N E W P H YS I C I A N S
Translational Research With a
Focus on Psychiatric Disorders
Taylor Preston, MD, will join the
Translational research uses multidisciplinary collaborations
Department of Psychiatry as an
and laboratory research to find explanations that enhance
assistant professor upon completion
the health and well-being of patients. “With this approach,”
of his residency training at UAB
says Rita Cowell, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry, “the
in June 2013. Preston, one of
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology has
the department’s chief residents,
prioritized the recruitment of a cadre of scientists to build a
received his medical degree from
prominent research division focused on translational research.”
the UAB School of Medicine and
Institutional commitment and philanthropy has provided
his undergraduate degree in
funding to help recruit nearly 20 junior and senior neuroscience
biology from Birmingham-Southern
investigators and establish multiple core facilities and solid
College. He will assume the role
Immunostained sections seen under
confocal microscopy show: 1. Rat
brain’s distribution pattern of leucinerich repeat kinase 2 (blue) in the
striasome compartment (green).
2. Mouse cortex in which cortical
projection neurons (green) orient
their dendrites in columns and are
interspersed with local parvalbuminpositive interneurons (red). 3. Human
brain in which the cortical projection
neuron (blue) receives synaptic
contacts (green) from parvalbuminpositive interneurons (red). These
contacts are reduced in schizophrenia.
UAB MEDICINE NEWS
New Space for Clinical Research Program
1.
Clinics, currently managed by
Robert McCullumsmith, MD.
Nina Kraguljac, MD, will join
the Department of Psychiatry as
an assistant professor when she
health issues affecting college-aged youth. AFSP is the leading
national nonprofit organization dedicated to understanding and
into newly renovated state-of-the-art research space on the
preventing suicide through research, education, and advocacy.
10th floor of the Sparks Building. This move will dramatically
For the fifth consecutive year, UAB Psychiatry participated in the
increase the space available for the program and accommodate
annual AFSP Out of the Darkness walks, which raise funds for
its recent expansion. The new area comprises 11,767 square feet
community outreach and education. UAB Psychiatry was one of
and includes 31 faculty and staff offices, a fully appointed exam
2.
The departmental clinical research program, including the
recently created Mood Disorders Program, recently relocated
partnerships over the past 5 years.
of director of Outpatient Resident
the top five ranked teams, with registered participants including
room, lab space for collecting and processing research samples,
faculty, staff, residents, and family members.
two conference rooms with videoconferencing capabilities,
dedicated testing rooms, and a patient waiting area. The clinical
research program will be close to the department’s basic research
“Each investigator brings special expertise to our team,”
labs, facilitating translational research.
Cowell’s team dissects the
says Cowell. “Their work in newly-renovated space in the
in patients with schizophrenia,
underlying biological contributions to psychiatric illness with
focusing on the development of a
the goal of seeking new treatments.”
neuron subtype that matures and
The group’s recent elucidation of multiple a spects of the
McCullumsmith Elected to ACNP
Robert McCullumsmith, MD, PhD, associate professor
and director of the Adult Ambulatory Division, recently
was elected to membership in the American College of
underlying cognitive problems
Sparks Building allows important synergies as they help define
Meador-Woodruff, MD. Active Minds focuses on mental
Community Suicide Awareness
3.
UAB Psychiatry recently participated in the Send Silence
Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP). The ACNP is a nonprofit,
professional society solely dedicated to the advancement of
Packing event and the American Foundation for Suicide
brain disorders including scientific understanding, prevention,
contributes to normal brain functioning. She seeks to identify
Prevention (AFSP) Out of the Darkness community walk. This,
and improvements in treatments. McCullumsmith was elected
completes her UAB residency
biological basis for psychiatric disorders has resulted in the
cellular pathways that could be pharmacologically targeted
the first Send Silence Packing event in the South, was sponsored
breakdown of each mental illness diagnosis into clusters of
for potential treatments. She also collaborates with UAB
by the UAB Active Minds Chapter. Some 1100 backpacks were
symptoms called endophenotypes. This categorization enables
researchers to determine whether cellular targets that are altered
laid out across the Campus Green, to symbolize the college-
researchers to model individual elements of a psychiatric disorder,
in schizophrenia can be used as peripheral biomarkers to predict
aged students who complete suicide each year. A.T. Helix, the
was elected to associate membership in the ACNP. This is a
Medical University, Salzburg, before
and also provides a capability to piece the elements back together
emergence in at-risk populations as well as its most effective
founder and president of the UAB chapter, is an undergraduate
competitive category of initial membership that is reserved for
joining the Mayo Clinic as a research
and reconstruct the disorder in its entirety, Cowell says.
treatments.
researcher in the laboratory of Psychiatry Chair James H.
rising scholars.
