Thank You to Ms. Donna! 
Ms. Donna, as she is lovingly referred to by Chestnut staff, retired this month after years of service with the Department of Psychiatry. Ms. Donna worked for Eastman Kodak for over 35 years before finally joining the Department of Psychiatry as a patient access specialist in 2016. Congratulations on your retirement Ms. Donna, your bright smile and cheerful disposition will be missed by all of us, but especially by our patients! Thank you. READ MORE>>>

Welcome to Our New Residents!

March 17th was Match Day, a celebration of fourth-year medical students across the United States as they find out where they’ll be spending the next four years for their residencies. We are excited to welcome our incoming class to our Psychiatry Residency Program! They bring a wide range of backgrounds, interests, and life experiences. They are a talented group outside of medicine - some in music, athletics, knitting, chess, language, and other things. We look forward to their arrival here in June!

Courtney Blackwood Named 2023 Healthcare Hero

We're thrilled to share that Courtney Blackwood, MS, RN, NE-BC, Director of Psychiatric Nursing, has been named a 2023 Rochester Business Journal Healthcare Hero in the Management category! Courtney has made countless improvements and contributions to patient care and nursing practice across our services since joining our team in 2020.

"My biggest accomplishment over the past few years is building a team that sees through specialties and silos within nursing practice," she writes.

Please join us in congratulating Courtney on this major accomplishment! READ MORE>>>

Quality Institute Announces URMFG Healthcare Innovation Awards Winners

Elaine Rigney, MD, and Marsha Wittink, MD, MBE are among the recipients of the UR Medicine Quality Institute's URMFG Healthcare Innovation Award. This two-year award will support the development of new approaches to health care that improve efficiency and quality, and fosters research. Dr. Rigney's and Dr. Wittink's project will focus on incorporating a point-of-care tool to help in identifying patients’ priorities and reduce hospital readmissions. READ MORE>>>

Tanya Tran Receives Alfred Bader Fellowship

We're excited to share that Tanya Tran, PhD, postdoc in our INTERCEPT Program, has recently been awarded the Queens University Alfred Bader Fellowship award. This fellowship supports one year of study and research or to pursue an endeavor that contributes to the advancement of knowledge. READ MORE>>>

ROC-STAR Releases New Virtual Training

The Rochester Roybal Center for Social Ties and Aging Research (ROC-STAR), a partnership with the University of Rochester School of Nursing, and the Finger Lakes Geriatric Education Center have released a free online training program on promoting social connection for those in long-term care. ROC-STAR and the Finger Lakes Geriatric Education Center host a number of free courses for healthcare providers and family caregivers on caring for older adults. All the courses can be found here. 

Psychiatry Residency Holds Wellness and Social Event 

Our Psychiatry Residency Program recently held a Wellness and Social Event at a Rochester Amerks hockey game. Thank you to all those that attended and everyone that helped make this event possible! 

Psychiatry In the News

The Tragedy of Black Youth Suicide

Black children aged 5 to 12 are twice as likely to die by suicide as their White peers, and Black teen suicides are growing at shocking rates. Arielle Sheftall, PhD recently spoke with the Association of American Medical Colleges on the rising rates of death by suicide among Black youth and what can be done to help. READ MORE>>>

What Do Young People Need When It Comes To Digital Literacy Education?

Anthony Pisani, PhD joined Carrie James, PhD, research associate and principal investigator at Harvard’s Project Zero, and Cara Pisani, a 15-year-old high school junior in Greece, on an episode of Connections with Evan Dawson to discuss digital media literacy education for youth growing up in a hyperconnected world. READ MORE>>>

Local Recovery Experts Have Mixed Feelings About Over-The-Counter Narcan
Narcan will soon be available over the counter. Myra Mathis, MD, Medical Director of our Strong Recovery Program, was among those interviewed by WXXI News on what the FDA approval to allow Narcan over-the-counter means for those with loved ones in recovery. READ MORE>>>

Study: More Research Needed Surrounding Age Exposure to Social Media
A new study out of the UK-based journal, Nature Communications, suggests that using social media during certain ages may have negative impacts on overall well-being. Anthony Pisani, PhD spoke with News 8 WROC Rochester on the need for more research into the relationship between age and social media use while giving tips to parents and guardians on navigating social media use with their teens. READ MORE>>>

Alzheimer’s Association Finds Growing Caregiver Burden In New York, Local Experts Weigh In
The 2023 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures found that Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers experience significant health challenges as a result of caregiving, and the burden is only increasing. Carol Podgorski, PhD weighed in on the growing burden on caregivers in New York. READ MORE>>>

Mark Your Calendars

Celebrating Our Psychologists and Psychologists-in-Training
April 23rd-29th marks Psychology Week, a celebration of psychologists and psychologists-in-training as well as the field's contributions to improving lives. In addition, the United Nations will be streaming their 16th Annual Psychology Day presentation on the 27th starting at 11AM. Our department will be celebrating the week prior, April 16th - 22nd. Join us in thanking a psychologist or psychologist-in-training in your life on Twitter! 

