October 2022 Kudos
SAVE THE DATES
FACULTY DEVELOPMENT SEMINARS
Upcoming faculty development seminars, which will be held from 9:00-10:30a, Zoom link: Wednesday December 7, 2022 – Giving Trainees Effective Feedback
WRITING GROUPS: UPCOMING
The Writing Group is the 1st Wednesday of every month from 8:00-9:00am. The next meeting is Wednesday, November 2, 2022 and will be on Zoom.
WELCOME NEW FACULTY
Elizabeth McCord, MD – Elizabeth McCord completed her residency in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry at Emory University in 2020. She then served as the Ambulatory Chief Resident for the Emory Internal Medicine Residency Program in 2021. She returned to training to complete a fellowship in Addiction Psychiatry at Emory and is now on faculty in their Psychiatry Department. Her primary clinical and scholarly focus is the treatment of addiction through an integrative approach, developed from her background in both Internal Medicine and Psychiatry.
Reema Dedania, MD – Reema Dedania graduated from Emory College in 2010 and then stayed at Emory to complete her Master of Public Health degree at the Rollins School of Public Health. After a whirlwind of training and working in various cities (medical school at Creighton, general adult psychiatry residency at Vanderbilt, a staff psychiatrist position at an OCD clinic for two years and Case Western for a forensic psychiatry fellowship), she is now returning to Emory.
At Emory, Reema will be working in the Psychiatry & Law Service as the associate training director for the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship. In her role as medical director of the Fulton County Jail Competency Restoration pod, she supervises fellows treating patients at the jail and performing pre-trial evaluations; she also supervises fellows who treat inmates at the Atlanta City Detention Center. Patient populations that are of special interest to her from both a clinical and research perspective are immigrants and refugees seeking asylum.
In addition to Reema’s forensic role, she is an outpatient psychiatrist at The Emory Clinic with a focus of working with patients who have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Other areas of interest to her include medical student education and psychiatry in the media.
DISC UPDATES
Yom Kippur – Betsy Gard, PhD, Adjunct Professor – The Holiest Day of the Jewish Holidays, Yom Kippur is known as “the day of atonement” for those of the Jewish faith as it is the day to ask for forgiveness for the cleansing of sins that have distanced the person from God. In the days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, the individual is to make amends and ask for forgiveness from people they have wounded or sinned against. Yom Kippur heightens the need to acknowledge one’s sins and confess guilt both as an individual and as a community for not living up to one’s best self.
Yom Kippur is commemorated by abstaining from work and self-adornment, fasting from sundown to sundown, attending services, and putting the spiritual self above the physical self. Some refer to the Day of Atonement as the day of “At-one-meant” as it is the day to heighten one’s connection to God and one’s spiritual self.
World Mental Health Day – Justin Palanci, MD, Assistant Professor – World Mental Health Day was established by the World Health Organization to raise awareness of mental health issues worldwide and mobilize efforts in support of mental health. The Day provides an opportunity for all those working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people around the world. Recognized on October 10th, this year’s theme is “Make mental health & well-being for all a global priority.” The Day provides an opportunity to re-kindle our efforts to protect and improve mental health. The WHO implores us to deepen the value we give to mental health as individuals, communities and governments and match that value with greater commitment, engagement, and investment by all stakeholders. We must strengthen mental health care so that the full spectrum of mental health needs is met through a community-based network of accessible, affordable, and quality services and supports. The WHO envisions a world in which mental health is valued, promoted, and protected; where everyone has an equal opportunity to enjoy mental health and to exercise their human rights; and where everyone can access the mental health care they need. Follow along on social media using the hashtag #WorldMentalHealthDay
Diwali/Deepawali – Sohba Fritz, PhD, Assistant Professor – “THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS”, Diwali is celebrated by those of Hindu, Sikh, or Jain faith. It tends to be fall on the day of the new moon, which can occur in October or November. This year, Diwali falls on October 24. Diwali is often referred to as the festival of lights and signifies the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. The day before Diwali, the house is cleaned and decorated with beautiful designs called Rangoli. During Diwali, prayers are offered to Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth, for good fortune. Diyas (clay lamps/candles) are lit to signify the lamps that lit the path for Rama, a reincarnation of the God Vishnu, to return home after being exiled; Rama slayed the demon King, Ravana, signifying the triumph of good over evil. New clothes are purchased, sweets and gifts are shared, and fireworks are lit in celebration. Diwali is a special time for families to gather and celebrate. Personally, Diwali is a holiday that my family gets excited about each year. We decorate our driveway and walkway with Rangoli patterns and decorate the inside of our home with hand-painted diyas. We make the traditional Indian sweet, peda, and share it with friends and neighbors. Our family tradition is to watch the beautiful fireworks display at the BAPS temple in Lilburn.
