC, DLFAPA, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto

Presenting "Can we predict the future of psychiatry?"

May 13

Dr. Alan F. Schatzberg, M.D., Stanford University, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Presenting "Understanding the opioid effects of ketamine: implications for treatment development"

May 22

Dr. Frederick Nucifora Ph.D., D.O., M.H.S., Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Presenting "Schizophrenia, subtyping and treatment resistance"

Please watch for more information about all Grand Rounds via calendar invitations or by checking the UT Southwestern Events Calendar.