Department Kudos

SAVE THE DATES

Upcoming Faculty Development Seminar

The next Faculty Development Seminar is:

• Wednesday, July 16, 2025, from 9-10:00am – Understanding Your Responsibilities: External Activities and COI Disclosures with Nicole Tannebaum, JD, MSPH

Upcoming Writing Groups

The Faculty Writing Group is the first Wednesday of every month from 8:00-9:00am. These meetings are on Zoom. This group is for faculty including adjunct faculty.

SPOTLIGHTS

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: Joya Hampton-Anderson, PhD

Joya Hampton-Anderson is an Assistant Professor and Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychologist in the Emory Child, Adolescent and Young Adult Division. She sees patients there, supervises (Multicultural Supervision Group) and directs her Foundation-funded clinical research program focused on developing culturally responsive interventions for Black youth (ENRICH). Through the iterative treatment development process, her program provides free group and individual therapy for Black adolescents (14–17 years old) in Georgia with internalizing mood concerns. She also serves as co-chair of the Representation, Empowerment and Community Mission, as well as a junior discovery mentor through the Nia Project.

Outside of Emory, Joya serves on local (THRIVE and CURDSE, Dekalb Board of Health), national (Silence the Shame) and international (The Wellbeing Project) advisory boards and workgroups to reduce mental health stigma. She also often gives lectures and workshops on culturally responsive mental health. 

Joya loves working in an academic medical center setting because it allows her to wear multiple “hats.” She loves how each day can be an interesting mix of supervising, seeing patients, lecturing and community outreach activities. Some of the key highlights of her career trajectory include being awarded the Emory University Office of the Provost Seed Funding for Racial Equity and Racial Justice, as it has allowed her to expand her clinical research program’s reach by way of hiring a project coordinator and clinicians. This has allowed Joya’s program to serve many more youth in Georgia and collect more outcome data! She also appreciates the opportunities she has had to disseminate information about youth and minority mental health topics in local and national media outlets such as Georga Public Broadcasting, Everyday Health, Greater Good and MLK50: Justice Through Journalism.

Outside of the workplace, Joya loves spending time with her husband, Wes, and two toddlers Carter and Liam. Most recently, they started a small vegetable garden together! Her goals and plans for the future involve securing continued funding to sustain her clinical research program, as well as being afforded opportunities to consult and disseminate information in the area of youth and minority mental health.

ADJUNCT FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: Sa Eun Park, MD

As much as Sa Eun has lived around the world, her professional life has also followed an unconventional path. Following completion of medical school at Seoul National University in South Korea, a clinical internship in major surgery, she worked as a general practitioner in Seoul for six years, prior to finding her calling in child psychiatry. Sa Eun completed her residency in Pittsburgh PA, followed by a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she remained as faculty for five years following her graduation, before her move to CHOA in the summer of 2024. Her passion has always been in acute presentation of psychiatric conditions in children. During her last two years at Johns Hopkins, while serving as the Medical Director for the child inpatient psychiatric unit, they treated a multitude of complex neuropsychiatric conditions, particularly following the aftermath of COVID. Her outpatient population through the Kennedy Krieger Institute has presented her with complex neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric populations throughout her child psychiatry career.

Sa Eun’s clinical focus during her early career has been the standardization of care based on evidence-based treatment approaches, to improve outcomes for children and adolescents who present to the acute care setting with severe psychiatric illnesses. Training and educating medical students, residents and fellows while on the inpatient unit has been the highlight of my career so far, as she enjoys the reciprocal learning that occurs between educator and learner, as we navigate the care of complex patients. Her educational focus is to teach trainees how biopsychosocial factors interact with illness to affect prognosis and rehabilitation and learn how the approach to each case is distinctly different, based on these profiles. This enjoyment of teaching she hopes to continue as adjunct faculty for the Emory trainees!

Fun fact, Sa Eun is ethnically Korean but was raised in Hong Kong in a British school system. Her house was Tolstoy! Though they did not play Quidditch, they did play netball and field hockey. Her British accent will pop out whenever she is in the UK, though she has assimilated a US accent quite nicely. Sa Eun shares two dogs with her husband, and they are very interested in all things related to the human-animal bond. 

