FIU’s Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health

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February 2016

Message from the Chair

The past six months have focused on the expansion of the Department’s plan for research and faculty development. Three faculty initiated research projects have recently begun. The first project, “Exploring Medical Students' Choice of Psychiatry as a Career,” with faculty investigators Leonard Gralnik, MD, PhD (Co-PI), Rodolfo Bonnin, PhD, Adriana Foster, MD, Karin Esposito, MD, PhD, is a multisite project which aims to clarify the factors that are involved in medical students choosing Psychiatry as a career. The goal is to better understand the factors that lead medical students to enter careers in psychiatry and seeks to increase the number of medical students entering psychiatry residencies.

A second research project has commenced at Broward Health Medical Center (BHMC). Benny Menendez, MD, Chairman and Director of Emergency Department at BHMC and I are addressing a new wave of emerging drugs of abuse with the project entitled “Toxicological and Clinical Characteristics of Flakka Intoxication.” This study will document the chemical composition and clinical symptoms of persons intoxicated with this second generation bath salt.

I have also begun a research project in collaboration with Mayte Capo, MSW and Diana Valderrama, MPH from South Florida Behavioral Health Network. Our project, “The Relationship of Peer Specialists to Mental Health Outcomes,” examines whether the implementation of peer specialists affects utilization of mental health resources and outcomes.

Under the leadership of Eduardo Camps-Romero, MD integration of behavioral health into primary care recently took several important steps forward. Adriana Foster, MD successfully led a team comprised of Elizabeth Rockowitz, MS Ed, CHCIO, Eduardo Camps-Romero, MD and Frederick Anderson, MD in obtaining a service grant from the Health Foundation of South Florida. The project, “Registry Reports and Training: Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care,” provides additional funding to further integration of behavioral health with primary care in the NHELP program. The registry, a tool utilized to help track patient progress, is now live and will allow more fluid interactions between the psychiatrist and clinical therapists along with closer real-time tracking of patient data. This grant supplements funding of a business intelligence tool which will further enhance data gathering and reporting efforts. The tool will improve communication between the different clinicians and the outreach teams.

Margaret (Maggie) Sibley, PhD and Raul Corredor, MD, PhD continue work on their existing research projects as well as applying for new grant funding. Several of our faculty are also actively involved in research projects with our medical students. Under the leadership of Dr Foster we will proceed over the next year with the implementation of our departmental research plan.

The Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health remains committed to its departmental values and seeking excellence in everything we do.

Daniel “Dr C” Castellanos, MD
Founding Chair, Departmental of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health
Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health and Pediatrics

Faculty Awards:

David Rooney, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health

On August 27, 2015 David Rooney, MD, was presented with the Outstanding Voluntary Faculty of the Year Award. This award recognized Dr Rooney's excellence in the education and training of our medical students during the 2014-2015 academic year.

Adriana Foster, MD
Professor and Vice-Chair for Clinical and Research Programs, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health

Adriana Foster, MD joined our department, in June 2015, as a Vice-Chair for Clinical and Research Programs. Dr Foster graduated medical school at Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Romania and completed her psychiatry residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Dr Foster has been involved in clinical research in schizophrenia, as well as simulation in medical education, as part of her academic appointments at Baylor College of Medicine and most recently at Medical College of Georgia. Dr Foster completed an Education Research Fellowship at Georgia Regents University's Education Innovation Institute and is a recipient of American Psychiatric Association's Nancy C Roeske Award for Excellence in Medical Student Education and of Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry (ADMSEP) MedEdPORTAL Award.

Dr Foster is involved in clinical practice at FIU Health Broward, where she teaches FIU medical students and at Citrus Health Network (CHN), where she belongs to FIU-affiliated CHN Psychiatry Residency Program faculty. Since her arrival to the university, Dr Foster has worked with FIU Health, Herbert Wertheim's College of Medicine (HWCOM) Information Technology Department and NeighborhoodHELP™ Program to optimize medical record documentation, facilitate the behavioral health integration with primary care and expand the scope of behavioral health practice. Along with colleagues at CHN, Dr Foster organized the Citrus Health Network-FIU Psychiatry Grand Rounds monthly continuing education series. Dr Foster continues to pursue her research interests in the area of severe mental illness and simulation in psychiatric education with focus on empathy and communication skills. Dr Foster is involved in faculty development, facilitating faculty involvement in research projects, publications and presentations.

In the past year, Dr Foster has continued her tenure as Co-Chair of the Clinical Simulation Initiative Committee for the Association of Directors of Medication Student Education in Psychiatry and was appointed in the Editorial Board for the journal Academic Psychiatry. She continues to publish in peer-reviewed journals and present at national and international meetings.

