Psychiatry Debuts First-of-Its-Kind SUMMITS Unit
We were excited to celebrate the grand opening of our new Substance Use, Medical Management, Infection Treatment and Support (SUMMITS) unit at Strong Memorial Hospital.

SUMMITS will work with other services in the hospital to transfer patients who require longer hospital stays to manage medical conditions such as infections or pancreatitis associated with substance use.

Thank you to everyone who worked to make this new unit a reality! READ MORE>>>

Renewed Funding Supports Continued Telepsychiatry Care for Nursing Home Residents
Our UR Medicine Telepsychiatry Program is a pilot project that was started in 2017 and demonstrates that telepsychiatry reduces emergency department visits and re-hospitalizations for nursing home residents.

Today, we are happy to share that the program was recently awarded a grant from the Office of Mental Health (OMH) to continue providing telepsychiatry to nursing homes throughout New York State, making it the first OMH legacy program at the University of Rochester.  READ MORE>>>

Staff Awards Recognize Outstanding URMC Teams, Individuals
Maria Romana, Clinical Director of our Strong Ties clinic was recently featured by UR Medicine as one of the awardees of the Witmer Award. This award celebrates staff whose careers have been characterized by outstanding and sustained contributions. READ MORE>>>

Jessica Moore Named Clinical Director of Family Therapy Services 
We are excited to share that Jessica Moore, PhD has been named the new Clinical Director of the Family Therapy Services clinic in our Division of Collaborative Care & Wellness. In this role, Dr. Moore will be overseeing the day to day operations of the clinic at Strong Memorial Hospital, which is the primary training clinic site for our Marriage and Family Therapy trainees as well as those in our pediatrics-focused post-doctoral program. In addition to this new role, she will be continuing positions at Rochester Regional Hospital. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Moore on this new appointment! 

Community Conversation Discusses Substance Use in Youth

Thank you to everyone who attended the Community Conversation last week with our Strong Recovery Adolescent Young Adult (AYA) Clinic focused on meeting the challenges of substance use in families. Miss any part of the webinar? You can now watch it at your convenience at the recording above!

There is Still Time to Join Our Summer Brown Bag Series!
Our 9th Annual Summer Brown Bag Series in partnership with the Departments of Neurology, Pediatrics, Medicine and the Wilmot Cancer Institute will be continuing every Wednesday at noon throughout August. Be sure to register for this year's series of virtual talks that focus on anti-racist clinical care by clicking this link. 

If you missed any of July's presentations, you can watch the event recordings below! 

• Racist Policy and Resistance at the University of Rochester Medical Center and in Rochester
• Race & Health in the US: Lessons from the Past. Hope for the Future
• Culturally Competent and Anti – Racist Care and Treatment for Black Families

Recovery Center of Excellence Webinar Rescheduled
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the URMC Recovery Center of Excellence's "Behavioral Health Assessment Officers: Managing Care for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders in Rural Emergency Departments" webinar, which had been previously scheduled for August 10th, has been rescheduled for September 2nd at 2 PM. For more information and to register for this free talk, click here. 

Join ROCovery Fitness's Virtual 5K Run and X-Challenge
We're excited to announce that our Strong Recovery clinic is one of the sponsors for ROCovery Fitness's Virtual 5K Run and X-Challenge on September 12th! Join at your own pace to support ROCovery Fitness's mission of supporting individuals in recovery through fitness, sober living and peer support. READ MORE>>>

Psychiatry in the News

• Linda Alpert-Gillis, PhD and Michael Scharf, MD spoke with 13WHAM ABC on the burgeoning need for pediatric mental healthcare in our community as well as an upcoming program with urgent care centers and the expansion of Mobile Crisis Services this Fall. READ MORE>>>

• A recent study found that sensitive parenting in childhood was related to lower social, educational and healthcare costs by the time participants were teens. Thomas O'Connor, PhD, one of the coauthors on this paper, says, "In this paper, we show for the first time that early parenting quality predicted financial costs associated with health, education and welfare approximately a decade later. That is, poor early parenting is ‘costly’ not only in terms of child health and well-being, but also in terms of actual financial burden.” READ MORE>>>