WELLNESS RESOURCES
Healthy Emory is bringing back the Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less program in September.
Challenges with Healthy Emory are ongoing - the Sharecare app is the platform and incentive dollars are available!
Operation Eat Right encourages you to improve your nutrition and boost your well-being using Healthy Emory Connect!
Resources from Healthy Emory and a link below to the ACPH.
- Benefits
- Rewards
- Career
- Learning
- Wellness
- Work Life
- Employee Assistance
- Employee Assistance – Physician Wellbeing Conference
Healthy Emory Connect | Emory University | Atlanta GA
Wellbeing and mental health support for Emory University Employees Faculty Staff Assistance Program and for Emory Healthcare Employees username EHC (800 327 2251)
Graduate Medical Education Well-being Resident Well Being | Emory School of Medicine
International Conference on Physician Health (alternates years with American Conference) International Conference on Physician Health™ | American Medical Association (ama-assn.org)
Office of Well- Being established for Woodruff Health Sciences
FACULTY KUDOS
Research
Kuzyk E, Mekawi Y, Michopoulos V, & Powers A. (2022). Identifying latent profiles of emotion dysregulation in a trauma-exposed sample. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 156, 291-298.
Powers A, Lathan EC, Dixon HD, Mekawi Y, Hinrichs R, Carter S, Bradley B, & Kaslow N. (2022). Primary Care-based mindfulness intervention for PTSD and depression symptoms among Black adults: A pilot feasibility and acceptability randomized controlled trial. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, advance online publication.
Honors, Awards, Rankings
The following faculty were inducted into the MilliPub Club, which honors and recognizes current members of the faculty who have published one or more individuals papers that have garnered more than 1000 citations, which reflects a citation classic and high impact scholarship. A number of these individuals were inducted for the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th time: William McDonald, Andrew Miller, Michael Owens, and Zhexing Wen.
The following Emory Clinic faculty members met or exceeded their division’s FY22 goal and achieved the 99thpercentile for Press Ganey patient satisfaction scores: Marianne Celano, Andrew Miller, Amanda Platner, Heather Prayor-Patterson, Barbara Rothbaum, Tomina Schwenke.
Reema Dedania was named the recipient of the Charles Dike Award from The American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.
David Goldsmith received a Dean’s Teaching Award.
Chanda Graves was appointed to the editorial board of Psychological Services.
Erica Lee was appointed to the editorial board of Psychological Services.
Justine Welsh/Kelli Hall (MPI) received an R01 from NIAAA: Improving alcohol and substance use care access, outcomes, and equity during the reproductive years: A Type 1 Hybrid Trial in Family Planning Clinics. R01AA030529.
DeJuan White received the Emory@Grady Advocacy Award.
Presentations
Browning ME, Lloyd-Richardson EE, Schneider RL, Faro AL, Muehlenkamp JJ, Claudio-Hernandez A. (2022). Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Co-Occurring Nonsuicidal Self-Injury: Evidence-Based Treatments and Future Research Directions. The Behavior Therapist.
Negar Fani presented at Rush University Medical Center, Department of Neurological Sciences Grand Rounds Lecture Series, titled “Mechanistically-targeted Interventions for Trauma” and at Ohio State University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Grand Rounds Lecture Series titled “Diverse Neurophysiological Responses to Trauma in Minoritized Populations: Developing Mechanistically-targeted, Accessible and Acceptable Interventions.”
Jessica Maples-Keller was invited to talk at the Anxiety and Depression Association of America annual conference, and will be presenting a timely topic on MDMA-Assisted therapy for PTSD: Current evidence, translational science, and cultural considerations.
Media
Emory Healthcare Veterans Program (1) GPB – Veteran Deaths by Suicide Decline Over Pandemic as “Invisible Wounds of War” are Addressed.
John Constantino (1) WABE – Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to Open Pediatric Mental Health Center Through Major Donation.
Boadie Dunlop (1) WebMD – Looking at the Future of Bipolar: Moods that Swing from Mania to Misery. (2) WebMD – Looking at the Future of Bipolar: Mood Stabilizers for Highs and Lows.
Sanne Van Rooij (1) Interesting Engineering – A Professor Reveals 5 Surprising Facts We Never Knew About PTSD.
STAFF KUDOS
Sara Kassem, Emory Autism Center, became a US citizen.