DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY

It is my hope that you all enjoyed the warm summer months in our vibrant city! Autumn is now upon us and there is much to look forward to given the many exciting endeavors that are underway in the academic, clinical, and research areas of the Department of Psychiatry.

We have good news to report: Subash Pandey, the Joseph A. Flaherty Professor of psychiatry, received a 5-year competitive renewal of his Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics – CARE by NIH-NIAAA. CARE has served as the cornerstone of basic neuroscience research in the department and the hub for epigenetics research in the College of Medicine.
 

In addition, Subhash Pandey also received a 5-year competitive renewal of T32 Alcohol Research training in Epigenetics and pathophysiology (ARTEP) from NIH-NIAAA that will train the next  generation of basic and clinical alcohol researchers. This is an important training grant in the neuroscience at UIC.

 

Judith Cook, PhD – received 5-year Center renewal from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research entitled Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Health and Function Among People with Serious Mental Health Conditions.

 

Niranjan Karnik, the Usha Raj Professor and IJR Director, received a large grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to support a multi-site, collaborative research study focused on the prevention of drug abuse using telemedicine.

Also, Professor Pauline Maki’s BIRCWH grant, that provides support for institutional K awards in the area of women’s health received a 5-year renewal a few days ago.

Collectively, these are major success stories in these extraordinary times. The renewals reflect the high quality of the research proposed and the national recognition of our investigators.

The addictions consult service which is a partnership with the Department of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine and the college of pharmacy is now active in the hospital. The program is administratively within our department and is directed by Dr. Elizabeth Poorman who is trained in both internal Medicine and addiction medicine. Dr. Poorman also directs the addiction consult service at the Jesse Brown VA.

 

This is a short list of our recent accomplishments. All that is accomplished each and every day here could not be done without the Department’s Faculty, Residents, Fellows, Interns, Trainees, and Staff. Thank You! 

 

Thank you to everyone involved with our academic mission. You are instrumental in ensuring that our educational environment is the best it can be.
 
Best wishes,
Anand Kumar, MD, MHA

Annual Chicago Sickle Cell Summit

Make sure to check your emails and the UIC COM webpage for more information 
and a list of invited speakers and guest lectures!

Start date: Wednesday September 17th, 2025 
1:00pm until 2:00pm 

The American Brain Coalition has held two recent Congressional Briefings (March and June), both featuring BRAIN director John Ngai, PhD: One focused on advanced technology for depression and the second for movement disorders. Both events were emceed by ABC chair, Mark Rasenick, PhD and were attended by several members of Congress and congressional staff. he next event (10 September) will include AI in psychiatry and will feature our own Alex Leow, MD, PhD. 

Sofia Isabella Lostaunau, an undergraduate research assistant with the ACCESS for Mental Health Lab, participated in the Summer Research Opportunity Program under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Meinzer. She concluded the program by presenting her first research poster, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms and Executive Functioning: Examining the Moderating Role of Sleep, at the Illinois Summer Research Symposium in Urbana-Champaign. Her project explored how sleep quality moderates the relationship between ADHD symptoms and executive functioning difficulties in college students.

The MATTERS Lab presented at the Annual Conferences for the Society for Digital Mental Health, International Society for Research on Internet Interventions, and the American Psychological Association.

Bobadilla, G., Quezada, N., Gustafson, E., & Stiles-Shields, C. (2025, June). Adapting monolingual digital mental health resources for multilingual families: Lessons from the TeACH System implementation. Flash talk presented at the 2025 Society for Digital Mental Health Virtual Annual Conference Abstracts: Advancing Digital Mental Health in a Rapidly Changing World, Virtual.

Bobadilla, G., Quezada, N., Gustafson, E., & Stiles-Shields, C. (2025, August). Adapting Monolingual Digital Mental Health Tools for Multilingual Families: Insights from the TeACH System Deployment. Poster presented at the 2025 International Society for Research on Internet Interventions Annual Conference Abstracts: Advancing Equity in Digital Interventions Across the Lifespan, San Diego, CA.

Shenberger, E., Wijaya, C., Reyes, K. M., Mohr, D. C., & Stiles-Shields, C. (2025, August). Increasing reach to low-income and distressed communities: Exploring recruitment methods of a digital mental health trial in an urban primary care setting. Poster presented at the 2025 International Society for Research on Internet Interventions Annual Conference Abstracts: Advancing Equity in Digital Interventions Across the Lifespan, San Diego, CA.

Phanse, M., Shenberger, E., Stiles-Shields, C. (2025, August). Generational differences in preference for digital mental health tools for teens with anxiety. Poster presented at the American Psychological Association 2025 Convention, Denver, CO.