TRANSFORM Accepting Applicants for Summer Research Institute

The TRANSFORM Research Center is now accepting applications for their 2023 Summer Research Institute on Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect. This immersive program provides a supportive and creative space for junior faculty to nurture their community partnerships and prepare them as the next generation of transdisciplinary researchers. The deadline is May 1st. READ MORE>>>

Strong Recovery 11th Annual Joseph Ryan Conference
Our Strong Recovery Program's 11th Annual Joseph Ryan Conference is back in person on April 28th at the Hilton Garden Inn Rochester/University & Medical Center! If you are someone working in substance use/ addiction treatment, we invite you to learn about how the substance use disorder treatment field has transformed over the years. CASAC, LMHC & Social Work CEUs are available. READ MORE>>>

Bridge Art Gallery Call for Art Deadline Extended

Our Bridge Art Gallery has extended the deadline for their new call for art, Healing Within, to April 30th. These past few years have seen significant national turmoil and a growing mental health crisis. We ask artists to respond to the theme while considering topics such as healing, community, and togetherness. To submit artwork, complete the online form here or send an email to the Bridge Art Gallery.  READ MORE>>>

UR Medicine Mental Health and Wellness Joins the 2023 NAMI Walk

Please join the UR Medicine Mental Health and Wellness team for the walk and in fundraising efforts. We will have a table to provide information for all of our various clinics and a banner to carry as we walk. Click here to register for the walk and join our team! Click here to join our team’s efforts to fundraise for NAMI Rochester. Please reach out to Laura Inclema or Autumn Gallegos with any questions.

Support Youth Mental Health and the Stroll for Strong Kids

The 27^th Annual Stroll for Strong Kids & 5k Race will take place on Sunday, June 4^th at Genesee Valley Park. We invite you to join Team Pediatric Behavioral Health & Wellness for a day full of fun. Register for the walk and join our team here. Please note: If you wish to donate, please do so AFTER registering. This will guarantee your donation goes to support our programs. 

March Psychiatry Publications 

• Benjamin Chapman, PhD, MPH, Amali Epa-Llop, PhD, Peter Braick, Navya Bhagat, Elizabeth Ko, Antoinette Nguyen, Rachel Johnson, and Diane Morse, MD were among the authors of a study examining HIV, STI, and hepatitis C risk clusters and hierarchies experienced by women recently released from incarceration.

• Kimberly van Orden, PhD, Julie Lutz, Phd, MS, and Caroline Silva, PhD, alongside Emily Bower, PhD of Pacific University published a study examining Engage Coaching for Caregivers, an intervention for reducing loneliness among older caregivers of those with dementia.

• Daniel Lee, Emily Clark, DO, and Anton Porsteinsson, MD published a review alongside Inga M Antonsdottir, BSN, RN of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing on the state of agitation treatment in Alzheimer's Disease in 2023. 

• Caroline Silva, PhD, and Kimberly van Orden, PhD were coauthors on a paper out of the University of Rochester School of Nursing discussing challenges to enrolling socially disconnected middle-aged and older Latino caregivers of a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
• Mark Oldham, MD was a coauthor on a review of the diagnosis, 
  aetiology, clinical features, and descriptive epidemiology of catatonia.  This review also provides guidelines for catatonia management. 
• Cancer survivors face numerous physical and mental health challenges even after treatment completion. Yeates Conwell, MD was a coauthor on a study on mental health outcomes and correlates in cancer patients in cancer survivors after curative treatment.
• Apathy is a common neuropsychiatric symptom in Alzheimer's disease, affecting up to 70% of patients. Anton Porsteinsson, MD co-authored a study that analyzed the economic effectiveness of treating apathy in patients with Alzheimer's.

• Steve Silverstein, PhD was a coauthor of a paper examining whether deficits in performance and interpretation of communicative nonverbal behaviors such as gestures are specific to those at risk for psychosis.

• Thomas O'Connor, PhD was a coauthor of a paper examining the doses of supplementation needed to help most pregnant women achieve the recommended intake and identifying US dietary supplements providing these doses.

• Yeates Conwell, MD was a coauthor on a paper out of Stanford University

  on the influence of affective states on informant impression of neuropsychiatric symptoms in people living with mild cognitive impairment.
• Veterans living with Gulf War Illness are an understudied population in relation to alcohol use behaviors and outcomes. Wilfred Pigeon, PhD coauthored analytical research on risky alcohol use, problem-solving impairment, and disability among them.
• Jennifer Funderburk, PhD and Wilfred Pigeon, PhD were coauthors on a paper examining the benefit of adding emotion-centered problem-solving therapy to safety planning in reducing suicide risk in older veterans.
• Catherine Cerulli, JD, PhD, Rachel Missel-Grey, MS, and Wendi Cross, PhD, alongside colleagues in the Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology and the National Domestic Violence Hotline published a trial examining the effectiveness of a free, online IPV-Suicide Prevention training to Intimate Partner Violence hotline workers.

• Steve Silverstein, PhD was a coauthor of a paper examining the reliability and validity of the revised Green et al. paranoid thoughts scale, a self-report measure, in individuals clinically at high risk for psychosis.

• Thomas O'Connor, PhD was a co-author of a study looking at the relationship between sedentary behavior and emotional support with prenatal psychological distress and birth outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Steve Silverstein, PhD coauthored a paper on the association between visual impairment and psychosis, highlighting the importance of eye care for people with psychotic illnesses.

• A fMRI study coauthored by J. Steven Lamberti, MD aimed to understand neural processing of social awkwardness and its relation to language deficits in people with schizophrenia.

Upcoming Events

• Apr. 19: An Investigation of the Influence on Parents, Peers, and Neighborhoods on Black Girls in the Youth Punishment System
• Apr. 19: Day of Giving
• Apr. 21: Deadline for TRANSFORM Summer Research Institute
• Apr. 21: Strategies for Effective Partnerships and Communication in Healthcare
• Apr. 24: 3rd Annual Student Speak Out: Youth Mental Health Virtual Roundtable

• Apr. 27: Psychology Day at the United Nations

• Apr. 28: 11th Annual Joseph Ryan Conference
• Apr. 30: Bridge Art Gallery Call for Art Healing Within Deadline
• May 2: Family Roundtable Spring Symposium 
• May 3: Targeting Mild Behavioral Impairment to Delay or Prevent Dementia: A Precision Medicine Approach
• May 20: NAMI Walks Rochester