STAFF SPOTLIGHT: Holli Abernathy, MS, LPC

Holli Abernathy currently serves as a counselor at the Emory Autism Center, where she provides individual counseling to adults diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, supporting their mental wellness and fostering greater independence. She also facilitates clinical groups for autistic adults through the EAC’s myLIFE program. These groups focus on skill building across various domains and levels, while also promoting overall mental well-being. In addition, she supervises clinical counseling psychology students pursuing licensure as Licensed Professional Counselors. In this capacity, she supervises trainees as they develop their clinical skills in both individual and group therapy with autistic adults.

Outside of Emory, Holli facilitates support groups within Georgia Tech's Excel program. In these groups, she assists students in managing their mental health and support them as they navigate academic responsibilities, internships, employment opportunities and independent living.

With a background in clinical counseling psychology, Holli values the opportunity to focus on direct client care through both individual and group counseling. She is especially grateful for the variety of experiences she has had at the Emory Autism Center, from clinical work with clients to collaboration with teachers, families and community providers. She also deeply appreciates working with a supportive team that has played a significant role in her professional development.

One of the most rewarding aspects of Holli’s work is witnessing clients make meaningful progress toward their personal goals and achieve a quality of life they envision for themselves. She also finds great fulfillment in supervising clinical counseling psychology students and observing their growth and confidence as emerging clinicians.

Looking to the future, Holli is currently working toward licensure as a Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor (CPCS), with the goal of continuing to supervise emerging clinicians both within and outside of Emory.

Outside of work, Holli enjoys hiking with her dog, gardening and growing vegetables and traveling to experience new cultures.

TRAINEE SPOTLIGHT: Cherrelle Gipson

Cherrelle Gipson is a clinical psychology intern at Emory, primarily training within the Grady Health System. She currently works with the Nia Project, providing both group and individual therapy to clients with histories of trauma and suicidality. She also conducts psychological assessments at 10 Park Place and offers brief integrated psychotherapy at the Ponce Center through their primary care clinics. She feels incredibly lucky to be in a training setting that so fully aligns with her clinical interests in trauma, marginalized populations and culturally responsive care.

Outside of Emory, Cherrelle is completing her doctoral studies in Clinical Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Her dissertation explores how Black sexual minority women experience stress and engage with yoga as a potential coping resource. She is also a registered yoga teacher, specializing in trauma-informed yoga for marginalized communities, with a focus on somatic and liberatory approaches to healing.

Cherrelle loves creating spaces where people feel seen, heard and empowered. Whether in therapy, research or community work, she is most energized by the opportunity to support healing and self-discovery, particularly for folks from marginalized communities. She is especially passionate about integrating mind-body approaches and cultural practices into mental health care, as she believes healing happens not just in the mind, but through the body, breath and collective connection.

A few highlights in Cherrelle’s career trajectory include leading yoga-informed therapy groups at Grady and conducting qualitative research that uplifts the voices of Black queer women. One of her proudest achievements has been the creation of Tender Yoga, a community-centered offering that bridges psychology, yoga and collective care. Cherrelle was also honored to be selected as a fellow through the APA Minority Fellowship Program, which supports psychologists committed to advancing mental health equity. Additionally, she has had the opportunity to consult with national research institutions, including the RAND Corporation, on projects focused on equity in health care delivery and measurement.

After completing her PhD and obtaining licensure, Cherrelle plans to build a private practice offering trauma-informed, mind-body psychotherapy centering marginalized communities. She will offer individual and group therapy as well as yoga-based services. In the long term, she hopes to expand beyond clinical work to create immersive wellness spaces that bring people together through music, movement and community – spaces where folks can rest, express themselves and feel a sense of belonging.

Outside of work, Cherrelle is a certified yoga teacher, DJ and nature lover. She enjoys hiking, caring for her two dogs and two cats and traveling – Trinidad is her favorite destination right now. She loves sharing music, collecting vinyl and exploring how sound, movement and storytelling can foster deeper connection and reflection. Cherrelle also hosts wellness gatherings and teaches yoga through Tender Yoga. 

