The IMPACT pre-doctoral fellowship program is a paid, eight-week research elective offered each year for up to four medical students. Most students complete the fellowship during the summer months between their first and second years of medical school, although other times may be available. Each student is paired with a mentor from our training faculty whose work complements the student’s research interests. Fellows in the program will work on a project that may lead to a scientific presentation and/or a peer-reviewed publishable product. In addition to performing research, fellows also shadow mental health professionals in the clinic.
We welcome you to reach out to the Pre-Doctoral Program Co-Director, Dr. Heather Joseph, DO (lieberrh@upmc.edu) to learn more about the program.
The program seeks to:
- Increase exposure of medical students to child psychiatry research
- Introduce fellows to different research and clinical settings
- Lay the groundwork for a scholarly project
- Provide a stepping stone toward a career in academic child psychiatry
Former participants have gone on to prestigious child psychiatry training programs.
Program Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
We are committed to providing meaningful training opportunities that foster growth in trainees’ cultural competencies to improve patient care, enhance scientific research, and increase advocacy for social justice.
Training Experiences and Resources
- Lectures, presentations and trainings offered through the University of Pittsburgh’s nationally recognized Center on Race and Social Problems (prior lectures)
- WPH Grand Rounds and Medicine Grand rounds focused on topics of health equity
- Opportunities to work with faculty focused on health disparities in their programmatic lines of research and to engage with the community of research REACH | University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry
- Training workshops offered by the University of Pittsburgh’s Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
- Career development support and resources (e.g., grant writing, preparation of publications, mentorship, development of management and leadership skills) through the University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Career Education and Enhancement for Health Care Research Diversity Program
- Former Predoctoral Fellows
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Over the years, IMPACT pre-doctoral fellows have enjoyed selection from a wide variety of research topics in diverse subject areas. In some cases, fellows have worked with multiple faculty mentors in order to broaden the scope of their work. A list of selected previous fellows plus their mentors and project titles is included below.
Alexander Rangel
Mentor: Danella Hafeman, MD
Research: Brain, Emotions, and Mindfulness (BEAM) project to explore how adolescents who partake in mindfulness activities may better be able to manage their high levels of mood lability
Remie Paguio
Mentors: Raymond Pan, MD, Anthony Kontos, PhD and Aaron Zynda, PhD
Research: Examining suicidal ideation in adolescents following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI)
Sanvi Korsapathy
Mentors: Beatriz Luna, PhD and Finnegan Calabro, PhD
Research: Investigating the adolescent neurophysiological maturation underlying the transition to adult stabilization of behavior
Sachi Kulkarni
Mentors: Frances Wang, PhD and Traci Kennedy, PhD
Research: ASK-Teen study
Research: UnLOC study
Research: TIPS study
Izza Choudhry
Mentor: Heather Joseph, DO
Research: Pregnancy BRAIN project
Christopher Chae
Mentor: César Escobar-Viera, PhD
Research: The Impact of Social Support and Connectedness on Sleep Quality in Adolescents: A Comparison of In-Person and Online Interactions
Research: Improving Smoking Cessation Practices for Seriously Mentally Ill Patients in a Specialty Clinic
Research: Linking Neural Sensitivity to Social Rejection and Acceptance to Daily Depressive Symptoms
Research: Supporting Our Valued Adolescents
Oreoluwa Odeniyi
Mentor: Rachel Vaughn-Coaxum, PhD
Research: Youth Mental Health in Context: Exploring Links Between Individual and Community-Level Exposures to Childhood Adversity with Mood Symptoms in Adolescence
Leslie Rajendran
Mentor: Heather Joseph, DO
Research: Early Markers of Inattention in Children at High and Low Risk for ADHD