Medical College of Georgia

Psychiatry Faculty Research Interests

The research section of the psychiatry department continues to expand the collaborations within the State of Georgia in:

  • 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:

Dr. McCallW. Vaughn McCall, MD, Chair, Department of Psychiatry & Health Behavior

  • Treatment of depression.
  • Insomnia: causes and treatments.
  • Therapeutic brain stimulation: ECT and TMS.
  • Suicide
Dr. Rosenquist

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 pupillometry.
  • Treatment of mood disorders.
  • Insomnia: Causes and treatments.
  • Suicide

Dr. HouseAmy 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.
Dr. Miller

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.
Dr. McEvoy

Joseph McEvoy, MD

  • Biology and treatment of severe mental illness (SMI).
  • Severe mental illness (e.g. schizophrenia, bipolar disorder).
  • Pharmacological treatment of SMI.
  • General health maintenance among patients with SMI.
Dr. Pillai

Anilkumar Pillai, MD

  • Neurotrophins in schizophrenia.
  • BDNF signaling in depression.
  • Gender differences in autism spectrum disorder.
  • Maternal stress and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Dr. Stepleman

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 illnesses (HIV and Multiple Sclerosis, in particular).
  • Interprofessional health professions training in sexual health across the learner continuum.
  • Integrated behavioral health services.
Dr. Youssef

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 the mechanistic understanding of pathophysiology:
    Brain stimulation modalities, especially ECT and novel forms of seizure therapy.
    Genomics, including epigenetics.