TRAINEE SPOTLIGHT: Tahj Blow, MD

Within the Emory Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Tahj Blow is currently a senior resident on the VA and Grady consult services. Outside of the department, he serves as a senior medicine-psychiatry resident supervising first-year residents on their internal medicine rotations. In addition to his formal resident roles, he also serves as a mentor for medical students interested in internal medicine, psychiatry or combination track.

Integration of care in vulnerable populations is one of the most enjoyable parts of Tahj’s job. Providing medical support for patients with social determinant of health barriers, while also being able to integrate their extra-medical concerns into their overall disease management, allows him to maximize the benefit he can provide his patients. 

So far, in terms of key highlights of Tahj’s career trajectory is he has been able to create multi-disciplinary manuscripts on the intersection of plastic surgery and psychiatry, while also initiating projects on social determinants of health and cancer development, all of which relate to his future career goals

Looking to the future, Tahj plans to apply for combined medical oncology/palliative care fellowship after residency, so he can extend the medicine/psychiatry framework with palliative care and project this into chronic disease management.

Outside of work, Tahj likes to spend his time on a treadmill or trail, in a movie theater or in a museum. After moving from New York City for residency, he also spends as much time as he can walking around his Midtown neighborhood.

MENTOR SPOTLIGHT: Mar Sanchez, PhD (Written by Vinny Costa, PhD, Negar Fani, PhD, Vas Michopoulos, PhD and Zach Johnson, PhD)

Mar Sanchez goes above and beyond for her mentees - always making herself available to lend an ear and whatever support she can provide for whatever may be going on. She has helped countless times throughout our time at Emory, even as graduate students. We would not be where we are today without her continued support!

Mar’s mentorship is steady, supportive and deeply empathetic. She shows up consistently – checking in, offering guidance and making it clear she is in your corner. After Zach lost his advisor, she stepped in with kindness and clarity, helping him think through both the emotional and practical pieces of moving forward. He felt seen not just as a scientist but as a human being.

Mar is incredibly thoughtful and generous with her time and energy. She advocates for mentees behind the scenes, opens doors and has helped them build confidence. This means getting the chance to co-direct a course and take on leadership roles in the neuroscience program – opportunities that really shape career development. She balances giving great advice with listening carefully and encouraging to follow instincts.

After Zach’s PhD advisor passed away, he felt anxious and a bit lost. Mar helped him reorient – emotionally and professionally. She carved out opportunities for him, checked in regularly and made it clear he was not alone. Her support helped Zach keep going in a difficult time.

Mar teaches that the human side of science matters just as much as the science itself. She consistently models how important it is to stay in tune with yourself and with the people around you – to prioritize well-being, create a supportive environment and recognize the work gets done by everyone. That perspective has shaped the kind of colleague and mentor her mentees want to be.

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT: Grady Psychiatric Emergency Services (written by Patrick Amar, MD and Jennifer Grant, PhD)

The Grady Psychiatric Emergency Services (PES) provides acute psychiatric services for the Greater Atlanta area. While most of the patients are from Fulton and Dekalb Counties, it receives patients from throughout Northern Georgia. On average, PES assess nearly a thousand patients a month in the Grady Emergency Room. In over half the cases, it can stable the psychiatric condition such that they can be referred to outpatient services. This includes connecting them to emotion/social support, allowing them to regain sobriety or allowing for a drug washout period. The average length of stay in the PES is six hours. If it cannot stable the psychiatric condition well enough to be discharged, then the patient is admitted to the Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU).  The CSU has an average census of 20 patients a day with 10 new patients admitted daily.  The CSU serves as an observation unit so PES can further assess, treat and intervene in the patient’s psychiatric condition. The average length of stay for this unit is about 24 hours. With more intense intervention, it is successful in discharging over half the census daily. These interventions include connection to supportive family and friends in the community, new placement, substance abuse counseling treatment and referrals, therapeutic listening and milieu. Some of the patients need more intense services and are admitted to an inpatient psychiatric unit either at Grady, Georgia Regional or a private hospital.  

