The Psychiatry Department faculty presented on their current research at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. Image courtesy of The Met.
On Thursday, June 20, the Department of Psychiatry’s third annual faculty retreat took place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The morning began with opening remarks from Rene Kahn, MD, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, followed by the keynote talk by Joel Dudley, PhD, Director of the Institute for Next Generation Healthcare and Executive Vice President for Precision Health, on moving from precision medicine to next generation healthcare. Over the course of the day, faculty presented on “What’s New in Psychiatry?” followed by a cocktail reception.
Schahram Akbarian, MD, PhD, Professor of Psychiatric Epigenomics, covered how the chromosomal contact map of adult dopaminergic neurons shows convergence of psychiatric and metabolic risk variants.
Nelly Alia-Klein, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and Co-Chief of the Neuropsychoimaging of Addiction and Related Conditions Research Program, discussed targeting the prefrontal cortex for intervention in human drug addiction.
Michal Beeri, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, presented on the effects of advanced glycation end products on the brain and cognition.
Lotje D. De Witte, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, discussed the role of microglia in schizophrenia and depression.
Erin A. Hazlett, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and James J. Peters VA Medical Center (JJPVA) research career scientist, discussed clinical research at the JJPVA, from suicide to schizophrenia and bench to bedside.
Muhammad A. Parvaz, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, discussed phenotyping adolescents with elevated risk for developing substance use disorders.
Mercedes Perez-Rodriguez, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Assistant Training Director for Research, covered challenges and strategies for recruiting, training, and retaining physician-scientists in psychiatry.
Avi Reichenberg, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Environmental Medicine, discussed cognitive decline in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Nikolaos K. Robakis, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and Experimental Therapeutics, discussed clinical trials and the etiology of Alzheimer’s disease.
Mary Sano, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Alzheimer Disease Research Center, covered prevention research for cognitive loss and Alzheimer’s disease.