New UTHealth Houston school to train behavioral health workers receives approval from UT System, state

Written by: Deborah Mann Lake

The new UTHealth Houston School of Behavioral Health Sciences has been approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and unanimously by The University of Texas System Board of Regents, moving the university closer to establishing a seventh school.

“This new school will allow us to fill a critical mental health care workforce gap in Texas by leveraging the largest academic behavioral health campus in the country. We have the faculty, staff, discovery research, inpatient facilities, and outpatient clinics to train new generations of mental health care providers for Texans,” said Jair Soares, MD, PhD, UTHealth Houston vice president of behavioral sciences, professor, and the Pat R. Rutherford, Jr. Chair in Psychiatry at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.

With estimates of 1 in 5 people, including children, living with a mental illness, the new school will help meet Texas’ mental health provider shortage and create a robust pipeline of diverse mental health care providers. Plans are to offer more than 35 degree or certificate programs for mental health professionals within the next 10 years.  

“With a third of all state behavioral health hospital beds closed due to staffing shortages and 84% of Texas counties lacking a single practicing child psychiatrist, the need for this school to produce that needed workforce for the state is quite apparent,” said John Zerwas, MD, executive vice chancellor of The University of Texas System. 

The school plans to concentrate on degrees not currently offered at the university, such as advanced clinical psychology degrees, and certificate programs for psychiatry technicians, community health workers, and licensed chemical dependency counselors. Plans also include dual degrees with Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston, McGovern Medical School, UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, regional universities, and community colleges. The school will also be able to offer hybrid learning options through remote learning, expanding education opportunities for students. 

UTHealth Houston provides the clinical training hours for thousands of students through its behavioral health campus that includes the John S. Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center and UTHealth Houston Harris County Psychiatric Center (HCPC), as well as nearly 37 community clinics. A total of 34 schools – state, national, and international – currently send students to UTHealth Houston’s behavioral health campus for additional clinical training and preceptorships. Training programs include medical residencies and fellowships, nursing, psychology, pharmacy, social work, and postdoctoral research. As part of the programs, the university plans to offer placement for clinical training and preceptorships to enrolled students.

The school anticipates providing dual degrees, such as MD/PhD and MD/MS degrees, to students. UTHealth Houston will seek to collaborate with other universities to offer 4+1 programs that allow students to obtain a dual BS/MS in five years, and work with community colleges to provide certification programs for those students who are obtaining an associate’s degree in specialties such as psychiatry technician.

The Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center, which opened last March with strong legislative support, will include 264 beds when all 11 units are open by the end of 2023, while UTHealth Houston HCPC has 274 beds. Combined, the hospitals make up the largest academic behavioral health complex in the country.

UTHealth Houston, which has one of the largest academic psychiatric faculty in the state, has integrated behavioral health services into primary care and multispecialty UT Physicians and Harris Health clinics across the city, including medically underserved areas. New programs will be available to physicians who work in a primary care setting and want to learn how to manage behavioral health concerns for their patients.

The university is also a major participant in the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium, including providing telehealth visits for 32 independent school districts for the Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine program, and 671 enrolled primary and pediatric care providers through the Child Psychiatry Access Network. UTHealth Houston also provides inpatient telehealth services to 15 hospitals statewide, and outpatient services to five local mental health authorities across Texas.   

Weaver receives award from ASAM

Michael Weaver, MD, DFASAM, professor in the Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, recently received the Annual Award from the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) at their annual conference held in Washington, D.C., in April.

The award recognized Weaver’s outstanding contributions to the growth and vitality of ASAM and for his thoughtful leadership in expanding the addiction medicine field. Weaver was named as a Distinguished Fellow of the society in 2003.

ASAM has more than 7,000 members and is the largest professional society whose members focus on studying addiction and treating substance use disorders from a clinical standpoint. The society is also responsible for educating clinicians from all areas of medicine and advocating on behalf of studying addiction medicine. In all, around 2,200 attendees were present at the conference.

Weaver’s passion has always been studying addiction medicine and helping those dealing with complex issues get better over time.

“It’s absolutely wonderful to help patients turn their lives around 180 degrees,” Weaver said. “You don’t get that opportunity in a lot of aspects of medicine. You get to see people hold a job, raise a family, and be proud of who they are and what they’ve accomplished.”

As honored as Weaver is to have received the award, he also is excited to share his knowledge with the next group of physicians who are interested in studying addiction medicine.

“I want other folks to be able to learn not only from me, but others as well,” Weaver said. “As an educator, I think it’s important to take those we are teaching and elevate them to our status and above.”

Read more about ASAM’s annual conference here.

Spotlight:

Psychiatry faculty receive teaching excellence awards

May is designated as teaching excellence month for McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. Annually, departments within the medical school recognize faculty members for excellence in education.