Throughout Grady’s history, there has been a need for psychiatric emergency services and for many years patient would access these services by directly going to the 13th floor when in need. Later, due to a need for medical clearance and stabilization, patients had to be first seen in the Emergency Room then transferred to the 13th Floor. There were many disadvantages to that system. Patients were sent to the 13th floor that were not appropriate for PES, had dementia or were delirious, but without a strong presence in the ER patients were misdirected to the 13th floor. Patients’ collateral was often missing including the context of their presentation, the phone numbers of care givers and addresses. Patients did not have the full medical work up PES would want to fully clear them of medical conditions that can present with psychiatric symptoms. In 2013, under William McDonald’s leadership, a new unit was opened in the Emergency Room – the PES – where it would start assessment of patients as soon as they were presented to the emergency room and PES would be involved in the medical clearance of the patient. This greatly reduced the use of seclusion and restraints, length of stay and improved the quality of patient care and increase patient satisfaction. Having a psychiatrist in the emergency room not only performing a psychiatric assessment but also doing the medical clearance is unique and, to PES’ knowledge, not done anywhere else nationally. 

One of the highlights of working in the PES and CIS is the dedicated team which is central to mission and clinical service. It has at least a dozen nurses who are core psychiatric nurses staffing the PES, as well as over a dozen clinicians independently licensed and have a graduate degree to help assess patients. There are also medical advanced practice practitioners (APP) dedicated to the area to help with medical clearance. PES has psychiatric techs to assist with patient needs, as well a dedicated security guard to help with patient and staff safety. PES also makes education one of its top priorities and so there are all types of learners including psychiatric residents, medical students, APP students and nursing students, which enriches the experience in PES. When patients are seen and assessed it is always done as a team. After the interview the team gathers to hear the many perspectives providers and learners have about the patient to reach a common understand of the patient. This is often the highlight of the shift for many providers and learners.  

The PES is an exciting place to work and provides meaning because it performs an important need for the community. If you like working as a team and enjoy learning something new every day, then check PES out!

If you would like to learn more, feel free to contact Patrick Amar or Jennifer Grant.

WELLNESS COMMITTEE

The Wellness Committee is recruiting members! 

If you have an interest in helping others, make better lifestyle choices and create a culture of wellness, we need you! We’re looking for members in the Department who are available to meet at least once a month. 

Contact Elizabeth McCord and Rachel Ammirati if interested.

FACULTY KUDOS

Major Leadership Appointments, Activities and Achievements

Marianne Celano was appointed as Professor Emerita effective June 5, 2025. 

Rob Cotes has been appointed as Chief of Psychiatry for Grady Health Services, succeeding Gray Norquist. Gray will continue at Grady on the consult service and in quality administration.

Mike Owens has been appointed Professor Emeritus, effective September 1, 2025. 

Santosh Patel will become Director of the Emory Adult Outpatient Service effective July 1, succeeding Boadie Dunlop, who will assume the role of Chair at the Medical College of Georgia on August 1. 

Research 

Bhattacharyya S, Mahmoudian Dehkordi S, Sniatynski MJ, Belenky M, Marur VR, Rush AJ, Craighead WE, Mayberg HS, Dunlop BW, Kristal BS, Kaddurah-Daouk R J. Mood Disorder Precision Medicine Consortium. (2025). Metabolomics signatures of serotonin reuptake inhibitor (escitalopram), serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (duloxetine) and cognitive-behavioral therapy on key neurotransmitter pathways in major depressive disorder. J Affect Disord, 375, 397–405.

Boynton C, Ousley O, & Factor RS. (2025). Item Analysis of an Early Social Responsiveness Scale for Assessing Autism Risk. Behavioral Sciences, 15(5), 615. 

Bronk G, Lardenoije R, Koolman L, Klengel C, Dan S, Howell BR, Morin E, Meyer J, Wilson ME, Ethun K, Alvarado M, Raper J, Bravo-Rivera, H, Roseboom P, Quirk, G, Kalin, N; Binder, EB; Sanchez MM; Klengel T. (2024). A novel epigenetic clock for rhesus macaques unveils and association between early life adversity and epigenetic age acceleration. BioRxiv, Oct 12:2024.10.08.617208. doi: 10.1101/2024.10.08.617208. PMID: 39416061. PMCID: PMC11482811.