Clark BC, Perkins A,
McCullumsmith CB, Islam AM,
Sung J, Cropsey KL. “What Does
Self-identified Drug of Choice Tell Us
About Individuals Under Community
Corrections Supervision?” J Addict
Med. 2012 March;6(1):57-67.
assistant professor in the Division of Behavioral Neurobiology,
degree from Paracelsus Private
Kerman IA. “New Insights Into
BDNF Signaling: Relevance to Major
Depression and Antidepressant
Action.” Am J Psychiatry. 2012 Nov
1;169(11):1137-1140.
numerous scholarly achievements. Ilan Kerman, MD, PhD,
Austria, she received her medical
Kraguljac NV, Reid MA, White
DM, den Hollander J, Lahti
AC. “Regional Decoupling
of N-acetyl-aspartate and
Glutamate in Schizophrenia.”
Neuropsychopharmacology. 2012
Nov;37(12):2635-2642.
to membership in recognition of his scientific stature and
training in June 2013. A native of
P U B L I C AT I O N S
O F N OT E
assistant. Kraguljac is one of the
All of the department’s primary investigators are working
department’s chief residents. Her
on a piece of this puzzle. The most recent recruitments include
patients with mood disorders because many such patients have
research focuses on in vivo imaging
Cowell, Sarah Clinton, PhD, Ilan Kerman, MD, PhD, and Karen
symptoms of metabolic and autonomic dysfunction.
in psychiatric disorders.
Gamble, PhD.
Kerman’s lab seeks to define brain/body interactions in
Clinton’s lab endeavors to identify cellular pathways that
Gamble’s lab investigates how the body regulates circadian
rhythm. Understanding biological basis for this difficulty could
depression, and thereby better understand how life-changing
improve treatment of such symptoms as sleep disturbances.
events can influence the onset of a psychiatric illness.
continued from cover
region refer students to the program, which utilizes a
unique integration of education with treatment efforts.
In addition, in October 2010, the Alabama
severely troubled adolescents in this setting.
The department’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
fellows play a strong role in the development and
implementation of our department’s spectrum of
fellows are placed throughout UAB and Children’s
care. Since the creation of this fellowship in 1995,
Department of Mental Health relocated its adolescent
of Alabama, providing care to the youth in the
the department has graduated 34 child and adolescent
unit from one of the state hospitals to UAB Hospital.
community while gaining hands-on experience. Child
psychiatrists who have not only provided valuable
Not only is excellent care provided, but the move
and Adolescent Psychiatry Director Lee Ascherman,
services to countless children, but have also helped to
also offers the postgraduate fellows in Child and
MD, MPH, the Department of Psychiatry’s vice
diminish the national shortage of child and adolescent
Adolescent Psychiatry the opportunity to work with
2
MEASURES OF SUCCESS
are affected by stressful life events that lead to anxiety and
chair for education, says, “Our Child and Adolescent
psychiatrists.”
F OR REF ERR A L S: 1- 8 0 0 - 8 2 2- 6 47 8
UAB psychiatrist clinical
productivity, as measured by
RVU generation and indexed to
national benchmarks, has increased
dramatically over the past 7 years,
reaching the 71st percentile
last year. These gains reflect
substantially increased patient
volumes for each departmental
provider. In addition, the number of
clinicians has expanded over this
same period, resulting in record
numbers of patients seen in the
Department of Psychiatry over the
last 2 years.
F E AT U R E D
CLINICAL TRIALS
Ramelteon: A Novel Treatment for
Bipolar Disorder. Two studies will test
the effectiveness of Ramelteon, a sleep
medication, to treat bipolar disorder.
Ramelteon activates the receptors for
melatonin, which controls daily body
rhythms and improves sleep. These
double-blind, placebo controlled studies
wi ll explore whether the addition of
Ramelteon helps regulate a patient’s
circadian rhythm or sleep cycle, and
if so, will that treatment assist bipolar
medications. PI: Richard Shelton, MD.
Contact: Nicholas Bossaller, 205.975.8541.
GLYX-13: Treatment Resistant Depression.
This study will evaluate a medication that
acts as a new mechanism for the treatment
of depression. The study medication, called
GLYX-13, serves by changing the activity of
the glutamate NMDA receptor in the brain.
The infusions of GLYX-13 can be taken as
an add-on medication to a stable dose of
an antidepressant or by themselves. PI:
Richard Shelton, MD. Contact: Brittny
White, 205.934.2484.
MOR E INF OR M AT ION: uabmedicine.org /physician
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