January 2014  

Yale Department of Psychiatry faculty and trainees tour the Connecticut Valley Hospital (CVH). Located in Middletown, Conn., CVH is the state's principal forensic, general psychiatric, and addictions inpatient facility. CVH is also a training site of the department's recently-expanded Fellowship in Public Psychiatry.

In 2013 Yale was the top National Institutes of Health-funded psychiatry department in a U.S. medical school as ranked by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research (BRIMR). In addition, a number of Yale researchers are among the top-funded principal investigators in the discipline. BRIMR has compiled rankings of medical research funding since 2006 using data obtained from NIH's Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT). Read more / View the psychiatry rankings (Excel) 

Chyrell Bellamy, PhD, MSW, has been awarded funding by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to evaluate the effectiveness of the recently-established Wellness Center at the Connecticut Mental Health Center. In addition, Bellamy received the Pearl Johnson Award from the National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy. Bellamy is an assistant professor of psychiatry and director of peer services and research at the Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health. Read more 

A rare genetic mutation that disrupts production of histamine in the brain is a cause of the tics and other abnormalities of Tourette syndrome, according to new findings by Yale School of Medicine researchers. Christopher Pittenger, MD, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and in the Child Study Center and assistant professor of psychology, is senior author of the paper that appears in Neuron. Read more / View the article 

Recently-published results implicate widespread prefrontal connectivity abnormalities, as well as whole-brain global alterations in connectivity, in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Alan Anticevic, PhD (pictured), assistant professor of psychiatry and of psychology, is lead author. Christopher Pittenger, MD, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and in the Child Study Center and assistant professor of psychology, is senior author. The article appears in Biological Psychiatry. View the article 

New data published in the journal Pain reveal a disruption in food pleasure perception and a decoupling between food pleasure perceptions and fat calorie intake in patents with chronic low-back pain (CLBP), and suggest altered pleasure perception of highly palatable fat and sugar rich foods as a potential mechanism linking CLBP to overeating and obesity. Paul Geha, MD, a schizophrenia research fellow, is lead author. Dana Small, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and of psychology and an associate fellow at The John B. Pierce Laboratory, is senior author. Read more / View the article 

Joel Gelernter, MD has authored a review article for Human Genetics that examines the importance of variants in a region of the serotonin transporter protein gene. Gelernter and others believe the variants may be implicated in vulnerability for post-traumatic stress disorder or depression. Gelernter is Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry, professor of genetics and of neurobiology, and director of the department's Division of Human Genetics. Read more / Read the review 

A new article in Bipolar Disorders evaluates the longitudinal course of aggression among adult outpatients with bipolar disorder (BP) compared with non-BP patients and healthy controls. The study concludes that BP, particularly during acute episodes, is associated with increased self-reported verbal and physical aggression, anger, and hostility. Javier Ballester, MD, a second-year psychiatry resident, is lead author. View the article 

Augmenting supported employment with cognitive remediation can improve vocational outcomes for schizophrenia patients with lower levels of community functioning, according to a study in Psychiatric Services. Morris Bell, PhD, ABPP (left), professor of psychiatry, is lead author. Bruce Wexler, MD (right), professor emeritus of and senior research scientist in psychiatry, is senior author. Read more / View the article 

The Yale Stress Center is an oasis on the Yale Medical Center campus that broadly addresses stress and stress-related disorders. Since opening the Center in 2008, Rajita Sinha, PhD has served as the Center's director. Sinha is Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry and professor in the Child Study Center and of neurobiology. She also serves as chief of the department's Psychology Section. Read more 

Programs at Yale School of Medicine and the Connecticut Mental Health Center are identifying and serving individuals who are at-risk for psychosis or who are in the initial phases of a psychotic illness. Jessica Pollard, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry, is the program director of the Yale Specialized Treatment Early in Psychosis (STEP) Clinic. Read more 

Samuel Wilkinson, MD, a second-year resident in psychiatry, discusses the safety and possible negative effects of marijuana use following the recent implementation of a Colorado law that legalizes and regulates the commercial production, sale, and recreational use of cannabis. Watch the video 

New Haven Mayor Toni Harp has selected Tomas Reyes to be her chief of staff. Reyes, a community organizer and former president of the New Haven Board of Aldermen, will take a leave of absence from his post at the Connecticut Mental Health Center to serve in this new role. Read more 

Elyn Saks, JD, PhD will be the featured guest at this year's Neuroscience symposium. Saks is the Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, and Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at University of Southern California Gould School of Law. She is author of The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness, a memoir about her struggles and successes with schizophrenia and acute psychosis. Neuroscience 2014 will be held on Saturday, April 26th. The full program and registration details will be announced soon. Watch a TED talk by Professor Saks 

Continuing Medical Education Opportunity 

The 4th Annual Psychopharmacology Master Class will be held on Friday, March 28, 2014. Certified for 6.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits (TM), the course will provide updates on recent clinical data and expert recommendations for the treatment of mood disorders with a specific focus on depression. Gerard Sanacora, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry and director of the Yale Depression Research Program, is the course director. Read more and register online 

In Memoriam

Neal Blumenfeld, MD, passed away at his home on December 1, 2013 at the age of 83. Blumenfeld graduated from University of California, Berkeley and received his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco. He is an alumnus of the Yale psychiatry residency and ultimately settled in Berkeley, California. Read more 

Psychiatry Grand Rounds

Friday, January 17, 2014; 10:15-11:30 am

Making, Breaking, and Linking Memories

Sheena Josselyn, PhD, Senior Scientist in Neuroscience and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute; and Associate Professor of Psychology and of Physiology, and in the Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto    

CMHC Auditorium, 34 Park St

Details / Download to your calendar 

Friday, January 24, 2014; 10:15-11:30 am

Self-Control, Health, and Wealth

Avshalom Caspi, PhD, the Edward M. Arnett Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience and Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science, Duke University

CMHC Auditorium, 34 Park St

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Friday, January 31, 2014; 10:15-11:30 am

Title TBA

Bruce Rosen, MD, PhD, Professor in Radiology, Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Harvard Medical School

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 are added as they are digitized.