Burton M, Haft S, Fiskeaux M, Loucks L, Rauch S. (in press). Posttraumatic Cognitions and PTSD Symptom Change in Massed Prolonged Exposure: The Impact of Treatment Delivery on Mechanisms of Change. Journal of Traumatic Stress.

Canby NK, Cosby EA, Palitsky R, Kaplan DM, Lee J, Mahdavi G, et al. (2025) Childhood trauma and subclinical PTSD symptoms predict adverse effects and worse outcomes across two mindfulness-based programs for active depression. PLoS ONE 20(1): e0318499. 

Chang G, Welsh JW. Substance use during pregnancy: Overview of selected drugs. In: UpToDate. Eckler K (ed), Wolters Kluwer. 2025. 

de Leon VC, Allen RM, Quevedo J, Riva-Posse P, Aaronson ST, Berger MA, Zajecka J, Banov MD, Manu LM, Sheline YI, Farrington J, Eloge JC, Beard J, Kriedt CL, Gott BM, Brown H, Bunker MT, Lee YL, Rush AJ, Sackeim HA, Conway CR. Suicide characteristics in patients with marked treatment-resistant major depressive disorder: A RECOVER trial report. J Affect Disord. 2025 Apr 1;374:619-629. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.12.072. Epub 2024 Dec 24. PMID: 39722333.

Drews-Botsch C, Cotsonis G, Celano M, Zaidi J, Hartmann EE, & Lambert SR. (2025). Is patching after age 4 beneficial for children born with a unilateral congenital cataract? Ophthalmology, 132(4), 389-396. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2024.11.005  

Evans J, Aixalà M, Anderson BT, Brennan W, Bremler R, Breeksema JJ, Burback L, Calder AE, Carhart-Harris RL, Cheung K, Devenot N, Gorman I, Greń J, Hendricks PS, Holoyda B, Jacobs E, Krecké J, Kruger DJ, Luke D, Majić T, McGuire AL, Mehtani NJ, Mathai DS, Nash K, Noorani T, Palitsky R, Robinson OC, Simonsson O, Stahre E, van Elk M and Yaden DB. (2025), On Minimizing Risk and Harm in the Use of Psychedelics. Psych Res Clin Pract, 7: 4-8.  

Fiskeaux M, Finley B, Goldstein D, Sender J, Olsen D, Rogers M, Palitsky R. (in press) What we talk about when we talk about psychiatric nurses’ work-related distress: An umbrella review and concept mapping network analysis. International Journal of Nursing Studies. 

Gallagher JR, Nordberg A, Patton SC, Kanneh F, Welsh JW, Verde-Yanez ME. The Voices of Women Who Have Been Underrepresented in Drug Court Research: Empowerment, Advocacy, and Substance-Use Disorder and Trauma Recovery. 2025. Women & Criminal Justice, 1–12.

Goldsmith DR, Ning CS, Strauss GP, Gross RE, Cooper JA, Wommack EC, Haroon E, Felger JC, Walker EF, Treadway MT, & Miller AH. (2025). Inflammation is associated with avolition and reduced resting state functional connectivity in corticostriatal reward circuitry in patients with schizophrenia. Neuropsychopharmacology. Advance online publication. 

Goodwin GM, Nowakowska A, Atli M, Dunlop BW, Feifel D, Hellerstein DJ, Marwood L, Shabir Z, Mistry S, Stansfield SC, Teoh E, Tsai J, Young MB, Malievskaia E. Results From a Long-Term Observational Follow-Up Study of a Single Dose of Psilocybin for a Treatment-Resistant Episode of Major Depressive Disorder. J Clin Psychiatry. 2025 Mar 3;86(1):24m15449. doi: 10.4088/JCP.24m15449. PMID: 40047545.

Haft S, Hyatt C, Hellman N, Rauch SAM, Maples-Keller J, Watkins L, Fiskeaux M, Caruso M, Rothbaum B, Wise A. (in press). Examining Resilience as a Predictor of Massed Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Outcomes among Post-9/11 Veterans and Service Members. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.

