September 2025

SAVE THE DATES

Upcoming Faculty Development Seminar

The next faculty development seminar will be held on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, from 9:00-10:30am

Upcoming Writing Groups

The Faculty Writing Group is the first Wednesday of every month from 8:00-9:00am. These meetings are on Zoom. This group is for faculty including adjunct faculty.

SPOTLIGHTS

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: Joe Mathias, MD

Joe Mathias’ primary role at Emory is serving as the Director of Outpatient Services at the Emory Addiction Center. He also serves as the Site Director for the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellow Addiction Rotation, as well as Site Supervisor for the Psychiatric Clerkship Rotation at the Emory Addiction Center.

Joe has also been serving as the Associate Education Director for the Addiction Alliance of Georgia since 2022. As part of this role, he has assisted in the development of a week-long immersion program for healthcare professional students across different universities in Georgia promoting substance use disorder education/training in healthcare curriculum.

As of 2025, Joe serves as Core Faculty for the University of California Irvine’s Train New Trainers Addiction Medicine Fellowship. This fellowship is for primary care providers seeking additional training in addiction medicine. His role within the program is to provide small group mentoring sessions for primary care providers in California who are treating patients in an underserved area.

Joe enjoys the connections he makes with his patients, some who are adolescents as young as 14, and others who are patients in their 80’s. One of his patients just turned 90 last month! Building longitudinal relationships with his patients has been one of the most rewarding aspects of Joe’s job. Every patient he treats has a story that is unique to them. He enjoys building a relationship of trust that is needed to help them in their most vulnerable moments.

Joe also enjoys spending time educating students on substance use disorders. To give back and teach the next generation of healthcare professional students has been incredibly rewarding to him.

A key highlight of Joe’s career trajectory includes completing his Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship at Emory in 2020 that offered him the opportunity to be trained under great addiction psychiatrists and leaders such as Yilang Tang and Justine Welsh. Both continue serving as great mentors for him today.

Being part of the Emory Addiction Services has been one of the key highlights for Joe in his career and career development. The addiction service started off small with Justine Welsh, and she built a team of well-rounded individuals, both professionally and personally, to treat an underserved population here in Georgia. He is grateful for the success the service has had and the opportunity to be able to expand services to treat even more patients (including more adolescents with SUD) not only in Metro Atlanta, but across the state. Being promoted as the Director of Outpatient Services and being in a leadership capacity has been rewarding and provided him with a great opportunity to grow as a physician and leader.

Looking to the future, Joe would like to continue playing an intricate part in expanding addiction services, both clinical and educational, at the clinic. His clinical area of interest is treating adolescents with substance use disorders and as the clinic completes construction for the new clinical space (set to be completed in December 2025) he hopes to help develop the adolescent substance use disorder program further.

Joe and his wife Emilie have two boys, Shepherd (5) and Cambridge (4) and a girl, Everett (7 months old) who keep them busy! When he does have free time, Joe enjoys the Atlanta sports scene. He is a huge basketball fan and tries to make it to as many Atlanta Hawks games as possible.

ADJUNCT FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: Melanie Bliss, PhD

Melanie Bliss is honored to be invited to tell you about herself! Melanie identifies as a clinical-community psychologist. She spends most of her time as a psychotherapist in private practice, and specializes in trauma, PTSD and anxiety although she sees teenagers and adults for a wide variety of presenting issues. She further specializes in the area of sexual assault, and has had the privilege of serving her community in a myriad of ways in the field of sexual violence. The work she has done has allowed her to live in to her community psychology values, attempting to create systemic change through preventive and community-based efforts. For example, for fifteen years Melanie trained law enforcement officers all over Georgia on how to respond to sexual assault crimes. She occasionally serves in civil and criminal cases as an expert witness, including most recently on a three-trial case involving multiple female plaintiffs who had been sex trafficked. She serves as a consultant, speaker and educator to attorneys, schools, nonprofits, faith-based organizations and more. She has been an invited key speaker twice at the Georgia capital for Violence Against Women Day and again to support legislation on stalking. At the start of her career, she worked as a program evaluator for a residential treatment facility for adolescent perpetrators and victims of sexual assault. Finally, although she is not active in research, she has kept her toes in writing and publishing.

