Our Older Adults team showed up in support of the Buffalo Bills ahead of the playoff game in January!

Kenya Malcolm Awarded Third Year in Funding from Mother Cabrini Foundation

Kenya Malcolm, PhD was recently awarded a third year of funding from the Mother Cabrini Foundation for the "Early Childhood Mental Health Training and Parent Group Program for At-Risk Families" project. She will be partnering with Karyn Hartz-Mandell, PhD and Lauren Mutignani, PhD to run new initiatives in Pediatric Behavioral Health and Wellness's Early Childhood program including Caregiver Connections (a reflective parenting group), Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, and a new collaboration with Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine.

"Change is Now:" Mental Health Care Expansion in Progress at Golisano Children’s Hospital

Construction is underway for our Golisano Children's Hospital Brighter Days Pediatric Mental Health Urgent Care! Michael Scharf, MD, Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, alongside Lauren Opladen, ICU nurse at Strong Hospital, spoke with News 8 WROC on how this program will help streamline the process of mental health services for youth and their families. READ MORE>>>

Charles Brown Discusses Black and African American History

Well-being and diversity are inextricably linked. Diversity honors our differences and inclusion brings us together. When we honor our diverse cultures, we create a sense of togetherness. Let us celebrate Black and African American history, achievements, and contributions to our society. Charles Brown, Chemical Dependency Counselor in our Strong Recovery Services, shares with us his experience and his joy.

When the Biggest Student Health Advocates Are the Students

Student-led efforts can play a vital role in addressing youth mental health in schools.

Peter Wyman, PhD, co-director of our Center for Study and Prevention of Suicide, was among those who spoke with The New York Times on Sources of Strength, a suicide prevention program focusing on the impact of peer leaders as "drivers of change." READ MORE>>>

Perspectives for Black History Month and Beyond: Q&A with Dr. Arielle Sheftall

Arielle Sheftall, PhD spoke with UR Medicine on the most recent research on understanding and addressing mental health disparities as well as what these findings mean in the context of Black History Month and beyond. READ MORE>>>

Behavioral Health Partners Celebrates 10 Years

Our Behavioral Health Partners (BHP) program celebrated their 10th anniversary in January. BHP opened its doors in January 2014 to serve University of Rochester employees and their employees. Since that time, it has been growing and expanding its services, especially under the able leadership of Ann Cornell, PsyD, and the dedicated work of all its therapists, administrators, and staff.

Gold & Silver Star Recipients Show ‘What URMC is All About’

UR Medicine recently honored Gold and Silver Star ICARE Stars in a virtual ceremony. This designation recognizes faculty and staff that exemplify ICARE values through the work they do every day. Psychiatry employees representing a number of our services- including but not limited to Psychiatric nursing, our inpatient, outpatient, and partial services, and Psychiatric social work- were among those honored during this ceremony. Congratulations to all that were recognized and thank you for your continued hard work!

Celebrating Black History Month

Black History Month is an opportunity to reflect upon the achievements that African Americans have accomplished in this country. In the US and Canada, February has been designated Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Ireland and the United Kingdom, devote October to celebrating Black history, as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the African diaspora. If you are interested in learning more, read here.

We would also like to take time to reflect and appreciate the contributions and trailblazing mental health advocates within the Black community as well as pay homage to

colleagues celebrating this month. We invite you to check out Mental Health America's list of Black pioneers of mental health as a starting point of learning about Black Americans' contributions to the field.

Thank You to All Those Who Participated in our 2024 MLK Week

A big thank you to all those who participated in our Department of Psychiatry Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration week in January!

We would also like to extend a thank you to the Black Storytelling League of Rochester, Laura Warren Hill, PhD, and Rochester's MLK Choir for sharing stories, music, and history in honor of Dr. King's legacy. If you missed the events, recordings can be viewed on our website.

• Mark Oldham, MD alongside Miriam Weber, PhD of the Department of Neurology, published a review of past and current sets of delirium diagnostic criteria to clarify the the delirium phenotype.
• Joseph Richard Ciccone, MD published a paper in Behavioral Sciences & the Law discussing the forensic neuropsychiatric evaluation process and psychiatric disorders often encountered in personal injury litigation.
• Anthony Pisani, PhD coauthored a publication outlining the inadequacy of an individually focused research ethic for digital psychological data (DPD) and unaddressed social risks generated by secondary research of DPD.
• Steve Silverstein, PhD was a coauthor of a cross-sectional study examining whether retinal abnormalities are associated with neurological soft signs found in those at risk for schizophrenia.
• Thomas O'Connor, PhD was a coauthor of a study identifying social, psychological, and contextual factors influencing attendance at routine oral health visits in early childhood.

• Feb. 28: Building a Program of Deaf Mental Health Research at URMC: Current Progress and Future Directions
• Feb. 28: Evelyn Screening
• Feb. 29: Opioid Overdose Prevention Training
• Mar. 6: The History of Psychiatry as Harm Reduction