Haroon E, Felger JC, Miller AH. Not All Neuroinflammation Is Created Equal: The Dual Nature of Astrogliosis. Biological Psychiatry. 

Hellman N, Haft SM, Woodbury A, Sherrill AM, & Rauch SAM. (2025). The pain of PTSD: integrating persistent or chronic pain within emotional processing theory of posttraumatic stress disorder. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 16(1). 

Hyatt CS, Sharpe BM, Vize CE, Chrysosferidis JR, Fiskeaux M, Haft SM, Hellman NM, Dove MC, Rauch SAM, Rothbaum BO, & Maples-Keller JL. Exploring personality traits as predictors of PTSD and depression symptoms following exposure-based treatment in an intensive outpatient program in U.S. military servicemembers. Journal of Mood and Anxiety Disorders. 

Hyatt CS, Sharpe BM, Vize CE, Chrysosferidis JR, Fiskeaux M, Haft SM, Hellman NM, Dove MC, Rauch SAM, Rothbaum BO, & Maples-Keller JL. Personality traits as predictors of PTSD and depression symptoms following exposure-based treatment in an intensive outpatient program. Journal of Mood and Anxiety Disorders, manuscript in press.

Jeon ME, Goncearenco I, Rogers ML, Campione MT, Lamis DA, Kaslow NJ, & Joiner TE. (2025). Psychometric properties of the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation in a diverse sample. Assessment. doi: 10.1177/10731911251330498

Kovacs-Balint ZA, Sanchez MM, Wang A, Feczko E, Earl E, Styner M, Fair D, Bachevalier J (2024). The development of socially directed attention: an fMRI study in infant monkeys. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 36(12):2742-2760. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_02187, online ahead of print. PMID: 38739568. PMCID: PMC11844751. 

Ku BS, Hamilton H, Yuan Q, et al. Neighborhood social fragmentation in relation to impaired mismatch negativity among youth at clinical high risk for psychosis and healthy comparisons. Neuropsychopharmacol. (2025).

Lardenoije R, Smulders MNCA, Morin EL, Howell BR, Guzman D, Meyer JS, Ressler KJ, Sanchez MM, Klengel T (2025). A cross-generational methylomic signature of infant maltreatment in newborn rhesus macaques. Biological Psychiatry. In Press. Mar 5:S0006-3223(25)01015-7. Online ahead of print. PMID: 40054762.

Lathan EC, Davydenko I, Hosking CR, Rodriguez DC, Haynes T, Powers A. Integrating a trauma recovery center into an urban hospital setting serving multiply marginalized patients in the Southeastern United States. BMC Health Serv Res. 2025 Apr 14;25(1):545. doi: 10.1186/s12913-025-12662-4. PMID: 40229792; PMCID: PMC11995568.

Lawrence MB, Hickman A, LoPilato A, Welsh JW. What Courts Are Asking Medicine About Social Media. JAMA. 2025 Apr 8;333(14):1205-1206. doi: 10.1001/jama.2025.0472. PMID: 39960666. 

Lyons MJ, Kaplan DM, Cross SH, & Palitsky R. (2025). No breath(work) without bread: Toward an integrated paradigm for community-owned mindfulness interventions to address structural drivers of human development and health disparities. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. Advance online publication.  

Maples-Keller JL, Dunlop BW, & Rothbaum BO. (2025). The METEMP protocol: Massed exposure therapy enhanced with MDMA for PTSD. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications, 43, 101400.

Maples-Keller JL, & Rothbaum BO. (in press). A case study of the METEMP Protocol: Massed Exposure Therapy Enhanced with 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) for posttraumatic stress disorder. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice. 

Mascaro JS, Palmer PK, Ash MJ, Florian MP, Kaplan DM, Palitsky R, et al. (2025) A randomized controlled trial of a compassion-centered spiritual health intervention to improve hospital inpatient outcomes. PLoS ONE 20(3): e0313602. 