Melanie is also an avid volunteer. She spends a significant portion of her time volunteering in roles related to her personal and children’s lives and in nonprofits that support their social justice values. She is in her seventh and final year on the board of the Central Outreach and Advocacy Center, a nonprofit providing critical services to people experiencing homelessness. She served as board chair for over three years and currently transitioning the new chair into her role, and will be supporting others in program evaluation of the organization. In addition to serving on the board, Melanie and her family engage in direct service provision with unhoused people.

Lastly, for 13 years Melanie has co-owned a building with two other psychologists in downtown Decatur. They rent furnished office space to other professionals by the hour and by the day, and she is the office, tenant,and property manager. (And they have openings for people who may be looking for space!) Check out the Thrive Center.

As an adjunct faculty member in the Emory Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Melanie has served as a mentor, panel presenter, clinical supervisor and on the Adjunct Faculty Working Group. She has most loved working with residents who are completely new to psychotherapy but eager to learn. It has been really fun for her to serve as a supervisor and coach for them as they begin to understand how to blend the science of psychotherapy interventions with the subtle but powerful art of pacing, interpretating, empathizing and integrating techniques. She really loves being part of the Emory Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences community. She finds that she continues to learn and stay stimulated and connected with others through meetings, gatherings, CE workshops and even just through the emails!

People might be surprised (or not, probably not!) to learn that Melanie is an extrovert, and loves hosting and attending social events. She loves music, reading, travel and connecting with other people on these topics. She is married with a 17-year-old son at Midtown High and a 20-year-old daughter who is in a dual program getting her bachelors and MPH at UGA. Despite the fullness of her life and engagement with others, Melanie really loves long periods of exercise completely alone, preferably outdoors. She is passionate about running, paddleboarding, kayaking, hiking and yoga. She is privileged to have a full, engaging life with loved ones, stimulating work and challenging opportunities to serve, and she treasures the time she has alone to reconnect with nature, her thoughts and restore.

STAFF SPOTLIGHT: Lindy Carbone

Lindy Carbone serves as the Manager of Social Services (Director of Social Work) at the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program. In this role, she supervises a highly-skilled team of clinical social workers who provide expert case management and therapy services to the warriors they are privileged to serve. She sees her role as one of mentorship - supporting the professional development of her team and guiding early career social workers as they develop their confidence and expertise in the field. She is often contacted by students, and able to offer guidance on professional resources and networking opportunities.

Lindy has worked as a psychiatric social worker for more than 25 years, delivering clinical services in several inpatient and outpatient mental health and substance use treatment facilities across the country while accompanying her husband, who served as an active-duty Air Force clinical psychologist. Following his transition out of the military, they settled in Georgia, where she eventually began serving the military community at the Atlanta VA. There, she contributed to a research project offering group-based exposure therapy to Vietnam veterans. Eventually, she was fortunate to join the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program, where she has now served in the lead social work supervisory role for nearly a decade.

Lindy considers it a privilege to work alongside some of the most highly regarded professionals in the field of PTSD treatment. The care provided to veterans is truly gold standard, and she takes great pride in contributing to the efforts of such an exceptional team. Earlier this year, Lindy experienced the loss of her mother, who deeply valued the work she does. She followed her professional journey closely and often expressed pride in the important mission of “saving veterans’ lives,” a sentiment that continues to motivate her in this role.

Lindy is deeply honored to work with active-duty service members and veterans, particularly those living with PTSD. She believes strongly in the effectiveness of prolonged exposure therapy because she has witnessed its transformative impact firsthand. Watching warriors rediscover themselves and reclaim their lives is profoundly moving - it feels almost magical. To play even a small role in that transformation is both humbling and inspiring.

Serving as Manager of the Social Work Department at EHVP represents the pinnacle of Lindy’s career. The journey here has not been without challenges. She stepped away from work for a time to focus on raising her daughter and later faced - and overcame - breast cancer. There were moments when she questioned whether she would regain her professional footing. Yet, following a full recovery, she was privileged to join the outstanding team at EHVP. She is proud to help lead and support such a dedicated group of professionals and to supervise some of the most compassionate and skilled clinical social workers she has ever known.

Looking ahead, Lindy hopes to continue building on the work done at EHVP by supporting the professional development of the social work team, strengthening clinical practices and expanding services and resources for the military community. On a personal level, she plans to continue developing resources - such as her “eldercare guide” - to help families navigate complex systems of care with clarity and confidence, while also continuing to volunteer as a breast cancer mentor for the newly diagnosed. In the long term, she hopes to write a book about her family - not necessarily for publication, but as a personal legacy for her daughter.

