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| Katherine
L. Wisner, M.D., M.S.
Director
Katherine Wisner M.D. M.S. is Professor of
Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology; and Director of Women's
Behavioral HealthCARE, at the Western Psychiatric Institute
and Clinic, University Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr.
Wisner's main focus is research related to the psychiatric
treatment of women of childbearing age. She is recognized
as an expert in the treatment of depression during pregnancy
and the postpartum period, is widely published, and lectures
nationally and internationally. Dr. Wisner completed the Executive
Leadership in Academic Medicine program and served as the
President of women faculty at Case Western Reserve University
School of Medicine. She is a member of the Committee on Research
on Psychiatric Treatments of the APA, the Committee to Define
Research to Inform DSM-V, and the FDA Committee on the Revision
of the Classification System for Drug Use During Pregnancy
and Lactation. She has served on numerous NIMH study sections
for the review of grants, and was a founding member of the
Data Safety and Monitoring Board for multi-site studies. Dr.
Wisner feels that her greatest qualification for her work
is being the mother of two industrious daughters! She also
has two horses, two cats, two rabbits, a bird and a miniature
poodle.
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| Barbara H. Hanusa,
PhD, MSH
Research Director
Dr Hanusa is the program’s research director
and statistician. Originally trained as a social psychologist
at Carnegie-Mellon University and later as a biostatistician
at University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Hanusa combines both to
design, monitor, analyze, and interpret result from the
studies that are being conducted and planned for the
program. She has analyzed and co-authored multiple articles
that present empirically based treatment guidelines for
pneumonia and syncope as well as postpartum depression.
Although far from her initial interests in small lab based
experiments in social psychology, she has found she has a
greater potential to improve the lives of many in her current
position. Aside from her interests in the program, Dr Hanusa
has 3 sons, a daughter-in-law, 3 cats [with an occasional
house guest], a husband and a house that seems to have been
under construction since 1973.
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| Dorothy Sit,
M.D.
Psychiatrist
Dorothy Sit, M.D. is an Assistant Professor
of Psychiatry, board-certified psychiatrist with special interest
in women's mood disorders, their diagnosis, treatment, and
impact on mother-infant interactions, along with the possible
role that hormones may play in such illnesses. She was
awarded a Young Investigator Award from the National Alliance
for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression to study the
psychiatric outcomes of women seen for family planning.
She has pilot funds from the University of Pittsburgh Office
of Research, Health Sciences CMRF New Investigator Award, and
the School of Medicine GCRC CREFF Award to study the effects
of menstrual cycles on mood symptoms in Bipolar disorder.
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Eydie
L. Moses-Kolko, M.D.
Psychiatrist
Eydie L. Moses-Kolko, M.D. completed her undergraduate
education at Brown University and medical school education
at the University of Maryland. She completed her psychiatry
specialty training and fellowship in clinical psychiatric
research at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of
the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She is a board
certified psychiatrist with subspecialty experience in women's
mental health. Currently she is an Assistant Professor of
Psychiatry at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.
As a recipient of an NIMH patient oriented mentored career
development award and a NARSAD young investigator award, she
is using positron emission tomography (PET) to explore the
neurobiology of postpartum depression. She aims to test for
unique postpartum changes in serotonin-1A and dopamine-2 receptor
binding potential and cerebral blood flow using PET and the
radioligands [11C]WAY-100635, [11C]raclopride, and [15O]water,
respectively.
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Monique Boudreaux Kelly
Epidemiologist
Monique Boudreaux Kelly, Ph.D. is a Post Doctoral Scholar
funded by the Alcohol Research Training Program jointly
conducted by the University of Pittsburgh School of
Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Graduate School of
Public Health (GSPH). She works internally with the Women’s
Behavioral HealthCARE data to assess the effects of alcohol
use on maternal and fetal health from a life course,
interdisciplinary perspective. She received her Doctorate in
Epidemiology in 2005 from GSPH for studying genetic
determinants of the insulin resistant state found within
women diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome. Her
interests include alcohol and genetic epidemiology, maternal
and fetal physiologic and psychiatric health, and
diabetic/insulin resistant states within women.
