On August 22nd, a ground-breaking was held for the region's FIRST pediatric Mental Health Urgent Care Clinic made possible through the support of the Brighter Days Foundation. We are excited to house this new resource for youth mental health right in our UR Medicine Mental Health and Wellness wing at Strong Hospital! This space will help decrease the waitlist times by addressing mental health crises that do not require going to an emergency room in a family-friendly space. READ MORE>>>

Construction Notice
As part of the first set of renovations for the Pediatric Mental Health Urgent Care Clinic, ground level and parking areas will be impacted beginning August 28th. Our inpatient leadership team is working on alternative routes for patients and visitors. Notifications have also been sent out to patients scheduled during this time. Thank you for your patience! READ MORE>>>

Michael Hasselberg Named to Standing Committee on Primary Care

Michael Hasselberg, NP, MS, PhD has recently been named to a three-year term on the National Academies Standing Committee on Primary Care. In this role, Dr. Hasselberg will join fellow experts in primary care delivery, research, and policy to inform primary care policy for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. READ MORE>>>

Collaborative Care & Wellness Division Administration Changes
Our Collaborative Care & Wellness Division (CCW) has expanded significantly over the past few years with more plans for expansion in the future. In order to meet the needs of the two branches of the CCW division, we would like to share changes in the administrative leadership of the division. READ MORE>>>

Helen Vanderlan Named Quality & Compliance Officer
Helen Vanderlan has recently been named to an expanded role as the Quality and Compliance Officer in Psychiatry. In this role, Helen will oversee and facilitate seamless interaction across our quality, risk management, billing, and reporting teams.  Please join us in congratulating Helen on her expanded role!

Ellen-Ge Denton Joins Psychiatry 

We are excited to welcome Ellen-ge Denton, PsyD as a new faculty member in Psychiatry! Her research interest is to identify cross-cultural suicide-depression prevention factors and to develop interventions to improve youth mental health in low and middle-income communities.

Welcome to Our Psychology Trainees! 

Please join us in welcoming our newest class of trainees in our Clinical Psychology Doctoral Internship and Postdoctoral Fellowship Training programs! They will be joining us for the 2023-2024 academic year as they transition between doctoral study and professional work.

Advanced Certificate in Addictions Counseling Program Kicks Off in Fall

Applications for the Addictions Counseling Advanced Certificate Program, created in partnership between Strong Recovery, the School of Medicine and Dentistry, and the Warner School of Education, open today. This program trains health professionals to become Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselors. READ MORE>>> 

2023 DICE Summer Series Wraps Up

We wrapped up this year's DICE Summer Brown Bag Series in August with an hour of restorative practices and wellness activities for our employees including a yoga class with Inward Office. Thank you to everyone who joined this year's series, and a big thank you to our presenters and partners. If you missed any of this year's presentations, you can view them here. 

Psychiatry in the News

No One Left Behind: U.S. Air Force Rolls Out Suicide-Prevention Technique to Every Base in the World
Deaths by suicide among active-duty military have risen over the past decades. The Wingman-Connect Program, founded by Peter Wyman, PhD, takes a unique approach to tackle this health crisis by using social networks to prevent thoughts of suicide before they ever occur, and now this program is expanding to adapt this program to other communities. Dr. Wyman, alongside Eric Caine, MD, Ian Cero, PhD, and Anthony Pisani, PhD spoke with UR Medicine on Wingman-Connect and how it is being used to address suicides across the U.S. READ MORE>>>

UR Pain Researcher Lands $8.3 Million in Federal Grants
Paul Geha, MD was interviewed by Rochester Beacon on his research into the correlation between brain structure and chronic pain. Dr. Geha's team is also looking at biomarkers- measures of what’s going on in cells at a point in time- to predict pain outcomes. READ MORE>>>

UR Medicine Breaks Ground on Region's First-ever Walk-in Mental Health Urgent Care for Youth

13WHAM and News 8 WROC recently covered the groundbreaking of our pediatric mental health urgent care program as well as how this new center will address the pediatric behavioral health crisis in our community. 

