2025
Research track welcomes two new residents, Dr. Brian Lloyd and Dr. Elaheh Salar Dini!
Research Track Resident Dr. HoLim Lee presents poster at Society of Biological Psychiatry entitled “Interactions Between Lipid Metabolism and Inflammation: Impact on Depression Severity and Symptoms of Anhedonia and Fatigue."
Research Track Resident Dr. Najeah Okashah presents poster at Society of Biological Psychiatry entitled “Brain Proteins Contributing to Problematic Alcohol Use - A Brain Proteome-Wide Association Study.”
Research Track Resident Dr. Mackenzie Jones presents poster at the Schizophrenia International Research Society entitled “Childhood Neglect and Negative Symptom Severity in Schizophrenia: The Role of Elevated CRP.”
2024
Research track welcomes two new residents, Dr. Bryan Klapes and Dr. Hans Verkerke.
Research Track Resident Dr. Najeah Okashah receives the 2024 National Institute of Mental Health Outstanding Resident Award.
Research Track Alumnus Dr. Neguine Rezaii receives Mass General Neuroscience Transformative Scholar Award. Congrats, Dr. Rezaii!
Research Track Resident Dr. Sumeet Sharma presents at Emory Psychiatry Grand Rounds, “Immune Biomarkers of Motivation, Mental Fatigue, and Anhedonia in Depression.”
Research Track Resident Dr. Mackenzie Jones presents poster at Physician Scientists Symposium entitled “Childhood Trauma and Negative Symptom Severity in Patients with Schizophrenia with Elevated CRP.”
Research Track Resident Dr. Sumeet Sharma receives Resident Research Award at the 2024 Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Residency Graduation.
Research Tack Alumnus Dr. Benson Ku publishes new work at JAMA Open Network entitled Aspects of Area Deprivation Index in Relation to Hippocampal Volume Among Children.
Research Track Resident Dr. Michelle Bach gives invited talk at Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics: “The Altered Mind: Ethics in Interventional Psychiatry.”
Research Tack Alumnus Dr. Gaby Ritfield publishes new work at Child Psychiatry & Human Development entitled “Effectiveness of Psychotropic Medications in Children with Prenatal Alcohol and Drug Exposures: A Case Series and Model of Care.”
Research Tack Alumnus Dr. Neguine Rezaii presents at American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting: “How to Use AI as a Psychiatrist."
Research Track Alumnus Dr. Benson Ku coauthors new work in Biological Psychiatry titled "Relations of Lifetime Perceived Stress and Basal Cortisol with Hippocampal Volume among Healthy Adolescents and those at Clinical High-Risk for Psychosis: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach."
Research Track Alumnus Dr. Benson Ku receives HERCULES pilot grant, titled "Gene-environment interactions in brain structure and distressing psychotic-like experiences among adolescents over four years."
2023
Research Track Graduate Paul Kim appointed to Assistant Professor at Emory University, working at Grady Psychiatry Emergency Services.
Research Track Resident Dr. Sumeet Sharma put out a new pre-print: “Dysregulation of Prefrontal Cortical Oligodendrocyte Lineage Cells Across Mouse Models of Adversity and Human Major Depressive Disorder."
Research Track Alumnus Christopher Villongco receives the career development award CRECD/MSCR R25 at Morehouse School of Medicine.
Research track welcomes two new residents, Dr. Michelle Bach and Dr. HoLim Lee.
Research Track Resident Dr. Sumeet Sharma coauthors a paper at Journal of Neurochemistry: “Obesity during preclinical Alzheimer’s development exacerbates brain metabolic decline.”
Research Track Alumnus and Co-Director Dr. David Goldsmith receives R01 from NIMH entitled "Targeting Inflammation-Induced Changes in Brain Reward Signaling and Motivational Deficits in Patients with Schizophrenia Using an Anti-Inflammatory Challenge."
Research Track Resident Dr. Sumeet Sharma receives Honorable Mention recognition for the 2023 NIMH Outstanding Resident Award.
Research Track Alumnus Dr. Benson Ku elected to serve as a Junior Board Member on the Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS) Board!
2022
Research Track Graduate Dr. Benson Ku (Assistant Professor, Emory University) receives an NIMH K23 award, titled “Impact of Neighborhood Characteristics on Conversion to Psychosis among Youth at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis.” Congrats, Benson!
Research Track Resident Dr. Paul Kim (PGY4) wins the prestigious Wellborn Fellowship.
Research Track Graduate Dr. Christopher Villongco (Assistant Professor, Morehouse School of Medicine) publishes new work in Psychoneuroendocrinology titled “The developmental consequences of early adverse care on infant macaques: A cross-fostering study.”