Jeremy Pettit, PhD
Professor, Department of Psychology & of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health

Dr Pettit joined the faculty of the FIU Department of Psychology in 2009 to help develop and launch the doctoral program in Clinical Science of Child and Adolescent Psychology. In 2014, he accepted a joint appointment in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health. Dr Pettit conducts research on anxiety, depression, and suicidal behaviors in children and adolescents. As director of the FIU Child Anxiety and Phobia Program, he oversees clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapies and attention training programs for children and adolescents with anxiety disorders and adolescents at risk for depression and suicide-related behaviors.

Dr Pettit has two ongoing NIMH-funded clinical trials of a computer administered attention training program. The program is based on extensive neuroscience and behavioral research documenting that individuals with anxiety disorders show heightened attention to threatening stimuli, as well as evidence that attention can be shaped and modified via repetitive computer administered training. The first trial examines attention training as an adjuvant among children and adolescents with anxiety disorders who have failed to respond to exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy. The second trial examines attention training as a low intensity intervention for children and adolescents who experience impairing levels of anxiety that fall below threshold for a diagnosis. In each of these trials, Dr Pettit and his collaborators are collecting data on neural and behavioral markers of treatment response. Dr Pettit also is pilot testing a novel treatment strategy, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, as an augment to enhance the efficacy of attention training among adolescents.

In addition to clinical trials research, Dr Pettit is an expert in the etiology, assessment, and management of suicidal behaviors in children and adolescents. He has published extensively on these topics and regularly presents workshops on suicide risk assessment and management to local agencies and mental health trainees. In recognition of his contributions to research on suicide, Dr Pettit received the Edwin S Shneidman Award from the American Association of Suicidology.

Karin Esposito, MD, PhD
Associate Dean for Curriculum and Medical Education
Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
Program Director, Citrus Health Network-FIU Psychiatry Residency

The Citrus Health Network-FIU psychiatry residency program has completed interviews for the residency class entering in July 2016 and looks forward to participating in the National Residency Matching Program for the first time this year. Over 1,200 applications for 4 positions were received; 56 candidates were interviewed, and the match list is due in February. Match day is March 18!

It is a year of firsts for the residency program, as the residents rotate through psychiatry and primary care at Citrus and through medicine and neurology at Mt Sinai Medical Center. The Clinical Competency Committee has submitted its first milestone evaluations to the ACGME, and the first PRITE results are back. Residents are participating actively in both program and clinical quality improvement, and leadership has already responded to suggestions to improve workflow and patient management. Planning for year 2 is well underway, with the program structured to allow more senior and junior residents to work together on rotations.

Adriana Foster, MD, DOPBH Vice-Chair for Clinical and Research Programs, is now providing her clinical, educational and research expertise at Citrus Health Network. She is participating in the training of residents and HWCOM medical students, providing outpatient clinical care, overseeing the Psychiatry Grand Rounds Program and actively exploring ways to continue her research with the seriously mentally ill population.

As the first psychiatry residency sponsored by a Federally Qualified Health Center, the program is getting attention nationally as a model for outpatient- and community-based training. As the program director I was invited to participate in the southern regional conference on innovations in graduate medical education sponsored by the Josiah Macy Jr Foundation and Vanderbilt University Medical Center in February. In addition, the associate program director, Xenia Aponte, MD and I will present a workshop and a poster about aspects of the program at the annual meeting of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training in March in Austin, Texas.

Rodolfo Bonnin, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health, & Director of Assessment, Office of Medical Education

Bonnin R, Rothe E, Viamonte-Ros A. Utilizing Emotional Intelligence to Develop Entrustable Professional Activities Early in the Professionalism Curriculum. National AAMC Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD. November, 2015.

Eduardo Camps-Romero, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health & Director of Behavioral Health for the Department of Humanities, Health and Society NeighborhoodHELP Program

Expanding Interprofessional Behavioral Health Care through the Green Family Foundation Neighborhood Health Education Learning Program. Urban Affairs Association 45th Annual Conference. Miami, FL. April, 2015.

Daniel Castellanos, MD
Founding Chair, Departmental of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health
Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health and Pediatrics

Introduction to Psychotropic Medications. The Guardianship Program of Dade County staff Training. Doral, FL. September, 2015.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Adulthood. Citrus Health Network-FIU Psychiatry Grand Rounds, Hialeah FL. September, 2015.