In recent years, Lindy shared responsibility with family for caring for her elderly mother throughout her long illness until her passing earlier this year. Despite her professional background as a social worker, she was struck by how challenging it was to navigate the complexities of eldercare - balancing Medicare, Home Health, Palliative Care and Hospice services while providing hands-on support to a beloved family member who was suffering. The experience was exhausting, heartbreaking and eye-opening, and has inspired me to begin developing a clear, accessible guide for families facing similar challenges. In addition, Lindy serves as a volunteer support person for newly-diagnosed breast cancer patients, offering a listening ear and guidance drawn from her own journey. In this role, she hopes to reassure others that thriving after cancer is possible.

TRAINEE SPOTLIGHT: Punita Peketi, MD

Punita Peketi is currently a fourh year psychiatry resident. Within the department, she is the outpatient psychotherapy training program and psychopharmacology co-chief. With this role, she currently helps assign therapy cases for residents in training, provides supervision for residents newly starting therapy cases and hosts monthly panels regarding a variety of therapy topics. She also helps with organization of the medication management clinics, including coordinating rotating medical students, providing orientation and providing various guidance, lectures and resources.

Punita is also currently on the psychotherapy track, which allows her to have additional dedicated time for therapy patients and supervision. The track blocks off time during the third and fourth post graduate years of residency and has allowed her to explore long-term therapy in various modalities. Punita has especially gravitated towards psychodynamic orientations in addition to incorporating concepts of acceptance and commitment therapy into her work.

Last year, Punita also worked as co-chief of the diversity, equity and inclusion committee, which helped her engage in leadership with hosting events that focus on inclusive spaces, promote initiatives that bring meaningful change, and serve as a liaison between leadership and residents. She is currently still active with the DISC committee.

Punita’s current clinics are mainly focused on community psychiatry at Grady, such as Project ARROW’s first episode psychosis clinic and PSTAR. She is also engaged in the psychotherapy for psychosis elective.

Outside of residency, Punita is currently a candidate for the Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Program at the Emory University Psychoanalytic Institute. This program consists of weekly classes as part of the core curriculum, in addition to clinical experience with long-term psychodynamic patients and their own analysis. This combination has really shaped the way she understands herself and her patients, which has been very life-changing, empowering and humbling.

Punita is working on a pilot study to observe the impact of psychotherapy for individuals experiencing psychotic spectrum illness. She is also hoping to observe how administering psychotherapy for individuals experiencing psychotic spectrum illness may affect psychiatry resident training perspectives.

Punita has also started getting more involved in advocacy, particularly around minority and LGBTQIA+ rights, and supporting local movements and community initiatives. She is excited to continue growing these efforts this year.

Punita’s favorite part of this career is the ability to develop a trusting relationship with a patient, understand their paranoia, delusions, shame, guilt, etc., and work through their understanding of the complexities of reality with them. It is such a privilege to be a witness of a patient’s narrative, and it feels so meaningful to create a safe space, and use the dynamics of the relationship to create healing that ripples outwards. It feels like a way of moving through the world that she has always dreamed of.

Some of the key highlights of Punita’s career trajectory have been volunteering and research with vulnerable populations. Spending her summers as a camp counselor for children with developmental disabilities, her passion for working with and advocating for vulnerable populations grew naturally. As Punita entered university and medical school, she continued this drive by volunteering in hospice care, supporting individuals experiencing housing instability and conducting research on mental health care during incarceration and psychotropic prescribing in assisted living communities. In medical school, she was also highly involved with the Ohio State Medical Association and American Medical Association where she helped propose resolutions advocating for populations like these. Working at Grady has really tied these experiences together and reaffirmed how much she values working with and advocating for vulnerable populations.

Punita is passionate about outpatient community psychiatry, and really cares about her work and relationships with individuals experiencing psychotic spectrum illness. She loves the idea of combining therapy with medication management and working across different populations. She hopes to work in, build and/or expand the multidisciplinary approach for patients and families, while also teaching and advocating for greater equity for mental health care.

Outside of work, Punita loves being active and spending time outdoors, whether that is hiking or playing intramural sports. She also enjoys tapping into her creative side, which often takes different forms; lately it includes making clay earrings with Indian-inspired designs, jamming on the piano with friends and joining an improv class. But at the end of the day, you will usually find Punita at a coffee shop, drinking chai and journaling.