Gabriella Bobadilla and Naomi Quezada, Research Associates in the MATTERS Lab, won best poster at the 2025 International Society for Research on Internet Interventions (ISRII) via The Equity in Action (TEA) Special Interest Group. 

The ACCESS lab has the pleasure of welcoming Ali Zax, PhD, who is beginning as a PREMIER T32 postdoctoral fellow through the Department of Medicine UIC’s T32 fellowship provides postdoctoral fellows who aspire to be independent researchers or team scientists an opportunity to develop their knowledge on translational science. Ali will be assisting Dr. Tara Mehta and the ACCESS Lab members with ongoing projects such as the Patient Navigators for Children's Community Mental Health Services in High Poverty Urban Communities study, and more!

ACCESS for Mental Health Lab members collaborate with the Chicago Parks District (CPD) for another staff wellness event, this time in the Osaka Garden, where Melanie Tran, MA, Elyse Shenberger, PhD, Margarete Wallner, MD, and Tara Mehta, PhD, led a guided mindfulness walk for CPD staff focused on teaching everyday skills for mental health. 

Dr. Colleen Stiles-Shields was awarded the "Rising Star Award" by the International Society for Research on Internet Interventions (ISRII). The award was presented to her at the ISRII Annual Conference in San Diego, CA, in early August 2025.

Dr. Jennifer Suor, Ms. Mueller, and collaborators Katie Burkhouse and Stewart Shankman had a new study accepted for publication in Developmental Psychobiology.

Dr. Dana Rusch was featured in The Guardian speaking about the impact of immigration enforcement on students and children.

News article. “LA teachers are on frontlines as ICE raids terrorize their students: ‘You are not alone’” The Guardian.

Dr. Dana Rusch was interviewed along with Dr. Erica Lubliner from UCLA to discuss the mental health impact of expanded immigration enforcement on Latinos in the U.S.

Dr. Dana Rusch was interviewed to provide information about the impact of detention and deportation on children's mental health and development. See Snippet below:

“Decades of research have shown that the deportation of parents and families has had profound effects on children’s development, including their ability to learn, play, socialize and regulate emotions, particularly children with developmental delays or other mental health conditions”, said Dana Rusch of the University of Illinois Chicago. She serves as associate professor of clinical psychiatry and director of the Immigrant Family Mental Health Advocacy Program.

“This kind of sudden and forcible separation from their home, their routines, their friends, their health care services and educational services, has short and long-term consequences,” Rusch said.

Julie A. Carbray, PhD has been elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) in its 2025 class of new honorees and will be inducted on October 18th in Washington DC. https://aannet.org/news/703938/American-Academy-of-Nursing-Announces-the-2025-Class-of-New-Fellows.htm. The Academy—which recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding contributions to nursing and health policy—named Dr. Carbray among this year’s exceptional cohort. Her induction further cements her legacy of national leadership in psychiatric nursing.Becoming a Fellow is one of the highest honors in nursing—a recognition of Julie’s vision, influence on health policy, and dedication to clinical excellence. We are incredibly proud to work alongside a leader who has not only shaped mental health care at UIC and UI Health but continues to influence nursing practice nationwide.

Lifetime Achievement Award Schizophrenia International Research Society 2025 to Dr. John Davis.

Anna Patterson, a third-year student in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience and fifth-year MD/PhD candidate, has been awarded an F30 fellowship from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for her project, “Ovarian Steroid Mechanisms of Female Cannabis Use: Longitudinal and Experimental Models.” Under the mentorship of Dr. Tory Eisenlohr-Moul, she investigates mood and behavioral changes across the menstrual cycle, and with guidance from Dr. Natania Crane, she is developing expertise in assessing cannabis use outcomes.

Dr. Olu Ajilore has been nominated and selected to receive the 2025 IPS Outstanding Achievement in Scholarly Activities Award.

Dr. Lisa Suarez was featured in a news article describing the links between childhood trauma and obesity: https://www.webmd.com/obesity/features/obesity-weight-loss-childhood-trauma

Dr. Dana Rusch was featured in The New Yorker article 'What therapists treating immigrants hear.” July 1, 2025. The New Yorker. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/19/los-angeles-ice-raidsteachers-schools

Dr. Dana Rusch was invited to co-present to the Student Mental Health & Wellness Division of the Los Angeles Unified School District. The virtual panel discussion entitled "Every encounter matters: Supporting Immigrant Student Mental Health in Schools" focused on building trust, resilience and well-being among immigrant origin students experiencing distress in the current sociopolitical climate.