Research Track Resident Dr. Sumeet Sharma (PGY2) publishes new work in Briefings in Bioinformatics examining differential gene expression at the sub-cell-type level: “LRcell: detecting the source of differential expression at the sub-cell-type level from bulk RNA-seq data.”
Research Track Graduate Dr. Christopher Villongco (Assistant Professor, Morehouse School of Medicine) publishes new work in Academic Psychiatry on digital learning in medical school: “Increasing Learning Support, Access and Equity When Using Digital Learning During the Psychiatry Clerkship at an HBCU Medical School.”
Research Track Graduate Dr. Benson Ku wins 2022 Constructive Collisions Award.
Research Track Resident Dr. Sumeet Sharma receives Yerkes NPRC Pilot Research Program grant entitled "Single-cell profiling of immune activation after early life adversity."
Research Track Resident Dr. Sumeet Sharma coauthors a paper in Molecular Psychiatry: “Amygdala DCX and blood Cdk14 are implicated as cross-species indicators of individual differences in fear, extinction, and resilience to trauma exposure.”
2021
PGY4 Chief Research Track Resident Dr. Benson Ku received the prestigious APA Resident Recognition Award.
Dr. Ku publishes new first-authored work Schizophrenia Research and Psychiatry Research.
Alumnus Michael Lucido appointed Assistant Professor, Emory University.
Dr. Lucido publishes first-authored paper in Pharmacology Reviews (Lucido et al., 2021).
Alumnus Justin Ellis is appointed to Assistant Professor, Emory University.
Dr. Justin Ellis publishes new first author review neuroimaging studies in youth at high clinical risk for psychosis (Ellis et al., 2020).
Alumna Laura Hack (Research Fellow at Stanford University) receives NIMH K23 award, titled “A Targeted Intervention of a Putative Striatal Subtype of Pharmacoresistant Depression.”
Research Track Resident Dr. Sumeet Sharma publishes a first author paper in Schizophrenia Bulletin Open: “Cluster analysis of clozapine consumer perspectives and comparison to consumers on other antipsychotics.”
2020
Dr. Gaby Ritfeld receives NIH Diversity Supplement.
Dr. Benson Ku receives Skobba Memorial Resident Research Award – 3rd place.
Dr. Benson Ku receives AΩA Postgraduate Fellowship.
Dr. David Thylur and Dr. Michael Lucido nominated for 2020 MindGames by the American Psychiatric Association.
Dr. David Thylur receives Walter Wellborn Fellowship.
Dr. Justin Ellis, Dr. Michael Lucido and Dr. Benson Ku present at Emory Psychiatry Grand Rounds.
Dr. Benson Ku publishes new work in Psychiatric Services.
Alumna Dr. Neguine Rezaii (2016-2018) receives Young Investigator Award from American Neuropsychiatric Association.
Alumna Dr. Laura Hack (2016-2018) publishes new research in Nature Medicine and Molecular Psychiatry.
Alumnus Dr. David Goldsmith publishes new work in Brain, Behavior & Immunity.
2019
Dr. Gaby Ritfeld receives AACAP travel award.
Dr. Justin Ellis publishes first-authored paper in Comparative Neurology.
Dr. Mina Boazak awarded Emory Department of Psychiatry Resident Research Award.
Dr. Mina Boazak publishes new work in Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Services and CNS spectrums.
Dr. Benson Ku publishes new work in Schizophrenia Research.
Alumna Dr. Andrea Crowell publishes new research in American Journal of Psychiatry.
Alumnus Dr. Yilang Tang is site PI for new VA-funded clinical trial for substance use disorders.
Alumna Dr. Neguine Rezaii publishes new research in NPJ Schizophrenia.
Alumnus Dr. David Goldsmith publishes new work in Brain, Behavior & Immunity.
2018
Dr. Mina Boazak receives Walter Wellborn Fellowship.
Dr. Benson Ku publishes new work in Clinical Nephrology.
Alumnus Dr. David Goldsmith receives K23 award from NIMH, titled “Impact of Inflammation on Reward Circuits, Motivational Deficits and Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia.” Congrats, David! Dr. Laura Hack receives SOBP travel award.
Dr. Neguine Rezaii and Dr. Laura Hack awarded Emory Department of Psychiatry Resident Research Award.
Alumna Dr. Andrea Crowell receives Emory Department of Psychiatry Teaching Award.
Alumnus Dr. Yilang Tang publishes new work in Psychiatric Genetics.