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Mary McShea
Program Manager
Mary is the Program Manager at Women’s Behavioral HealthCARE.
She has a masters degree in Counseling from Gannon
University and has spent the past 17 years at WPIC working
in Mood and Anxiety Disorders. Mary is experienced in
providing clinical services and managing research protocols.
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Carolyn L. Hughes, LSW
Senior Research Principal
Carolyn Hughes is a senior principal with
Women's Behavioral HealthCARE. She is a Nationally
Licensed Masters Level Social Worker, with 15 years of
experience in working with women with mood and anxiety
disorders. Carolyn specializes in working with women
that are pregnant or in the postpartum period. She has
worked as a clinician for both Western Psychiatric Institute
and Clinic, as well as for Magee Women's Hospital of UPMC.
In her spare time, Carolyn enjoys flea market shopping.
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David Rizzo, LCSW
Clinician
David is a clinician with Women’s Behavioral HealthCARE.
After receiving his MSW from Boston College he was employed
for St. Vincent Hospital/Fallon Health Care in Worcester,
MA. His tenure at WPIC, which began in 1999, has included
child and adult care in both inpatient and outpatient
settings and his more recent research endeavors. Clinical
areas of interest include mood and anxiety disorders as well
as grief and bereavement. In his spare time, David enjoys
exploring new adventures in the outdoors.
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Michael Lightfoot, MA
Research Coordinator
Michael is Dr. Eydie Moses-Kolko's new Research
Coordinator. He does the participant recruiting and maintains Dr.
Moses-Kolko's brain imaging studies. Michael has been at WPIC since
1993. He has worked in research projects involving major and minor
depression, bipolar disorders, anxiety disorders, late life depression,
mood disorders and substance abuse, and mood disorders and spirituality.
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Valerie Rankin
Research Project Assistant
Valerie received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and
Business Administration from Washington and Jefferson
College. She has also completed some classes towards a
Master’s in Counseling. Valerie has worked in the mental
health field for the last 10 years, spending the last 5 here
in research at UPMC.
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Andrea
Confer
Research Project Assistant
Andrea received her Bachelor’s degree in
Sociology from Westminster College in 1998. She has been
working in the research field for over 5 years. She started
working in child and adolescent depression and anxiety
research here in Pittsburgh, and then spent some time working
in Bipolar research at Case Western Reserve University. She
enjoys spending her free time with her husband, her baby Mia
and dog Gracie.
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Andreea Gallagher
Research Project Assistant
Andreea received her Bachelor in Psychology with Honors in
2000 from the University of Central Florida, and is
currently completing a Bachelor in Computer Science from the
University of Pittsburgh. Andreea has worked in the past as
a research assistant in Psychology at Carnegie Mellon
University focusing on memory recall and neural networks.
She provides assistance for the ongoing research projects at
WBHC and is also involved with database programming. In her
spare time, Andreea enjoys family time with her husband and
two puppies, and her hobbies include painting and cooking a
variety of cuisines.
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Karen
Schomer
Administrative Assistant
Karen has involvement with recruitment of
our participants, as well as clerical duties. Karen’s prior
research experience was at the Maternal Health Project, a
research study addressing maternal substance use and child
development. She is currently taking courses at Community
College of Allegheny County and working toward a degree to
become a registered nurse. In her spare time, Karen enjoys
boating with her husband Jerry, and taking long walks with her
two dogs, Max and Cody.
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Darla Labuda
Administrative Coordininator
Darla works directly with Dr. Wisner, managing the schedule
to coordinate her extensive travel and appointments. Her responsibilities
include maintaining budgets and coordinating grant submissions. Darla has
been with UPMC for two years, and has previously worked in the area of sleep
research.
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Marc Bowman
Systems Programmer/Analyst II
Marc works with the data collection and analysis team. He designs and maintains
all of our computerized questionnaires and databases.
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