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In the News

Stacey Pawlak, PhD, wrote a guest column in The Gazette titled Uncovering causes and barriers of infertility. National Infertility Awareness week is April 23-29. 

The UI Crisis Stabilization Unit has reduced wait times and improved outcomes for patients experiencing psychiatric emergencies, six months since its inception

CBS 2/Fox 28

Iowa City-Press Citizen

The Daily Iowan

Jess Fiedorowicz, MD, PhD, offered advice on how to beat the winter blues as a the Midwest encountered record-low temperatures. 

KCRG

The UI psychiatry department moved several providers to the UI Health Care Scott Blvd location to more conveniently serve patients in a newly renovated space. 

The Daily Iowan

 

Within five weeks of opening, the Crisis Stabilization Unit is showing a reduction in inpatient admissions and decreased wait times for patients experiencing a psychiatric emergency. 

Iowa City Press-Citizen

KCRG

 

Alison Lynch, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry, received a three-year, $1.5 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to help expand opioid addiction treatment across eastern Iowa and improve access to life-saving treatment. She was featured on the following news segments:

KCRG “Midday Expert” 

KGAN

Jacob Michaelson, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry, was featured in an Illumina Genomics Podcast about the genetics of autism and psychiatric disorders.
Taylor Buckingham, MD, MPH, Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, was featured in video created by the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition. Buckingham and other community members discussed the needs and benefits of providing affordable housing in the Iowa City and surrounding area.  E. Taylor Buckingham

The Cedar Rapids Gazette wrote a feature piece about the department's Mindfulness Programs, which features one one of the only Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Programs in the state. Learn more about our program here

Jacob Michaelson, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, was featured in a CBS 2/ FOX 28 segment about a national autism registry his lab is a part of. The SPARK Network aims to recruit a research  community of 50,000 people with autism spectrum disorders, along with their family members. Watch here.
Aaron Boes, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, and Psychiatry was featured in a CBS2/FOX28 news segment about Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and its application to treatment resistant depression. Brenda Griffith, the first TMS patient at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, also shared her experience with the treatment. Watch here
 
Patricia Espe-Pfeifer, PhD, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, participated in Iowa Public Radio's Talk of Iowa hour-long broadcast titled "Are Cell Phones Contributing to Teen Depression?"

John Wemmie, MD, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Neurosurgery was featured in a Scientific American article exploring the idea that increased acidity levels in the brain might play a role in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Are Some Psychiatric Disorders a pH Problem?​

Iowa football offensive lineman Sean Welsh opened up about his recent struggles with depression and encouraged others who struggle to seek help. Jess Fiedorowicz, MD, PhD, director of the UI Mood Disorders Center, attended a news conference and was featured in a Press-Citizen article. 

“It’s frequently not diagnosed,” Fiedorowicz said. “People often don’t seek treatment, and it’s a matter of pride. That’s why (Welsh is) really a hero today by coming out and hopefully making others that might be suffering from this condition less afraid to come forward and less afraid to get help.”

 

Amanda Miller, MSW, and  John Kamholz, MD, PhD, were featured in a CBS2 story highlighting a police training initiative started by the UI Huntington's Disease Center of Excellence and Huntington Disease Society of America volunteers. The training is designed to help police officers identify people with Huntington Disease, since some symptoms may be mistaken for intoxication.

Miller says the disease impacts a person's movement and affects a person's ability to think clearly and make decisions. Some may act irrationally or erratically.

Watch the full story here

May is considered Huntington’s Disease month. 

 

 

James Potash, MD, MPH, UI Professor and Chair of Psychiatry, was featured in an April U.S. News & World Report story titled "How Do I Know if I Have Depression?"

"There is still a lot of stigma around psychiatric issues, including depression, that makes people think that [the] way they are feeling is somehow their fault or their parent's fault," says Potash."The truth is that depression is a treatable medical illness. Although it can be hard to recognize and has some invisible qualities, it is a disease process of the brain, and as a disease, it is nobody's fault, just as it is no one's fault they get cancer or asthma."

Click here to read the full article

 

 

Hanna Stevens, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Iowa, was featured on Talk of Iowa, an Iowa Public Radio program. 

Stevens joined host Charity Nebbe to discuss what stress is and how to deal with it. The program, titled "What's Stressing You Out Right Now?", aired in February. 

Listen to the full program here

 

 

James Potash, MD, MPH, UI Professor and Chair of Psychiatry, was featured in a November article in the Washington Post  titled "Bipolar Can Be Difficult to Diagnose and Even Harder to Treat." The piece delves into the complexities of accurately diagnosing bipolar disorder (BD), which may be difficult to recognize and quite debilitating. 

Overdiagnosing bipolar disorder can lead to prescribing medications that may have significant side effects with no benefits. It can also create the stressors of wrongly carrying the label of a serious illness and of dealing with social stigmas, Potash says in the article.

On the other hand, underdiagnosing BD results in missed opportunities to provide the best treatment. 

Click here to read the full article.