The Department of Psychiatry is gifted with many wonderful people in our workforce, including both faculty and staff. We celebrate here those staff members who have achieved service length milestones. Longevity of a workforce characteristically selects those people who are the best fit for a department, and the greater longevity factor for a workplace likely selects a department which is generative, fun, and fulfilling. Indeed, the two of our department staff who have been here now for over 25 years are people we all know—Kristin Martin-Cook and Taryn Mayes. Both are associated with high-performing department sectors, Kristin with the University Hospital Psychiatric Clinic and Taryn with the Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care. Each one of them carries particularly important responsibilities in the department and solves many problems for many people in any given day. The work they do for the Department of Psychiatry facilitates untold progress in clinical care, scientific discovery, and education in psychiatry, with each of them demanding too little attention for their substantial contributions. Now is my chance to say thanks: many thanks to them and to all of the staff in the Department of Psychiatry who, like them, work their utmost to provide care, knowledge, and education to our hospital and community.

On Friday, June 10, as part of the institution's employee recognition week, staff members who reached milestone years were recognized at a department luncheon.

Even with multiple medication trials, 30-40% of patients will experience a pharmacologically resistant form of depression. The ineffectiveness of current treatments coupled with the economic burden associated with depression presents an opportunity for novel therapeutic interventions that can provide greater response and remission rates.

The Confirmatory Efficacy and Safety Trial of Magnetic Seizure Therapy for Depression (CREST-MST) trial (Principal Investigator: Carol Tamminga, M.D., pictured above, left, with Shawn McClintock, Ph.D.) aims to assess the efficacy and tolerability of Magnetic Seizure Therapy (MST) as an alternative to electroconvulsive therapy for depression. A clinical specialist trained in MST uses a magnetic coil fit to the individual patient to stimulate therapeutic seizures in the patient’s brain. The seizure activity increases blood flow to the areas where depression originates, which might help reduce symptoms of depression. Magnetic currents do not penetrate as deeply as the electrical currents used in electroconvulsive therapy and can be focused more precisely, which may result in a relatively better cognitive safety profile.

Kala Bailey, M.D. (pictured left), described how magnets are used to treat major depressive disorder (MDD) in a MedBlog post that was featured in Today@UTSW.

The investigators are currently recruiting patients for their study, with an aim of around 130 patients, ages 18 years and older, who have been diagnosed with unipolar MDD.

For more details about potential referrals and eligibility criteria, please feel free to reach out to the study team by emailing Hila Abushsegev (below left) and Shawn McClintock (below right) or clicking on the button below.

The study team recently published its overall protocol, "Confirmatory Efficacy and Safety Trial of Magnetic Seizure Therapy for Depression (CREST-MST): Study Protocol for a Randomized Non-inferiority Trial of Magnetic Seizure Therapy Versus Electroconvulsive Therapy," as well as the neurophysiological study protocol, in the Bio Med Central journal Trials.

Psychiatry Team Confabulous raised $2,975 for the NAMI walk held on May 21.The team of 15 took part in person and virtually. Those funds will help support, educate, and empower North Texans living with mental health conditions and their families. There is still time to make a donation! Visit the website..

Nora Abdullah, M.D., a second-year psychiatry resident, has been named a 2022 BEST Fellow. The Building Educational Scholarship in psychiatry Training (BEST) program encourages psychiatry residents to enter postresidency research training fellowships in the South Central VA Health Care Network (VISN 16) and VA Heart of Texas Health Care Network (VISN 17). Dr. Abdullah is engaged in the Global and Cultural Psychiatry area of concentration in the psychiatry residency program.

At an event hosted by the Dallas Mavericks, in partnership with For Oak Cliff, to address mental health in competitive Esports, Nyaz Didehbani, Ph.D., and Mavs Gaming head coach LT Fairley reinforced positivity in gaming and provided mental health resources.

Stevie Puckett-Perez, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Psychologist in Gastroenterology at Children’s Health, was featured on the DFW Hospital Council’s podcast “The Human Side of Healthcare.” Dr. Puckett-Perez’s segment is in the first half of the recording.

The Psychology Team at UTSW / Moncrief Cancer Institute posed in green for Mental Health Awareness Month. Psychology Doctoral Student Karie Meltzer also posted a blog on "Prioritizing Mental Health Post-Pandemic."

High school students participating in the Psychiatry Department's 2022 Inspiring Careers in Mental Health Internship learned from National Neuroscience Curriculum Initiative materials and built brains.

Watch for Emails with Calendar Invites, CME Codes, and Zoom Links or visit the Department SharePoint!

The Scientific Presentations research development series sponsored by the UTSW Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program will focus on the foundational skill of scientific presentations. The founder of BioScience Writers, Susan Marriott, Ph.D., will lead the Zoom-based workshops.

Effective oral, written, and visual communication of your science is essential to succeed in your scientific career. This workshop offers actionable tips that will help you, your ideas, and your research shine. Register to attend.

Learn to explain your work in a clear, engaging way to peers, students, and even family members. This workshop will help you approach your presentation and manage your audience with confidence. Register to attend.

This workshop features tools to prepare slides and deliver engaging presentations. You will learn how to create a presentation layout and design simple and clean slides that showcase your research. Register to attend.

Email Robbin Peck with your topics and questions for the town hall or complete the Form with your input.

The O’Donnell Brain Institute serves as a powerful integrating force to help the Department of Psychiatry work closely with other clinicians and researchers across the university, blending techniques and discoveries in basic science and medical care to better understand the causes of mental illness and to develop improved treatments and preventive strategies. (Pictured right: Evan Gordon receives OBI swag from Kelly Gleason as part of employee appreciation week.)

Carol Tamminga, M.D., is a co-investigator on a transdisciplinary team project with principal investigator Dr. Bradley Lega (Associate Professor in Neurological Surgery, Neurology, and Psychiatry) and co-investigators Drs. Michael Rugg (Adjunct Professor in Psychiatry) and Nader Pouratian (Professor in Neurological Surgery), “Closed loop neuromodulation for treatment–refractory schizophrenia: a pilot study,” which has been selected for funding by the OBI Visionary Neuroscience Program. This program was initiated to support a highly-innovative and uniquely-collaborative research project that, because of its novelty, may not be suitable for traditional external funding.