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT: EUPI - Atlanta Psychoanalytic Adult Psychoanalysis Program (Written by Bruce Rudisch, MD, Susan Chance, PhD and Sharon Harp, LCSW)

The Emory University Psychoanalytic Institute was founded in the late 1960s by a group of prominent psychoanalysts who were recruited to the Emory University Department of Psychiatry. Many of these psychoanalysts had been faculty members at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. In its early days, EUPI operated under the auspices of Columbia. Many of the first group of psychoanalytic candidates at Emory were newly minted graduates of the Emory Psychiatry Residency Program. In the days before Zoom, these very dedicated candidates flew to New York City on weekends for clinical supervision and coursework at Columbia. Several of our esteemed senior psychoanalysts, including the former Emory Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences chairman, professor Steven T. Levy, MD, were trained in this early group of candidates. 

The Adult Psychoanalytic Training Program (ATPT) at the Emory University Psychoanalytic Institute (EUPI) has been the centerpiece of psychoanalytic training at Emory since EUPI’s founding. The ATPT is the lengthiest and most intensive of the four training programs that EUPI offers. The training program requires a personal psychoanalysis, which is a four or five times weekly treatment that generally lasts for the length of the candidate’s training (and often continues beyond the end of formal training). While a candidate’s personal analysis is a central element of their professional development as a psychoanalyst, most candidates view their personal analysis as a vital and indispensable opportunity for emotional growth that serves them in both their personal and professional life.

The personal psychoanalysis of these candidates is a private matter between the candidate and their personal psychoanalyst. The personal psychoanalyst must be selected from the subset of the faculty psychoanalysts at EUPI who have the requisite clinical experience and who have also undergone a peer credentialing process.

What sets the APTP apart from other psychotherapeutic training systems is the centrality of the personal psychoanalysis of the candidate. The function of the candidate’s personal analysis is to help the candidate to understand the role of the unconscious in their own thoughts, feelings and behaviours. This acquired self knowledge is critical in understanding the emotional inhibitions and blocks that they encounter in their patients. By opening up to these blocks and inhibitions within themselves a psychoanalytic candidate is better able to help their patient (the "analysand") work through their difficulties in life.

The nature of psychoanalytic supervision is also unique. While it is different in many ways from personal treatment, there are overlaps with the personal treatment in so far as a psychoanalytic supervisor helps the candidate to focus on using their emotional responses to their patients (the "countertransference"). The supposition of psychoanalytic work is that the countertransference is a source of vital information about the analysand's emotional life, and through the judicious use of interpretation, a psychoanalytic "cure" unfolds. 

At the current time, there are seven candidates who enrolled in the EUPI ATPT. These candidates are all licensed mental health clinicians, and at the current time the disciplines of psychiatry, and clinical social work are represented (in the past clinical psychologists and Licensed Professional Counselors have also graduated from EUPI).

Candidates are required to write case reports on a twice yearly basis, and clinical writing is considered to be a core element of psychoanalytic training at Emory.

Candidates are also asked to write twice yearly personal reflection papers in which they explore their own clinical development, including discussing how aspects of their personal psychological tendencies and blocks are impacting their clinical work.

The nexus of faculty evaluation of our psychoanalytic candidates takes place within EUPI’s Progression Committee. In the fullness of their training, a given candidate will be treating three patients in psychoanalysis, working with a separate supervisor for each case. These supervisors work together as a team, the supervisors meeting with each other on a twice yearly basis to discuss the respective candidate’s strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for growth. In addition to the candidate’s multiple supervisors, each candidate has an Advisor, whose role is to synthesize the observations of the multiple supervisors, providing their respective candidate with holistic feedback, in both written and verbal form, about their clinical development.

The formal leadership of the ATPT consists of faculty members who serve in various positions. The program as a whole falls under the leadership of the EUPI Director, Stefanie Speanburg. The ATPT Program as a whole has a new Chairperson, Sharon Harp, who will be taking on this leadership position in the Autumn of 2025. The Progression Committee is led by two Co-Chairs, Bruce Rudisch and Susan Chance.

As can be seen by this brief description, the Adult Psychoanalytic Training Program at Emory is both extensive and intensive and extremely personal. Candidates work for many years, with devotion to learning the craft of psychoanalysis, and this is mirrored by the devotion of our faculty, who work in large measure on a voluntary basis.