• A recent study from Boston University and University of Utah found that older adults are increasingly re-partnering in various forms of relationships, including “living apart together” or LAT. Carol Podgorski, PhD, MPH, MS spoke with New York Times on conversations people should have when thinking about alternative relationships. READ MORE>>>

• In the midst of Simone Biles announcing her withdrawal from the women's gymnastics finals, sport psychologist Craig Cypher, PsyD, recently spoke with 13 WHAM ABC on the need for discussion about the pressure and stress athletes face. READ MORE>>>

• Leah Hill of our Strong Recovery Adolescent and Young Adult Clinic spoke with WXXI​ about concerns of substance use among youth once schools reopen. She said parents need to pay attention to changes in their kids' behavior if they suspect drugs or alcohol usage. These changes may include poor academic performance, increased secrecy, and a change in friendships. READ MORE>>>

• Micheal Hasselberg, MS, PhD joined Julie Rish, PhD of the Cleveland Clinic for a discussion of the ways behavioral telehealth can fill access gaps for patients in need. They will be continuing the conversation at the HIMSS21 Global Conference​ starting August 9th. READ MORE>>>

• In an interview with Spectrum News, Craig Cypher, PsyD discussed the challenges young athletes are facing while adapting to the pandemic and how sports psychology techniques can help them adapt to stress and get into a good mindset. READ MORE>>> 

NY Athletes Struggling to Adapt Back to Athletics Amid Pandemic

July Psychiatry Publications 

• Wilfred Pigeon, PhD, Hugh Crean, PhD, Catherine Cerulli, JD, PhD, Todd Bishop, PhD and Kathi Heffner, PhD published this article exploring a clinical trial of cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia as a supplement to standard PTSD treatment in survivors of interpersonal violence.
• Leah Reece, MA and Deanna Sams, PhD recently published a paper looking at how often the COVID-19 pandemic was listed as stressor in adolescent psychiatric inpatient admissions 
• Lisham Ashrafioun, PhD, Todd Bishop, PhD, and Wilfred Pigeon, PhD recently discussed the relationship between pain severity, insomnia and suicide attempts in veterans. 
• Steven Silverstein, PhD and Adriann Lai joined colleagues in the Departments of Opthamology, Psychology, and Public Health Sciences as well as peers from the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience at Rutgers University on a paper looking at retinal microvasculature impairments in individuals with schizophrenia. 
• Wilfred Pigeon, PhD was a coauthor on this paper exploring experiences of institutional betrayal among veterans living with Gulf War Illness and how it can result in giving up on healthcare.
• Steven Silverstein, PhD was a coauthor on this study developing an online assessment for psychosis risk that requires minimal training to administer and looks at the neurobiological systems and computational mechanisms related to psychosis using machine learning.
• Brian Keane, PhD was a coauthor on this paper exploring how atypical brain activity leads to altered activations that produce cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. 
• Miriam Weber, PhD was a coauthor on this paper discussing neurophysiological biomarkers to optimize deep brain stimulation in movement disorders.
• Emily Bower, PhD, Kelsey Simons, PhD, MSW, and Kimberly van Orden, PhD were coauthors on this paper providing resources and recommendations for assessing social functioning in nursing homes.
• Wilfred Pigeon, PhD was a coauthor on a paper published in European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry looking at the impact of individual- and country-level factors on worry-related sleep problems and suicide ideation, suicide plans, and suicide attempts in teens. 

Upcoming Events

• Aug. 10: Opioid Overdose Prevention Training
• Aug. 11: Summer Brown Bag Small Group Discussions
• Aug. 11: Opioid Overdose Prevention Training
• Aug. 18: Anti-Racist Cancer Care: Addressing Inequities in Pain and Hospice Care
• Aug. 25: Understanding Resilience in Black Families
• Aug. 26: Opioid Overdose Prevention Training
• Sept. 2: Behavioral Health Assessment Officers: Managing Care for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders in Rural Emergency Departments