The research section of the psychiatry department continues to expand the collaborations within the State of Georgia:
■ Gateway: Brunswick
■ AmericanWork, Inc.: Augusta, Savannah, Albany, Columbus, and Taccoa
■ Highland Rivers Centers: Dalton and Rome
■ Serenity Behavioral Health Systems
■ East Central Regional Hospital
■ Homeless Shelters: Garden City Rescue Mission, Augusta Salvation Army, Augusta Rescue Mission, Mercy Ministries, and Head of the Giant Ministry
The Department has multiple competitively funded projects in the area of psychotic disorders:
W. Vaughn McCall, MD, Chair, Department of Psychiatry & Health Behavior
Treatment of depression
Insomnia: causes and treatments
Therapeutic brain stimulation: ECT and TMS
Suicide
Peter B. Rosenquist, Vice-Chair, Department of Psychiatry & Health Behavior
Therapeutic brain stimulation: Electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation,
and vagus nerve stimulation
Autonomic dysregulation in psychiatric disorders including heart rate variability
and pupilometry
Treatment of mood disorders
Insomina: causes and treatments
Suicide
Amy House, PhD
Psychological flexibility as it relates to change processes in psychotherapy; Predictors
of change in DBT skills group participants; Predictors of change in ACT group participants
Brian Miller, MD, PhD, MPH
Immunologic dysfunction in schizophrenia, including inflammation and cytokines
Infections in acute psychosis
Clinical trials of adjunctive immunotherapy in schizophrenia
Insomnia and suicidal ideation in schizophrenia
Joseph McEvoy, MD
Biology and treatment of severe mental illness (SMI)
Severe mental illness (e.g. schizophrenia, biopolar disorder)
Pharmacological treatment of SMI
General health maintenance among patients with SMI
Anilkumar Pillai, MD
Neurotrophins in schizophrenia
BDNF signaling in depression
Gender differences in autism spectrum disorder
Maternal stress and neurodevelopmental disorders
Lara M. Stepleman, PhD., Professor; Co-Director of the Educational Innovation Institute
Health disparities in marginalized populations including LGBTQ, HIV-positive,
and African American individuals, especially women
Quality of life for individuals and their care partners affected by one or more
chronic medical illness (HIV and Multiple Sclerosis, in particular)
Interprofessional health professions training in sexual health across the learner
continuum
Integrated behavioral health services
Nagy Youssef, MD
Primary disorders/areas studied:
Mood disorders (including major depressive disorders, bipolar disorders and suicide
prevention)
Trauma, PTSD, and resilience against trauma and psychopathology
Primary treatment modalities or tools for mechanistic understanding of pathophysiology:
Brain stimulation modalities, especially ECT and novel forms of seizure therapy
Genomics including epigenetics