Psychotropic Medications Update PLUS Synthetic & Emerging Drugs of Abuse. Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Division of Exceptional Student Education, Clinical Behavioral Services, E/BD Program Strategies and Interventions Professional Development Training, Miami, FL. January, 2016.

Raul Corredor, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health, Department of Neuroscience

Soluble Adenylyl Cyclase(sAC) Modulates Cell Proliferation and Survival in Glioblastoma. Society for Neuroscience Meeting. Chicago, IL. November, 2015.

Leonard Gralnik, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor and Clerkship Director, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health, Medical Director of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health for FIU Health Broward, Director of Medical Education, FIU at Broward Health, Vice Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Broward Health Medical Center

Relational Suicide Assessment, Citrus Health Network-FIU Psychiatry Grand Rounds, Hialeah, Fl, January, 2016.

Eugenio Rothe, MD
Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health, Courtesy Professor, Robert Stempel School of Public Health, Adjunct Professor, Cuban Research Institute

Rothe E, Surrat E, Wiles P, Donson N. Dealing with the Death of a Parent as a College Student. . American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry 59^th Annual Meeting. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. May, 2015.

Psychological Aspects of the Pedro Pan Exodus of the 1960s and Cuban Balsero Crisis of 1994: What We Learned. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Annual Meeting. San Antonio, TX. October, 2015.

Utilizing Emotional Intelligence to develop Entrustable Professional Activities Early in the Professionalism Curriculum. AAMC Medical Education Meeting. Baltimore, MD. November, 2015.

Margaret Sibley, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health

Blended MI & Executive Functioning Skills Training for Disorganized Teens & their Parents. Annual Forum of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers, Berlin, Germany. October, 2015.

DSM-5 ADHD A Criteria Changes Increase Symptom Endorsement Rates in Adolescents. Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, San Antonio, TX. October, 2015.

Addressing Diverse Maladaptive Parenting Patterns in Family-Based Treatment for Adolescents with ADHD, Chicago, IL. November, 2015.

Psychosocial Treatment of Adolescents and Adults with ADHD. Annual Meeting of the Association for Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies, Chicago, IL. November, 2015.

Daniel Castellanos, MD
Founding Chair, Departmental of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health
Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health and Pediatrics

Castellanos D, Gralnik LM. Synthetic cannabinoids 2015: An update for pediatricians in clinical practice. World J Clin Pediatr 2016; 5: 16-24

Leonard Gralnik, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor and Clerkship Director, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health, Medical Director of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health for FIU Health Broward, Director of Medical Education, FIU at Broward Health, Vice Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Broward Health Medical Center

Castellanos D, Gralnik LM. Synthetic cannabinoids 2015: An update for pediatricians in clinical practice. World J Clin Pediatr 2016; 5: 16-24

Vivian Wulff, BA
Office Assistant

Vivian Wulff joined FIU in January of 2016 as an Office Specialist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. She was born in New York City, NY where she attended High School of Music and Art as music major, and moved to South Florida in 1979 where she went to Trinity International University Excel program and completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Group Communications and Interpersonal Skills. Prior to joining FIU she taught in the private school sector, and worked for the airline and area hospital in employee benefits administration, and emergency room and worker’s compensation coordinator. During her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family, and pets and practices music and Zumba.

Announcements

Mohammad Asim Nisar, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health

Dr Nisar became Board Certified in December of 2015 in Psychosomatic Medicine by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc.

Citrus Health Network-FIU Psychiatry Grand Rounds are taking place at the Citrus Health Network at 4175 West 20th Avenue Hialeah, FL 33012, Room 309. Psychiatry Grand Rounds will improve providers' competence and performance in behavioral health settings. This event is open to community physicians, house staff, PA's and Advanced Nurse Practitioners. For more information please email education@citrushealth.com

Citrus Health Network-FIU Psychiatry Grand Rounds Schedule:
(Presentations are located in CHN, Room 309)

February 10, 2016 12pm	Eugenio Rothe, MD	Treating immigrants and refugees
March 9, 2016 12pm	Margaret Sibley, PhD	Motivational interviewing to engage patients in collaborative care
April 13, 2016 12pm	David Brown, MD	Qualitative research in primary care
May 11, 2016 12pm	Carissa Caban-Aleman MD and Eduardo Camps-Romero, MD	Integrated Behavioral Health and Primary Care in underserved urban settings

DOPBH Faculty Meeting August 27, 2015

Meetings:

Upcoming Faculty & Staff Meeting

Please be on the lookout for more information regarding our upcoming faculty & staff meeting.

Contact
Questions, comments, or suggestions please email us at psychiatryinfo@fiu.edu