Drs. Kyle Jennette, Neil Pliskin, and Christopher Holden, in collaboration with Santosh Sarah of the UIH Sickle Cell Center, has received a one-year renewal grant through the Illinois Department of Public Health to provide embedded neuropsychological and mental health services for patients with Sickle Cell Disease. This grant has provided immediate neuropsychological and addiction medicine services to patients with SCD for the past year through a novel, interdisciplinary model. Services are meant to identify barriers to care, disease management, and identification of resources and risks for this high need population.

Dr. Judith Cook’s Center on Disabilities and Rehabilitation has been awarded another 5-year Center from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research entitled Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Health and Function Among People with Serious Mental Health Conditions.

Dr. Subhash Pandey, and his interdisciplinary team which includes faculty from the department of psychiatry and physiology from the COM, the Core facilities (RRC Bioinformatics) and the biological sciences division (UIC), and the institute of genomic biology at UIUC, received an award for a P 50 Center Grant from the NIH. This is one of the few Center grants funded by the NIH at UIC and brings a lot of recognition and prestige to the institution especially considering the times.

2025 Gunay, A. Targum, S.D., Leow, A, Ajilore, O and Rasenick. M.M.  A simple platelet biomarker is associated with symptom severity in major depressive disorder. Molecular Psychiatry Aug;30(8):3551-3559.

2025 Targum, SD, Gunay, A, Leow, A, Ajilore, O, Rapaport, MH and Rasenick MM A heterotrimeric G protein (Gsα) biomarker may predict antidepressant response in subjects with major depressive disorder  Front. Psychiatry  https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1619243

2025 Rasenick MM Rafting toward a depression biomarker  European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience  in press

04/25 Chair “2A or not 2A; an Existential Question for Psychedelic Action” : Symposium Speaker “Cellular Hallmarks of Psychedelic Antidepressant Action” ASPET Portland OR

05/25 “Molecular and Cellular Confluence Among Monoaminergic Antidepressants, Ketamine and Psychedelics: Lessons from Model Systems” Psychedelic Therapeutics and Drug Development  San Diego CA

06/25 “How science can inform policy” Policy Symposium MAPS conference Denver CO

06/25 “Cellular features of psychedelic antidepressant action” Symposium chair and speaker MAPS conference Denver CO.

07/25 “G protein palmitoylation and antidepressant action" Symposium on lipids and serotonin action Int’l Society for Serotonin Research, Vienna Austria

Psihogios, A. M. & Stiles-Shields, C. (2025). Introduction to the Special Issue: Improving digital health implementation in pediatric populations, from design to sustainment. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 50(1), 1-5. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsae094

Figueroa, C. A., Ramos, G., Psihogios, A. M., Karnik, N. S., Ajilore, O., Anderson, E., & Stiles-Shields, C. (2025). Advancing youth co-design of ethical guidelines for AI-powered digital mental health tools. Nature Mental Health, 3, 870-878. doi: 10.1038/s44220-025-00467-7

Stiles-Shields, C., Lattie, E. G., Macapagal, K., & Psihogios, A. M. (2025). Not a trainee, not yet    mid-career: Navigating the adolescent and emerging adulthood of being an early career psychologist. Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology, 13(3), 327-333. doi: 10.1037/cpp0000546.

Tran, M., Kang, S., & Mehta, T. G. (2025). Sports-based youth development staff & youth mental health: Holistic, contextualized, and flexible social support. Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, 1–19.                              

https://doi.org/10.1080/10852352.2025.2544402

Ouellette, R. R., Moreira, E. A., Tran, M., & Frazier, S. L. (2025). Promoting work-related well-being of after-school staff via effectiveness and connectedness: A mixed method study. Children and Youth Services Review, 108458. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108458 

Suor, J.H., Mueller, R., Shankman, S.A., & Burkhouse, K.L(in press). Exploring neural markers of reward and loss processing and problematic parenting styles among mothers with and without histories of depression (in press). Developmental Psychobiology.

Gustafson, E.L., Moses, J.O., Pimentel, E., Lakind, D., Uribe, V., Thorpe, D., Bobadilla, G., Caglianone, L., Dickinson, G.J., Smith, D., Westrick, J., Sánchez-Johnsen, L. (2025). Community Health Worker-Delivered Mental Health Interventions for Latine Populations in the U.S.: A Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-025-01459-6

Saali A, Ross DA, Cooper JJ, Novick AM. Blind Mice, African Clawed Frogs, and the Missing Link Between Circadian Rhythms and Psychiatry. Biol Psychiatry. 2025 Jul 15;98(2):102-104. 

Narayan A, Wang J, DeRoin L, Valencia VA, Cooper JJ. Hunting for an Answer: Misdiagnosis of Huntington’s Disease as Schizophrenia. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. Status: Accepted 5.22.25.

