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Dear colleagues,
U.S. News & World Report has begun its process to rank the best hospitals in the country for 2026-27. This includes a survey, which is now open to board-certified physicians in Psychiatry, requesting their input. If you are eligible, you have the opportunity to participate and influence our rankings this year.
- The U.S. News survey is open from now through late March. You will need a Doximity profile to access it.
- If you have a profile, watch for an email from Doximity about the survey. If you don’t receive a message, log on to your profile through doximity.com or the Doximity app. You will see an icon or button allowing you to link to the survey.
- If you don’t have a Doximity profile, you can still register and participate.
- For questions about the survey, please email usnwrvotingquestions@utsouthwestern.edu.
Also, please keep in mind, voting for only one hospital for Psychiatry in the survey is important. Because of the methodology U.S. News applies to evaluate physician feedback, choosing more than one will dilute the impact of your selection.
I appreciate you taking the time to complete the U.S. News survey this year. More importantly, thank you for being part of the UT Southwestern faculty and advancing high-quality care and excellence to serve our patients and their families.
Cheers,
Tarek K. Rajji, M.D.
Professor and Chair
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Announcements - Ensuring Accessibility - Welcome New Faculty and Staff
In the Media - Kudos - Presentations - Save the Date
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NEW IN THIS ISSUE
- Two Addiction Medicine Fellows have been approved
- Connect with UTSW Psychiatry on LinkedIn
- Jarvia Johnson joins the Psychiatry Chair's Office
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Dr. Robert Greene, M.D., is the focus of a Center Times Plus article
- Dr. John Sadler, M.D., was interviewed for a PsychSIGN podcast
- Dr. Nicholas Westers, Psy.D., was quoted in an article on screen time
- Dr. Kipp Pietrantonio, Ph.D., wrote a MedBlog on illness anxiety disorder
- Dr. Molin Shi, Ph.D., has received a $66,000 grant award
| | NEW! Two Addiction Medicine Fellows approved for 2027-2028 | Two Addiction Medicine Fellow positions have been approved to begin in the 2027-2028 Academic Year. The new fellows will join five Addiction Psychiatry Fellows in UT Southwestern's Psychiatry Department. | | | NEW! Connect with UTSW Psychiatry on LinkedIn | Are you active on LinkedIn? The UT Southwestern Psychiatry Department recently launched its own page. Follow the UT Southwestern Department of Psychiatry now to be part of the conversation. This new social media channel joins the department's X (Twitter) account, which has been part of the department's outreach efforts since 2022. Be sure to tag us when you have good news to share. We love amplifying your good work. | | | 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.
| | | 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. | | | Welcome New Faculty and Staff | | |
NEW! Jarvia Johnson joins the Chair's Office as an Administrative Associate. She is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a bachelor’s degree in Clinical Psychology and comes to the department with three years of experience at UT Southwestern. She started as a Senior Administrative Associate for Support Services, followed by a year as a Senior Administrative Associate II for the Department of Pediatrics Critical Care Division. She loves to travel and engage in outdoor activities such as riding her 4-wheeler, fishing, hiking, hunting, and exercising, as well as reading self-improvement literature and spending time with her family.
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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.
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NEW! Dr. John Sadler, M.D., was interviewed on the Get Psyched, a PsychSIGN Podcast in February. PsychSIGN is the Psychiatry Student Interest Group Network, sponsored by the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Sadler's interview focuses on the intersection of psychiatry, ethics, and philosophy. Listen to the episode here or search for it on Apple Podcasts.
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NEW! Dr. Nicholas Westers, Psy.D., was interviewed for a Fort Worth Star-Telegram story titled, "In digital age, Texas experts stress content over time limits on kids’ screens." Read the story here (may be subject to a paywall).
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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.
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NEW! Dr. Molin Shi, Ph.D., and the Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Psycho-Oncology Research Team have received a grant award of $66,000 from the Rutledge Cancer Foundation for the AYA Care Plan.
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February's Golden Heart award for clinical excellence goes to Dr. Daniela Vela, Ph.D.
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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.
| | | 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. | | | 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. | | |
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).
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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.
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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.
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View as Webpage
You are receiving The Pulse e-newsletter as a member or affiliate of the Psychiatry Department. Email items to Psychiatry Communications by 5 p.m. on Fridays for consideration of inclusion in the next issue.
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