In true psychoanalytic fashion, we operate with the understanding that the endeavour of psychoanalytic training is both rigorous and rewarding. When worked through to its denouement, in this case the completion of psychoanalytic training, our candidates and faculty, have the gratification commensurate with a true labour of love.

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT: EUPI - Emory Transitions Behavioral Health Outpatient Program (Written by Michael McDade, MA)

The Emory Transitions Behavioral Health Outpatient Program offers intensive outpatient (IOP) and partial hospitalization (PHP) services at Emory Decatur Hospital; designed for individuals who need more support than traditional therapy but do not require inpatient hospitalization.

With specialized tracks for seniors (65+), young adults (18–28) and adults, the program provides age-appropriate care in a structured, supportive setting.Services include:

• Comprehensive assessment & individualized treatment planning
• Group, individual, and family therapy
• Medication management
• Case management & care coordination
• Skills for coping, stress management, grief, and healthy relationships

Transitions bridges the gap between hospital care and outpatient therapy—helping patients stabilize, build resilience, and move forward with confidence.

Born out of Emory Wesley Woods Hospital’s nationally recognized expertise in geriatric psychiatry, the program began with a clear mission: to provide seniors over 65 with a dedicated partial hospitalization program designed to address the unique challenges of aging, from depression and anxiety to grief and memory concerns.

The program’s success quickly revealed a broader need. Many adults and young adults also required more support than traditional outpatient therapy, yet not the intensity of inpatient hospitalization. To meet this gap, Transitions expanded with intensive outpatient programs for adults and young adults, offering age-specific care in flexible formats that fit everyday life.

Today, Transitions continues to honor its roots – providing compassionate, specialized mental health care across the lifespan, while helping each patient bridge the path from hospital to healing at home.

Emory Transitions offers age-specific programs for young adults, adults and seniors, designed to meet the unique challenges of each stage of life. Backed by Emory Healthcare, patients access leading psychiatrists, mental health therapists and specialty providers delivering evidence-based, compassionate care.

The program creates seamless pathways from hospital or community psychiatrist/therapists to outpatient support, all within the safe, supportive environment of Emory Decatur Hospital. The senior program is one of Georgia’s few focused on late-life mental health, with specialized case management and tailored support. Flexible day and evening options make treatment fit into everyday life, helping patients move forward with confidence, healing and hope.

At Emory Transitions, every patient’s journey is supported by the dedicated, multidisciplinary team committed to compassionate, evidence-based care. Behind the scenes and alongside patients, the team of psychiatrists, mental health therapists and staff work collaboratively to ensure each individual receives the right support at the right time.

Together, the Emory Transitions team creates a collaborative, supportive environment where patients can focus on recovery, build resilience and successfully transition back to everyday life.

The program’s collaboration is at the heart of everything it does. It works closely with Emory Healthcare departments, Emory School of Medicine and university research centers to provide coordinated, evidence-based care. Patients benefit from a multidisciplinary approach that integrates psychiatry, geriatric medicine, neurology, primary care, inpatient psychiatry and neuromodulation, while also supporting medical education and innovative research. This seamless collaboration ensures every patient receives comprehensive, high-quality care at every stage of their journey.

If you would like to learn more about the Emory Transitions Behavioral Health Outpatient Program, please ontact Michael McDade at 404-560-6978 or via email.

NEW FACULTY

Charlie A. Davidson, PhD – Charlie Davidson is an assistant professor and psychologist in the Clinical and Research Program for Psychosis at Grady, where he is working in Project ARROW, CHR and Youth & Family Tree. Prior to joining the faculty, he most recently worked in private practice and Good Samaritan Health Center (Bankhead). Prior to that, he worked with Mercer University’s PsyD program, Click Therapeutics and Akin Mental Health. His primary research interests at this time involve implementation, policy and advocacy for evidence-based, recovery-oriented and collaborative models of care, along with the ways in which stigma, social cognitive problems and psychometrics impact recovery. He completed his PhD at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, internship at West Haven VA, postdoc at Yale and another postdoc at Emory.