McCormack KM*, Bramlett S*, Morin EL, Siebert ER, Guzman D, Howell BR, Sanchez MM (2025). Long-term effects of maternal care on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function of juvenile and adolescent macaques. Biology 14(2):204. doi: 10.3390/biology14020204. PMID: 40001972. PMCID: PMC11851656. [* indicates shared first authorship].

Miller AH. Advancing an Inflammatory Subtype of Major Depression. Am J Psychiatry. 2025:appiajp20250289. Epub 2025/05/07. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.20250289. PubMed PMID: 40329642. 

Miller A, Bekhbat M, Cooper J, Felger JC, Haroon E, Treadway MT. Targeting Inflammation and Its Effects on the Brain to Reverse Motivational Deficits in Major Depressive Disorder. Biological Psychiatry. 

Morin EL, Siebert ER, Howell BR, Higgins M, Jovanovic T, Kazama AM, Sanchez MM (2025). Effects of early maternal care on anxiety and threat learning in adolescent nonhuman primates. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 71:101480. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101480. PMID: 39642805. PMCID: PMC11665541.

Pasricha I, Peacock C, Palitsky R, Clark-Soles J, Maples-Keller JL, Grant G, Kaplan D. What motivates spiritual health practitioners in psychedelic assisted therapy? A qualitative study and implications for facilitator training practices. (in press). Psychedelics.

Perna J, Trop J, Palitsky R, et al. Prolonged adverse effects from repeated psilocybin use in an underground psychedelic therapy training program: a case report. BMC Psychiatry 25, 184 (2025).   

Rakofsky JJ, Lucido MJ, Dunlop BW. A Systematic Review to Determine if Family History of Response to Medication Predicts Outcome in Mood Disorders. J Clin Psychopharmacology. 2025, DOI: 10.1097/JCP.0000000000002011, Epub Ahead of Print.

Riva-Posse P, Figee M. A Safe Step in the Right Direction: Focused Ultrasound in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Depression. Biol Psychiatry. 2025 Apr 1;97(7):664-665. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2025.01.024. PMID: 40086896. 

Roeckner AR, Lin ERH, Hinrichs R. et al. Sequential decreases in basolateral amygdala response to threat predict failure to recover from PTSD. Neuropsychopharmacol. (2025).

Simonsson O, Chaturvedi S, Hendricks PS, Stenfors CUD, Osika W, Narayanan J, Palitsky R, Goldberg SB. (2025) Associations between psychedelic-related and meditation-related variables: A longitudinal study. Journal of Psychiatric Research. 184, 457-463.   

Treadway MT, Etuk SM, Cooper JA, Hossein S, Hahn E, Betters SA, Liu S, Arulpragasam AR, DeVries BAM, Irfan N, Nuutinen MR, Wommack EC, Woolwine BJ, Bekhbat M, Kragel PA, Felger JC, Haroon E, Miller AH. A randomized proof-of-mechanism trial of TNF antagonism for motivational deficits and related corticostriatal circuitry in depressed patients with high inflammation. Mol Psychiatry 30, 1407–1417 (2025). 

Wakeford AGP, Nye JA, Morin EL, Mun J, Meyer JS, Goodman M, Howell LL, Sanchez MM. (2024). Alterations in Adolescent Brain Serotonin (5HT)1A, 5HT2A, and Dopamine (D2) Receptor Systems in a Nonhuman Primate Model of Early Life Adversity. Neuropsychopharmacology 49(8):1227-1235. PMID: 38671147. PMCID: PMC11224234

Van Hale C. A Closer Look at Narcissism in Plastic Surgery. Clin. Plast. Surg. 2025. 

Honors, Awards, Rankings

Congratulations to the following faculty members who were recognized on Educator Appreciation Day for going above and beyond the call of duty as teachers and mentors:

• Rachel Ammirati
• Wendy Baer
• Katherine (Katie) Cullum
• Rachel Hershenberg
• Jed Mangal
• Walid Nassif
• Amanda Platner
• Kandi Schmidt
• Allison Schwartz
• Amm Schwartz
• Sanjay Sharma
• Bojan Slavnic
• Yilang Tang
• David Thylur
• Charlotte Van Hale
• Jennifer Wootten

Joya Hampton-Anderson was awarded a pilot grant through CHOA BMH/Emory Child Division titled, “Identifying Risk Factors for Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors (STB) in Black Youth.” 