Below are the 2023 Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences recipients:

Elaheh Ashtari, PsyD

Dean Atkinson, MD

Taiwo Babatope, MD

Kawal Bir, MBBS

Stephanie Emhoff, PhD

J. Chase Findley, MD

Omar Gonzales, MD

Silvia Hafliger, MD

Gregory Hestla, MD

Vineeth John, MBBS

Brandi Karnes, MD

Tyler Kimm, MD

Katherine Loveland, PhD

Caesa Nagpal, MBBS

Deborah Pearson, PhD

Teresa Pigott, MD

Anilkumar Pillai, PhD

Cynthia Santos, MD

Lokesh Shahani, MBBS

Ana Ugueto, PhD

Alia Warner, PhD

Michael Weaver, MD

Zeshen Wu, MD

Not pictured: Jeffery Barr, MD, and Alexandra Duran, MD

Department members present posters at SOBP

Faculty and research trainees from the Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences recently attended the 2023 Society of Biological Psychiatry meeting in San Diego.

For this conference, a record number of young researchers and trainees from the department presented their current research studies. The following researchers presented:

• Alan C. Courtes, MD, research assistant
• Andrea Boscutti, MD, postdoctoral research fellow
• Natasha Topolski, MD/PhD student
• Giselli Scaini, PharmD, PhD, MSc, instructor
• Camila N.C. Lima, MD, postdoctoral research fellow
• Rafaela C. Cordeiro, MD, postdoctoral research fellow
• Edison Leung, MD, PGY-4
• Brandi Quintanilla, DO, MS, PGY-2

Congratulations to everyone who had the opportunity to present. Your hard work is appreciated! 

Addictions conference registration is now open!

Registration for the 2023 UTHealth Houston Addictions Conference, titled “The Kids Aren’t Alright: Youth Substance Use Prevention and Treatment,” is now open! The conference will be held at the InterContinental Houston-Medical Center, 6750 Main St. on Friday, August 25.

The conference will provide practitioners with updates on the latest advances in the epidemiology, etiology, prevention, and treatment of substance use in youth. This will be in the context of introducing clinicians to the opportunities and challenges associated with adolescent substance use, including consideration of unique neurobiological and social concerns in this age group.

The presentations will provide an overview of current preventive and treatment interventions. A special research blitz will showcase ongoing studies on prescription stimulants in youth, the e-cigarette epidemic, and cannabis use in youth.

Through Monday, July 31, a 20% early bird discount is being offered to all those interested in attending. Visit https://go.uth.edu/23AddConf and use code “EARLYBIRD20ADD” at checkout to receive the discount. After June 16, there will be no other discounts offered, so sign up early!

We hope to see you all at the 2023 UTHealth Houston Addictions Conference!

The following clinical trials are in operation, following all necessary safety guidelines. If you're interested, contact the appropriate study.

Developing Adaptive Interventions for Cocaine Cessation and Relapse Prevention

We are conducting a study to develop adaptive treatment interventions that change based on how the participant is doing. Individuals seeking treatment for cocaine addiction may qualify to participate in this two-phase program. 

Contact: 713-500-DRUG (3784)

Stem Cells for Treatment-Resistant Bipolar Depression

This study aims to examine the safety and efficacy of allogenic mesenchymal stem cells as an adjunctive treatment for treatment-resistant bipolar depression. Patients will be assigned into a treatment or a placebo group. 

Contact: 713-486-2627

VNS RECOVER Study

Researchers in the UTHealth Houston Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders are studying the VNS therapy LivaNova device to treat depression as part of the RECOVER trial.

Contact: 713-486-2627

To see all open studies, visit our website.

Understanding heterogeneity in suicidal thoughts and behaviours and the implications for genetic studies - a commentary on Lannoy et al - Pub Med - March 2023

Salahudeen Mirza, Anna R Docherty, Eric T Monson, Hilary Coon, Brooks Keeshin, Gabriel R Fries

Association between the epigenetic lifespan predictor GrimAge and history of suicide attempt in bipolar disorder - American College of Neuropsychopharmacology - March 2023

Camila N. C. Lima, Emese H.C. Kovacs, Salahudeen Mirza, Alexandra Del Favero-Cambell, Alexandre Paim Diaz, Joao de Quevedo, Benney M.R. Argue, Jenny Gringer Richards, Aislinn Williams, John A. Wemmie, Vincenet A. Magnotta, Jess G. Fiedorowicz, Jair C. Soares, Marie E. Gaine, and Gabriel Fries

Lokesh Shahani, MD, PhD, MPH, appeared on KPRC TV Channel 2 to discuss the concerning percentage of young adults with both a substance use disorder and mental illness.

Shahani also appeared on Doug Pike’s Fifty+ show on KPRC Radio to discuss mental health and aging (11:10 mark). 

Shahani also appeared on KPRC-TV Channel 2 to talk about the dangers of social media trends.

Shahani spoke to Medical News Today about a study that found antidepressants are ineffective for treating chronic pain. 

Luis Fernandez-Wische, MD, talked to Univision Houston Channel 45 about the dangers of alcoholism and addiction.

Leslie Taylor, PhD, appeared on Houston Public Media’s Town Square show to talk about childhood trauma (17:30 mark). 

Jennifer Bahrman, PhD, talked to Health Digest about the effects mental health has on your memory.

Louis A. Faillace, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston

713-486-2500

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