Barbara Duran, PhD – Barbara (Barb) Duran is a counseling psychologist with expertise in perinatal psychology, infant and early childhood mental health. Her research focuses on the prevention and early intervention of psychopathology in infancy and early childhood, particularly in marginalized communities, including monolingual Spanish-speaking infants, children and families. Additionally, she is interested in examining the effects of stress and trauma on mental and physical health outcomes across the lifespan. Barb’s clinical teaching and practice focus on perinatal, infant and early childhood mental health and the treatment and prevention of developmental psychopathology, using family-systems and multicultural counseling frameworks. She is especially interested in the prevention and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder of Latine children and caregivers and specializes in providing treatment to monolingual Spanish-speaking persons. Barb earned her PhD at Georgia State University, completed clinical internship at the Multicultural Clinical Training Program at University of California, San Francisco, where she trained with Alicia Lieberman in Child-Parent Psychotherapy at the Child Trauma Research Program and completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Kate Rosenblum at Michigan Medicine. At Emory, Barb will focus on supporting children and families through evidence-based psychotherapies and developing family systems programming.

Carly Thornhill, PhD – Carly Thornhill works as an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and clinical psychologist at Emory Healthcare Veterans Program. In this role, she sees patients within the Intensive Outpatient program for individual and group therapy using Prolonged Exposure Therapy or Unified Protocol as well as completing intake assessments.

Carly obtained a bachelor’s degree in mathematics/statistics from Utah State University before completing her doctorate at Texas A&M University. She continues to cheer for both types of Aggies. She then moved to Atlanta for a predoctoral internship at Georgia Tech’s Counseling Center. During graduate school, Carly was involved in a national student board within APA, local volunteering with youth groups, reviewing several journals and supervising other students. 

She recently completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Emory Healthcare Veterans Program. Carly enjoyed the training she received and is excited to continue the work of healing the invisible wounds of war. She is grateful to be surrounded by supportive and helpful colleagues. Carly hopes to become more involved with research and chronic pain management during the start of her career at Emory. Since moving to Atlanta, she has been involved with local youth mentoring and women’s organizations.

Outside of the workplace, Carly enjoys spending time with her husband and two-year-old son. They spend their weekends biking to new parks, libraries, festivals and museums. They have loved living in Atlanta and are looking forward to putting down more roots here.

Michael Yoon, MD – Michael Yoon is thrilled to join the faculty at Emory after completing his fellowship training in addiction psychiatry at Mass General Brigham, prior to which he underwent his psychiatric residency training at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. He earned his medical degree from the University of South Florida and his undergraduate degree from Columbia University with a major in applied physics.

At Emory, he will serve on the inpatient psychiatric unit at Emory Decatur Hospital. He has an interest in delivering general psychiatric care in parallel with addiction treatment utilizing medications and techniques borrowing from motivational interviewing and CBT for substance use disorders. He also has an interest in teaching and looks forward to working with trainees and students.

WELLNESS COMMITTEE

The Wellness Committee is recruiting members!

If you have an interest in helping others, make better lifestyle choices and create a culture of wellness, we need you! We’re looking for members in the Department who are available to meet at least once a month. 

Contact Elizabeth McCord and Rachel Ammirati if interested.

FACULTY KUDOS

Research

Asrani SK, Mellinger J, Sterling S, Lucey MR, Bradley KA, Bhala N, Bray J, Chen PH, DiMartini A, Fernandez A, Ghadiali M, Haque LY, Khalili M, Lee B, Lin LA, Pillai AA, Satre DD, Sengupta S, Serper M, Simonetto D, Thiele M, Welsh JW, Wu T, Zsohar J, Shah VH. Reducing alcohol-associated liver disease burden in the general population. The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology. 2025. Epub ahead of print.

Attell BK, Snyder AB, Coles C and Kable J. Comorbidities associated with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in the United States. Nature.

Berretta SA, Oliver LD, Hyatt CS, Carrion RC, Hänsel K, Voineskos A, Buchanan RW, Malhotra AK, & Tang SX. (2025). Domain-specific associations between social cognition and aggression in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Schizophrenia Research: Cognition, 41, 100361. doi:10.1016/j.scog.2025.100361 

Fulton TM, Guelfo A, Elbasheir A, McDermott TJ, Lee J, Ahluwalia V, Ely TD, Lathan-Powell E, Fani N. Resting-state Neural Signatures of Moral Injury: Associations with Rumination. Biological Psychiatry: Cognition, Neuroscience, Neuroimaging.

Gillespie CF. Getting Under the Skin: What Associations Between Polygenic Risk Scores of Complex Traits and Markers of Illness Course Can Tell Us About the Pathophysiology of Eating Disorders. Biological Psychiatry.