Nadine Kaslow was honored at the Grady’s Nurses Award Ceremony with the Nadine J. Kaslow Award for Mental Health Advocacy. 

Brandon Kitay (1) will receive the Senior Physician Distinction effective September 1, 2025 (2) Brandon Kitay received the Emory Palliative & Supportive Care Clinic (SCC) Palliative Care Champion Award for 2025.

Katie Lanier will receive the Senior Psychologist Distinction effective September 1, 2025. 

Jessica Maples-Keller (1) received a DOD grant in collaboration with Strong star titled MDMA Assisted Exposure Therapy in Active Duty Service Members (2) received a DOD grant titled MDMA-Assisted Massed Exposure Therapy for PTSD.

Kandi Schmidt will receive the Senior Physician Distinction effective September 1, 2025.

Laura Watkins will receive the Senior Physician Distinction effective September 1, 2025. 

Media

David Goldsmith (1) Medical Xpress | Study Links Inflammation to Reduced Motivation and Brain Circuit Changes in Schizophrenia

Rachel Hershenberg (1) AARP |  Older Dogs and Older Adults can Make a Great Match.

Nadine Kaslow (1) USA Today | Emotional Abuse is More Concerning Than You May Realize. Experts Explain Why (2) Yahoo! Life | Emotional Abuse is More Concerning Than You May Realize. Experts Explain Why (3) USA Today | Verbal Abuse can Cause Lasting Harm. Here's Why.

Education

Gih DE, Schwartz AC, Luo, J, Steen P, Saheba N. “Applying to residency: Program Directors Panel.” American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, 2025 (workshop).

Presentations

LoPilato A, Lim N, & Hampton-Anderson J. (April 2015). Presented a workshop entitled Bridging the gap: Enhancing care for underserved youth at the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Psychological Association (virtual presentation). 

Miller AH. (May 16, 2025).  Advancing an Inflammatory Subtype of Major Depression, Inflammatory Brain Disorders Conference, virtual.

Sanchez M. (1) Keynote Speaker, PRIMatE Data and Resource Exchange (PRIME-DRE) Annual Meeting. Virtual. 2024 (2) Keynote Speaker, International Society for Developmental Psychobiology (ISDP), 57th Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL. Oct 2024. 

Egan GJ, & Schwenke TJ. (April 2025). Presenting a continuing education workshop entitled Risky business: The ethical, legal, and clinical aspects of violence risk management at the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Psychological Association (virtual presentation). 

ADJUNCT FACULTY KUDOS

Sierra Carter will be leaving the faculty at Georgia State University and joining the faculty of the University of Georgia’s Department of Psychology and become the Associate Director of UGA’s Center for Family Research.

Flores A, Zito A, & Kaufman H. (April 2025). Presented a continuing education workshop entitled Psychologists as agents of social justice in the courts at the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Psychological Association (virtual presentation). 

Susan Furman received the Georgia Psychological Association Member Excellence Award.

Yudit Jung (1) CNN | Do Bad People Have it Coming? Study Finds Most Karma Believers Think So.

Massey R. (April 2025). Presented a continuing education workshop entitled Essential guidelines and information for working with transgender, gender diverse, and gender questioning adults at the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Psychological Association (virtual presentation).  

Zhang S, Grant J, Malhotra A, Oh J, Akuoko N, Rowland D, Wootten J, Dunn SE, & Kaslow NJ. (2025). Drug misuse, self-esteem, and intimate partner violence among low-income African American women. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 17(4), 857–865.  

TRAINEE KUDOS

Prempeh L, Williams JL, Akpobiyeri AO, Chavez KR, K, Kemp GN, Khowaja M, & Phinizy M. (April 2025). Presented a continuing education workshop entitled Supporting BIPOC trainees/learners: Strategies for success in graduate school, during internship, and during postdoctoral fellowship at the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Psychological Association (virtual presentation).