January 2013  

John H. Krystal, MD, the Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Professor of Translational Research and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, has announced the appointment of deputy chairs for research, effective January 1, 2013. Stephanie O'Malley, PhD (above left), professor of psychiatry, will serve as deputy chair for clinical research. Marina Picciotto, PhD (above right), the Charles B.G. Murphy Professor of Psychiatry, and professor of neurobiology and of pharmacology, will serve as deputy chair for basic research. Read more 

The Connecticut Psychiatric Society reacted swiftly to the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. Within hours of the tragedy, Shaukat Khan, MBBS, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Yale and chair of the Connecticut Psychiatric Society's Disaster Committee, helped organize a response team of psychiatrists to provide mental health services to survivors. Read more 

On January 8, 2013, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced the members of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission, a panel that will review current policy and make specific recommendations in the areas of public safety, with particular attention paid to school safety, mental health, and gun violence prevention. Ezra H. Griffith, MD, professor emeritus of and senior research scientist in psychiatry, will serve alongside fifteen other experts. Read more  

The most-read Yale story of the year explained how ketamine can vanquish depression within hours. The review of scientific research written by Ronald Duman, PhD, the Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry and professor of neurobiology, and George Aghajanian, MD, professor emeritus of and senior research scientist in psychiatry, was published in the journal Science. Read more 

A new meta-analysis of 30 years of research in emotion expression in children found small but significant gender differences that were consistent with gender stereotypes. However, investigators also found that these gender differences varied depending on the social context. The article appears in Psychological Bulletin. Tara Chaplin, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry, is lead author. Read more 

In a surprise finding, Yale researchers report that adding cognitive behavioral therapy to the most commonly used drug treatment for opioid dependence does not further reduce illicit drug use by patients. The study, which could change how such dependence is viewed and treated in the U.S. healthcare system, appears online in the American Journal of Medicine. Richard Schottenfeld, MD, professor of psychiatry, is senior author. Read more / View the study 

More than half of subjects shown a misleading photograph shortly after a highly stressful event later misidentified a key individual involved in that event. This result is one of many in a new study that suggests memories of recently experienced events are more vulnerable to modification than generally thought. The article appears in the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. C. A. Morgan III, MD, associate clinical professor of psychiatry, is lead author. Read more / View the study 

By all measures, the Public Psychiatry Fellowship at Yale has been a success. All six alumni of the program have made a commitment to work in the public sector following graduation, and half have assumed medical director responsibilities within their respective agencies. Now, thanks to increased support from DMHAS, the fellowship will add two positions, for a total of three. Jeanne Steiner, DO, associate professor of psychiatry, is the fellowship's director. Read more 

The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine has presented its Dorfman Award for best research article to a Yale/Yale-New Haven Hospital study. Paul Desan, MD, PhD (left), assistant professor of psychiatry, is lead author. William Sledge, MD (right), the George and Esther Gross Professor of Psychiatry and the department's deputy chair for clinical affairs and program development, is senior author. Read more 

New research suggests that prescription pain medication abuse in the elderly is a rapidly growing concern. A presentation at the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry's annual meeting by Louis Trevisan, MD, associate clinical professor of psychiatry, suggests that approximately 20% of individuals aged 65 years and older take analgesics several times per week and that rates of abuse or addiction in those with chronic pain is 18%. Read more 

For the past 17 years, members of the Psychotherapy Development Center have devoted time at their holiday party to wrapping gifts for donation to a family which likely would not have much of a holiday celebration otherwise. The team works with the non-profit Christian Community Action (CCA) to identify a family in need. The Center is led by Kathleen Carroll, PhD, professor of psychiatry. Read more 

Connecticut Mental Health Center (CMHC) is the first mental health center to join the Healthier Hospitals Initiative, a nationwide campaign to improve environmental health and sustainability within the health care sector. CMHC joins a growing list of health care organizations dedicated to implementing sustainable practices, improving patient, worker, and community health, and reducing costs. Michael Sernyak, MD, professor of psychiatry at Yale, is the Center's CEO. Read more 

"To comfort, to heal--we psychiatrists do it all together, we do it all the time, and for us they are one and the same," said John de Figueiredo, MD, ScD, upon receiving this year's Profile of Courage Award from the American Psychiatric Association Assembly. De Figueiredo is an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Yale and an Assembly representative from the Connecticut Psychiatric Society. Read more 