Himes LM, Mayberg HS… Riva-Posse P. Revisiting subcallosal cingulate deep brain stimulation for depression: Long-term safety and effectiveness outcomes from a pooled analysis of 172 implanted patients. Brain Stimulation.

Hyatt CS, Setzer MR, Ogan D, & Gray JC. (2025). Mental health treatment engagement across psychological concerns in U.S. servicemembers. Psychological Services, manuscript in press. doi:10.1037/ser0000986

Hyatt CS, Sharpe BM, Vize CE, Chrysosferidis JR, Fiskeaux M, Haft SM, Hellman NM, Dove MC, Rauch SAM, Rothbaum BO, & Maples-Keller JL. (2025). Personality traits as predictors of PTSD and depression symptoms following exposure-based treatment in an intensive outpatient program. Journal of Mood and Anxiety Disorders, 11, 100123. doi:10.1016/j.xjmad.2025.10012

Kaslow, N.J., Patton, S.C., & Hunnicutt-Ferguson, K. (2025). Navigating love across the political spectrum. In F. W. Kaslow (Ed), Contemporary issues in individual, couple, and family lives and treatment (pp.129-150). Springer.

Kelly DL, Kane JM, Love RC, Cotes RO. FDA Eliminates the Clozapine REMS-What Comes Next? JAMA Psychiatry.

Ku BS, Hamilton H, Yuan Q et al. Neighborhood social fragmentation in relation to impaired mismatch negativity among youth at clinical high risk for psychosis and healthy comparisons. Neuropsychopharmacology.

Powers A, Lipschutz R, Salazar J, Pomales M, Bettale C, Amador E, Boy A, & Agarwal (In press). Caregiver adverse childhood experiences, resilience, and mental health in a predominantly Hispanic pediatric clinic setting. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma.

Namasivayam AA, Fischer CE, Abler V, Creese B, Gastiazoro MP, Hermida AP et al., Recommendations for management and future investigation of psychosis in neurodegenerative disease: Findings from the International Psychogeriatric Association (IPA) working group. Int Psychogeriatr.

Weibo Niu, BBRF Young Investigator Award, Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, Leveraging human iPSC-derived brain organoids and advanced computational tools to uncover therapeutic targets for 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, $70,000, 01/01/2026 – 01/01/2028

Palitsky R, Captari LE, Maples-Keller JL, Peacock C, Rupert D, Kaplan DM, Stavros G, Grant GH, Sandage SJ. Applying relational spirituality to develop spiritual and religious competencies in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy training. Psychotherapy.

Phillips NL, Carter NT, King KM, Hyatt CS, Owens MM, Lynam DR, & Miller JD. (2025) Testing the additive and multiplicative effects of personality and cognitive aptitude on externalizing behaviors. Clinical Psychological Science, 13, 951-977. doi:10.1177/21677026251320289

Tamman AJF, Nagamatsu ST, Cabrera-Mendoza B, Averill LA, Dunn EC, Krystal JH, Gelernter J, Montalvo-Ortiz JL, Polimanti R, Pietrzak RH. Developmental Timing of Index Trauma Exposure and Accelerated Epigenetic Aging in United States Military Veterans, Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2025, 107568, ISSN 0306-4530.

Welsh JW, Krishnan S, Terranella A. Prevention and Management of Opioid use Disorder and Overdose in Adolescents and Young Adults. Current Psychiatry Reports. 2025 Sep 12. doi: 10.1007/s11920-025-01638-0. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40938541.

Zhexing Wen (Contact PI), NIH/NIA, Understanding the functional impacts of Aβ variants in Alzheimer's disease with human brain organoids, RF1 (4RF1AG079256-02; Wen/Lynn/Liang, MPI), $1,785,477, 08/01/2025 – 07/31/2027

Yarbrough CR, Jaquemet N, Sitar SI, Mataczynski MJ, Walke, V, Crawford ND, Young HN, Welsh JW. Sterile Syringe Availability in Georgia Pharmacies Remained Rare, Despite Policy Change Permitting Sales. Harm Reduction Journal. 2025 Aug 16;22(1):139. doi: 10.1186/s12954-025-01280-2. PMID: 40819053; PMCID: PMC12357477

Honors, Awards, Rankings

The following faculty were recognized by the SOM for Researcher Appreciation Day.