Leucht S, Priller J, Davis JM. Antipsychotic Drugs: A Concise Review of History, Classification, Indications, Mechanism, Efficacy, Side Effects, Dosing, and Clinical Application. Am J Psychiatry. 2024 Oct 1;181(10):865-878. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.20240738. PMID: 39350614

Schneider-Thoma J, Hamza T, Chalkou K, Siafis S, Dong S, Bighelli I, Hansen WP, Scheuring E, Davis JM, Priller J, Baumann P, Conley R, Cordes J, Kelly D, Kluge M, Kumra S, Lewis S, Meltzer HY, Naber D, Schooler N, Volavka J, Wahlbeck K, Salanti G, Leucht S. Efficacy of clozapine versus second-generation antipsychotics in people with treatment-resistant schizophrenia: a systematic     review and individual patient data meta-analysis. Lancet Psychiatry. 2025 Apr;12(4):254-265. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(25)00001-X. Epub 2025 Feb 26. PMID: 40023172

Nomura N, Siafis S, Schneider-Thoma J, Brandt L, Park J, Efthimiou O, Priller J, Davis JM, Takeuchi H, Leucht S. The trajectory of sedative adverse events caused by antipsychotics: a meta-analysis of individual participant data from randomised, placebo-controlled, clinical trials in acute phase schizophrenia. Lancet Psychiatry. 2025 Apr;12(4):266-275. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(25)00025-2. Erratum in: Lancet Psychiatry. 2025 Jul;12(7):e12. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(25)00159-2. PMID: 40113354.

Hamidovic A, Mumford S, Schisterman E, Davis J, Soumare F. Neuroactive steroid hormone trajectories across the menstrual cycle in premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD): the PHASE study. Mol Psychiatry. 2024 Oct;29(10):3056-3063. doi: 10.1038/s41380-024-02566-w. Epub 2024 Apr 25. PMID: 38664491.

Saporta-Wiesel L, Feldman R, Levi L, Davidson M, Burshtein S, Gur R, Zagoory-Sharon O, Amiaz R, Park J, Davis JM, Weiser M. Intranasal Oxytocin Combined With Social Skills Training for Schizophrenia: An Add-on Randomized Controlled Trial. Schizophr Bull Open. 2024 Oct 21;5(1):sgae022. doi: 10.1093/schizbullopen/sgae022. PMID: 39502135; PMCID: PMC11535855.

Arzuaga, A., Teneqexhi, P, Amodeo, K., Larson, J.R., & Ragozzino, M.E. Prenatal stress and fluoxetine exposure in BTBR and B6 mice differentially affects autism-like behaviors in adult male and female offspring. Physiology and Behavior, 295 (2025) Article 114891. (PMID: 40158488)

Heit, B.S., Chu, A., McRay, A., Richmond, J.E., Heckman, C.J., & Larson, J. Interference with glutamate antiporter system xc- enables post-hypoxic LTP in hippocampus. Experimental Physiology, 109 (2024) 1572-1592. (PMID: 39153228)

Galbiati F, Plessow F, Plummer L, Campbell MB, Nazarloo S, Carter CS, Carroll RS, Kim HK, Pereira SA, Paulis D, Davis JM, Miller KK, Kaiser UB, Seminara SB, Aulinas A, Lawson EA. Sex-dependent increases in oxytocin levels in response to intravenous kisspeptin in humans. Eur J Endocrinol. 2025 Mar 3;192(3):K24-K29. doi: 10.1093/ejendo/lvaf001. PMID: 39965102; PMCID: PMC11886556

Karel, E., Defourny, C., Keppens, G., Graczyk, P. A., Sauter, F., & Heyne, D. (2025). School-based support for emotion-related attendance challenges: Effectiveness of @School when implemented with neurodiverse adolescents, their parents, and school staff. Frontiers in   Psychology, 16:1613712. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1613712

Dr. Judith Cook and colleagues published their results of a multistate study of physical health among mental health certified peer specialists in BMJ Mental Health.  Cook, J. A., Burke-Miller, J. K., Pelot, M., Jonikas, J. A., & Ostrow, L. (2025). Physical and mental health of behavioural health certified peer specialists in four US states. BMJ Mental Health, 28(1). https://mentalhealth.bmj.com/content/ebmental/28/1/e301788.full.pdf

Jessica Jonikas and colleagues published their results on the prevalence of chronic physical health conditions among young adults with serious mental health conditions.  

Jonikas, J.A., Aranda, F., Burke-Miller, J.K., Sabella, K., Mullen, M.G., Davis, M., & Cook, JA. (2025). Prevalence of Chronic Physical Conditions and Physical Multimorbidity Among Young Adults with Serious Mental Health Conditions. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. 48(2), 89–98. https://doi.org/10.1037/prj0000637