The weather has turned. We are ready for the new school year. The department is abuzz with conversation about very important common issues: our new Chair search, growth at each of our hospitals, the new State Hospital rising from the ground, faculty promotions, and the new faculty and staff you will see introduced here and all the accomplishments. It is always a time I am especially grateful for the people, issues, and work which belong to Psychiatry. We will have a good year!

Congratulations to Dr. Kitamura, who has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with Tenure!

Takashi Kitamura, Ph.D., established his lab in 2017, focusing on examining the neurobiological mechanisms underlying learning and memory in the entorhinal cortical-hippocampal networks. Dr. Kitamura has published papers about neurobiological mechanisms for observational learning (Nature Communications 2023, and Neuron 2022), a new direction of his study.

Graduate School: Kyushu University, Japan

Fellowship: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Congratulations to the following faculty, who have been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor!

Manish Jha, M.D., is an O'Donnell Clinical Neuroscience Scholar and oversees clinical trials within the Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care. He specializes in treatment-refractory mood and anxiety disorders. His work focuses on developing novel interventions for psychiatric disorders and bringing these discoveries to clinical practice.

Medical School: Maulana Azad Medical College

Residency: UT Southwestern Medical Center

Kelli Triplett, Ph.D., ABPP, NRHSP, focuses on organ transplants and pediatric psychology. She has additional interests in treatment adherence and medical trauma.

Graduate School: University of North Carolina –Charlotte

If you're interested in learning more about the path to promotion, we have an academic advising program, which pairs junior faculty members with senior faculty members for promoting the success of junior faculty on all UTSW tracks, including tenure, research, clinical scholar, and clinician. Email Jasmina Vuksanovic, Project Manager, for more information.

Shawn McClintock, Ph.D., received his second $10,000 Special Grant Incentive Award from UTSW. The SGI program provides funding to faculty members who obtain federal awards. The Provost Office automatically reviews faculty awards quarterly to determine which are eligible for SGI. Per UTSW, "extramural research funding for clinical trials and other types of clinical studies has steadily risen. These successes reflect the hard work of our faculty and our institution’s commitment to build a supportive infrastructure to promote innovative research. Notably, the growth in extramural funding for clinical research has been diverse. It includes large increases in National Institutes of Health funding (our primary funding source), and significant gains in industry and foundation support." Details are available for faculty review in Orbit Reports. Request access by emailing Hong Li, Research Operations Manager in the Office of Clinical Research.

Ozlem Hokelekli, M.D., Ph.D. (pictured right), and Thomas Pak, M.D., Ph.D., completed and graduated from the Housestaff Emerging Academy of Leaders (HEAL) program by UT Southwestern. HEAL USA aims to decrease health care disparities by increasing the number of underrepresented minority physician leaders in academic practice. Pictured with them is Lessley Chiriboga, M.D., a 2022 graduate of the program.

Jasmine Ghannadpour, Ph.D., offered her expertise in an interview explaining how a New Survey Shows Increase in Bullying Since the Pandemic and how teachers and adults can check in with their students. Watch the video and read the accompanying article.

A new video has been published for the Department of Psychiatry Neuroscience, Research, and Community Care at UT Southwestern! Watch the full version.

The UTSW Insider highlighted the work of Munro Cullum, Ph.D., and Nyaz Didehbani, Ph.D.,

on concussions ahead of Concussion Awareness Day on September 15. Learn more about concussion myths.

The UT Southwestern postdoctoral training program houses over 570 postdocs across all labs, and they each play a vital role in the research conducted here. Within the Department of Psychiatry, we're proud to be the home of 19 of those 570.

In celebration of National Postdoc Appreciation Week (PNAW), the Postdoctoral Association is hosting several events to honor the work they do. For more information, visit the PNAW events calendar.

Part I: Tuesday, September 19, 2023; 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.(online)

Part II: Tuesday, September 26, 2023; 12:30 to 5:00 p.m. (online)

The Starting University Clinical Careers Effectively, Scholarly, and Successfully (SUCCESS) programs help clinician-educators thrive at UT Southwestern by providing training in the four domains of excellence required for academic promotion: Clinicians, Educators, Scholars, and Institutional Citizens. Register today for Part II. Adriane dela Cruz, M.D., Ph.D., presented on curriculum design during Part 1.

Wednesday, September 23, 2023; 8:00 a.m to 12:00 p.m.

109 Continental Avenue, Dallas, TX, 75207

Join the Bridging the Gap Foundation in a walk to raise money to help individuals gain access to therapy services. BTGWalk represents an initial step toward powerful change leaving a significant mark on the local mental health landscape. To learn more and register for the walk, click here.

Tuesday, October 10, 2023; 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. (online and in-person)

Simmons Biomedical Research Building, NB2.100A

Saskia Hendriks, M.D., Ph.D.

Bioethicist in the Department of Bioethics, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health and Neuroethics Consultant in the Neuroethics Program, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

While there is no fee to attend, participants must register. Register to attend virtually. Upon registration, participants will receive the Zoom event ID and link to join the webinar. For additional information, please see the announcement. This event is co-sponsored by the Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute and the Program in Ethics in Science and Medicine

Tuesday, October 10, 2023; 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.

Join Sabrina Browne, M.D., and other speakers on a panel to discuss Pediatric Mental Health, hosted by U.S. News & World Report. See more information.

Available to anyone who would like to increase writing time and productivity (e.g., clinical or research faculty, trainees, staff) on Tuesdays from 4:00 to 5:00pm, October 10 to December 12, 2023. One-hour meetings via Zoom begin with setting a writing goal, followed by silent writing for 45 minutes, and concluding with a brief statement on progress toward the goal. Register to participate.

Thursday, October 12 - Friday, October 13, 2023; 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, October 14, 2023; 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Washington D.C.

Join the American Psychiatric Association for the 2023 Mental Health Services Conference, which brings together the whole team caring for those with mental illnesses, including psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, primary care physicians, social workers, and more, to collaborate on practical advice to influence systems-level change for their patients. Learn more about the conference and register here.

Friday, December 15, 2023

Save the date for the Annual Research Conference: Addressing Mental Health, Trauma-Informed Care, and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Considerations in Research. All physicians, nurses, and allied health care professionals who are interested in conducting or currently coordinate research at Children’s Health℠, UTSW, Scottish Rite for Children, or Parkland are welcome. More information and registration details to come later this Fall.

The TCHATT Program is a state-funded program that provides telemedicine or telehealth programs to school districts to help identify and assess the behavioral health needs of children and adolescents and provide access to mental health services. In August, pediatric mental health colleagues affiliated with UT Southwestern and Children's Health participated in a training in the FIRST protocol, a transdiagnostic model of care. The training was organized by Ritu Ghai, M.D., Medical Director of the TCHATT program, Betsy Kennard, Psy.D., and Elizabeth Whitfield, LPC-S., Director of Integrated Behavioral Health at Children's. As of this fall, TCHATT services will be active in 648 campuses across Dallas. For more information on TCHATT please visit the website.