Faculty Lauded for Research and Service Contributions
Mark Oldham, PhD was among the faculty highlighted by the University of Rochester for his upcoming appointment as The American Delirium Society's acting president beginning mid-2024. READ MORE>>>

The Art of Being a Morning Person (Even if You’re Actually Not One)
Leisha Cuddihy, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and of medicine, spoke with The New York Times on ways night owls can adjust to waking up early. Simply acknowledging that reality can help bring a feeling of peace and acceptance to the morning, she says. READ MORE>>>

Mark Your Calendars

Our Strong Recovery Services will hold their Second Annual Health and Wellness Fair on 9/15! Stop by for information on recovery and substance use resources in our area, as well as music, giveaways, food, and more! This year's fair coincides with Recovery Month in September as well as the 50th Anniversary of our Strong Recovery Services. READ MORE>>>

Behavioral Health Integration 7th Annual Symposium
Our annual Symposium on Behavioral Health Integration returns with an in-person event on September 29th! Join experts in the field of integrating behavioral health into medical care for this full-day conference at Hilton Garden Inn Rochester/University & Medical Center. Continuing education credits are available. READ MORE>>>

Alzheimer's Disease and Prevention Research Presentation
Please join Anton Porsteinsson, MD, Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Care, Research and Education Program (AD-CARE), and Emily Clark, DO, Associate Director of AD-CARE, for an informative in-person presentation about Alzheimer’s disease, research developments, and research opportunities. To register, please call 585-602-5200, or email AD-CARE. READ MORE>>>

How Do You Manage the Monsters (Challenges) in Your Own Life? Art Show

Pediatric Behavioral Health and Wellness Services is seeking artwork from youth artists engaged with our pediatric mental health programs. Artwork should respond to the theme of "How Do You Manage the Monsters (Challenges) in Your Own Life?" and will be shown at OFC Creations between October 27th and 29th as well as in the Bridge Art Gallery afterward. Interested in learning more? Reach out to Caitlyn Camp. 

Mark Oldham to Present NIH Clinical Neuroscience Grand Rounds Speaker Invitation 

Mark A. Oldham, MD will be presenting a Clinical Neuroscience Grand Rounds organized by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) focused on delirium on February 13th, 2024. Stay tuned to the NINDS website for more information or to register. 

August Psychiatry Publications 

• Viji Diane Kannan, PhD, and Benjamin Champman, PhD, MPH, alongside Kelly Peters, PhD of the American Institute for Research, published a longitudinal study on the relationship between adolescent reading habits and social engagement in later life.
• Thomas O'Connor, PhD was a coauthor of a paper identifying energy-efficient foods that provide sufficient doses of key micronutrients during pregnancy that could be consumed in lieu of dietary supplements.
• Thomas V. Caprio, MD, and Yeates Conwell, MD were coauthors of an analysis of patients and healthcare providers to identify four essential tasks when deprescribing potentially inappropriate medications during the hospital-to-home transition. 
• J. Steven Lamberti, MD was a coauthor of a study evaluating whether real-time fMRI neurofeedback could lead to control of the neural network behind theory of mind, the process by which we attribute and reason about the mental states of others.
• Thomas O'Connor, PhD was a coauthor of a Project ECHO study examining sociodemographic differences in COVID-19 pandemic-related experiences among children and caregivers.
• Thomas O'Connor, PhD was a coauthor of a paper examining the relationship between neighborhood-level opportunity, social vulnerability, and childhood asthma. 

Upcoming Events

• Sept. 6: Psychiatry with Permeable Boundary: Redux or Reversal?
• Sept. 12: Opioid Overdose Prevention Training
• Sept. 12: Talk Saves Lives: An Intro to Suicide Prevention
• Sept. 13: Opioid Overdose Prevention Training
• Sept. 15:  Strong Recovery Second Annual Health and Wellness Fair
• Sept. 15: Public Health in Monroe County: Learning from the Past and Preparing for the Future
• Sept. 19: Alzheimer's Disease and Prevention Research
• Sept. 28: Alzheimer's Disease and Prevention Research
• Sept. 28: Opioid Overdose Prevention Training
• Sept. 29: 7th Annual Behavioral Health Integration Symposium