• Mandy Bekhbat
• Vinny Costa
• Donovan Ellis
• Negar Fani
• Jennifer Felger
• David Goldsmith
• Courtland Hyatt
• Benson Ku
• Jess Maples-Keller
• Vas Michopoulos
• Sheila Rauch
• Mar Sanchez
• Andrew Sherrill
• Sanne van Rooij
• Zhexing Wen

Donovan Ellis, Brandon Kitay and Jordan Cattie were awarded the FY26 Emory Healthcare Innovation Challenge pilot grant for “Emory ACCESS: Digital Navigators for Scalable Mental Health in Primary Care.”

Geoff Goodman joined the Affiliate Faculty of the Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology Program in Emory College.

Nori Lim received the Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA) Distinguished Contributions Award for Leadership/Service.

Vas Michopoulos is a multiple principal investigator for the Emory Specialized Center of Research Excellence (SCORE) on Sex Differences that received a five-year, $7.4 million renewal from the National Institute on Aging to continue its efforts in the advancement of women’s health by investigating the influence of sex on infectious diseases.

Barbara Rothbaum received a Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Associations Division of Trauma Psychology (Division 56).

Rebecca Schneider (1) selected to be on the Emory University Faculty Wellbeing Committee for this coming year (2) was invited to lead the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science’s international research lab meeting, the CBS Superlab.

Carly Yasinkski has achieved board certification through the American Board of Professional Psychology in Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology.

Media

Rob Cotes and Jeffrey Borenstein (1) PBS | Psychosis in Teens and Young Adults.

Toby Goldsmith (1) NORC at the University of Chicago (page 10) | Progress Towards Vitality: A 10-Year Retrospective Analysis of Systems Focused Efforts to Improve Maternal Health in Georgia.

Justine Welsh (1) WABE-FM | More Support for Rural Treatment, OD Prevention from Georgia Opioid Settlement Fund.

Presentations

Flores A. (August 2025) The Lasting Imprint: How Adverse Childhood Experiences Shape Lifespan Development. Presented at the 2025 Capital Defense Attorney’s Seminar of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), Las Vegas, NV (Seminar: “Making a Case for Life”).

Kallio Hunnicutt-Ferguson, Samantha Patton and Liz McCord provide a Continuing Education Workshop under the auspices of the Psychology Division of the Emory University School of Medicine at Grady Health System entitled “Addiction Uncovered: Evidence Based Treatment Using an Integrated Biopsychosocial Perspective.”

Barbara Rothbaum (1) Psychedelics and Clinical Health Psychology, Division 12 - Society of Clinical Psychology (2) Presidential Panel entitled: Evolving the Practice of Trauma Psychology: Innovative Treatments and Emerging Trends (Division 56).

TRAINEE KUDOS

Hannah Lee presented a Feature Stage session at APA with faculty members of Korean heritage in various academic institutions. The presentation was titled “Collective Trauma from Sociopolitical Crises: Impacts and Community Resilience” and highlighted the various collective trauma experienced across the world and various communities (e.g., COVID-19, 9/11, natural disasters, racial trauma, oppression) and offered ways for scholars and practitioners of psychology to research and implement ways of collective coping and fostering resilience.

Jie Xu, FRAXA Fellowship, FRAXA Research Foundation, FMRP regulatory role in human hippocampal development and therapeutic interventions in fragile X syndrome, $50,000, 06/01/2025 – 05/31/2026

Tatianna Zambrano was accept to participate in the Advancing Research Careers in Autism Conference, which seeks to support research careers in autism that may lead to a wide variety of perspectives in research, and produce more tailored clinical services. The conference is hosted by the UMass Chan Medical School's Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center and Columbia University's Irving Medical Center.

ADJUNCT FACULTY

Paddock JR. (2025). Case Studies in Relational Psychotherapy and Psychanalysis If I Could Turn Back Time: Feldman BI. (2025). Guilford. ISBN: Psychoanalysis, Self and Context, 1-6.

Paddock JR. (2025). Defragmentation and consolidation through music: A review of The self-restorative power of music: A psychological perspective by Frank Lachmann. Psychoanalytic Inquiry. 45(3), 318-321.

Paddock JR. (2025). One cannot not communicate: A review of Talking Bodies: A new vision of psychoanalytic theory, practice and supervision by Doris Brothers and Jon Sletvold. Psychoanalytic Inquiry. 45(3), 322-327.