ICANA-3 will be held February 16-18, 2013 at the Yale School of Medicine. Cutting-edge functional and molecular neuroimaging and clinical correlates will be highlighted. Sessions will combine a focus on neuroimaging methodology and applications to alcoholism research. John H. Krystal, MD, the Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Professor of Translational Research and chair of Yale's Department of Psychiatry is the conference chair. Register to attend 

Alumni Spotlight

Robert J. Ursano, MD is one of two candidates for President-Elect in the American Psychiatric Association national elections. A former postdoctoral fellow at Yale and the Yale Psychiatric Institute (1975-77), Dr. Ursano is professor of psychiatry and neuroscience and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. Read more / Candidate web site 

Thomas Ogden, MD, an alumnus of the Yale psychiatry residency (1972-75), has received a 2012 Sigourney Award in recognition of distinguished contributions to the field of psychoanalysis. Dr. Ogden is a supervising and personal analyst at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California and a member of the faculty of the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis. Read more 

Alumni, please submit news and updates to psychiatry@yale.edu.

In Memoriam

Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, PhD died January 2nd in Yale-New Haven Hospital, following heart surgery associated with a blood infection. She was 53 years old. Chair of Yale's Department of Psychology, Nolen-Hoeksema was a renowned scholar, teacher, mentor, and academic leader. She was recognized internationally for her work on how people regulate their feelings and emotions and how particular patterns of thinking can make people vulnerable to and recover slowly from emotional problems. Read more 

Daniel W. Hommer, MD passed away suddenly on January 2nd. An alumnus of the psychiatry residency at Yale, he was Chief of the Section of Brain Electrophysiology and Imaging at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH. He was world-renowned for his discoveries on structural and functional differences in brains of alcoholic and non-alcoholic individuals. Read more 

Photo Album

December 18, 2012 - A farewell reception in honor of Betsey Dunham, Associate Director of Medical Education Programs. Dunham recently left the department to assume
an administrative role at Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects.

Photo 1: Betsey Dunham (left), is toasted by Robert Rohrbaugh, MD (right), professor of psychiatry, deputy chair for education and career development, and director of the Yale psychiatry residency.

Photo 2: (left to right) Vinod Srihari, MD, associate professor of psychiatry and associate program director of the Yale psychiatry residency; Tamara Vanderwal, MD, research fellow in the Child Study Center and residency program alumnus; Dunham; and Catherine Chiles, MD, associate professor of psychiatry.

Photo 3: (left to right) Second-year psychiatry resident Guillermo Valdes, MD; third-year psychiatry resident Katherine Michaelsen, MD; fourth-year and chief psychiatry resident Frank Appah, MD, PhD; Ann Cohen DePalma, senior administrative assistant in the psychiatry education office; fourth-year psychiatry resident Nabyl Tejani, MD; and Dr. Rohrbaugh.

Photo 4: (left to right) Elaine Horn, senior administrative assistant in the office of the psychiatry department chair; Patricia Genero, senior administrative assistant in the psychiatry education office; and Joan Cricca, student coordinator of the department's psychology training program.

Upcoming Psychiatry Grand Rounds

Friday, February 1, 2013; 10:15-11:45 am

State of the Medical School

Robert Alpern, MD, Dean and Professor of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine

CMHC Auditorium, 34 Park St

Details / Download to Your Calendar 

Friday, February 8, 2013; 10:15-11:45 am

Research-Based Approaches to Addressing Unhealthy Alcohol Use: The View of a Primary Care Physician-Scientist

Richard Saitz, MD, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health

CMHC Auditorium, 34 Park St

Details / Download to Your Calendar 

Friday, February 15, 2013; 10:15-11:45 am

The Ribicoff Lecture: "Does the Orbitofrontal Cortex Signal Value?"

Geoffrey Schoenbaum, MD, PhD, Branch Chief and Senior Investigator, Intramural Research Program, National Institute for Drug Abuse, NIH

CMHC Auditorium, 34 Park St

Details / Download to Your Calendar 

Friday, February 22, 2013; 10:15-11:45 am

Impact and Treatment of Depression in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease

Bruce L. Rollman, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry, Biomedical Informatics, and Clinical and Translational Science, University of Pittsburgh

CMHC Auditorium, 34 Park St

Details / Download to Your Calendar 

Grand Rounds video archive

The department's website includes videos of past Grand Rounds presentations. Talks will be added as they are digitized.