Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurobiology
When Daylight Saving Time (DST) kicks in, the clocks spring forward by one hour in the spring and fall back in the fall. While the time change last week seems like a minor shift, it may have significant effects on your sleep, mood, and overall well-being. This change can disrupt your body’s natural rhythms, leaving you feeling groggy or out of sync.
Eight faculty members in the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology have received promotions effective Oct. 1, 2025.
Social workers are the backbone of compassionate, community-centered care across the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology. Here, we highlight social workers in three distinct programs.
The UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology is pleased to announce the winners and runner-up winners from the 2025 Research Symposium.
The UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology recognized eight members for their outstanding work this year in the 2025 Chair Awards.
Members of the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology were honored Thursday, June 12, at the 2025 Education Awards. The annual event, which was held at The Fennec, served to recognize exemplary residents, faculty, and fellows in the department for the 2024-2025 academic year.
The residency research track in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology is an innovative program that integrates a research training component within the department’s general psychiatry residency program. The program is known as STEPP, which stands for Supporting Training for Emerging Physician-Scientists in Psychiatry.
The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology will present its 2025 Annual Research Symposium on April 22 at 9 a.m. featuring guest speaker Katie Witkiewitz, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of New Mexico.
When someone dies by suicide, the words we use to describe their death can either deepen stigma or foster understanding. Today, mental health experts emphasize compassionate, factual language, recognizing that words can make a real difference in prevention, awareness, and healing.
One night, Abigail Boone went to bed as her usual energetic self—a mother, a wife, a violinist, and an avid runner. By morning, her world would be turned upside down. What began as an achy leg escalated into a terrifying experience that left her barely able to move.
Trauma doesn’t always end when the danger is over. For many, the body and brain remain locked in survival mode, long after the traumatic event has passed. This is the painful reality of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition marked by the brain’s inability to properly process and resolve trauma, leaving individuals emotionally stuck in fear, guilt, or shame.
One couple with faculty roots in the UAB Heersink School of Medicine not only contributed to the school’s clinical, educational, and research-driven missions while serving their respective departments, but they are now giving back to support future clinicians, mentors, and scientists in doing the same.
Li Li, M.D., Ph.D., has been named the Second Holder of Vivian Conatser-Turner Endowed Professorship at UAB. The title was approved at the UAB Board of Trustees meeting on April 4, 2025.
A new memorial in the lobby of UAB Beacon Recovery serves to not only honor the memory of one of the clinic’s own, but to serve as a reminder of hope for those navigating their own journeys toward recovery.
The UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology welcomed Ellen Eaton, M.D., MSHP, as a professor in January 2026.
The UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology recently welcomed Gagandeep Bhatia, MBBS, as an assistant professor in September 2025.
The UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology welcomed Rui Zhang, Ph.D., to the faculty as an assistant professor in February 2025.
The UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology welcomed Shanti Alicia James, Ph.D., as an assistant professor in October 2025.
Srihari Prahad, M.D., PGY1, joined the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology in June 2024. A native of Hoover, Alabama, Prahad completed his undergraduate degree at the University of South Alabama and medical degree at the UAB Heersink School of Medicine.
A new trio of clinics in the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology reflects the department’s dedication to innovation in mental health care. Known collectively as the TEAM Clinics (Treatment, Evaluation and multidisciplinary Approaches for Mental health Clinics), they focus on early intervention for younger individuals experiencing first episodes of psychosis, mood disorders, and substance use disorders—conditions that often emerge during adolescence and early adulthood.
Minae Niwa, Ph.D., has been named the First Holder of the Hill Crest Foundation Endowed Professorship in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology. The title was approved at the UAB Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 7, 2025.
UAB researchers are involved in a new clinical trial to explore a promising treatment for adults suffering from major depressive disorder, especially for those who have not been successfully treated after trying four or more antidepressants. The study involves researchers from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology and the Department of Neurosurgery.
Adrienne C. Lahti, M.D., professor and chair, Heman E. Drummond Endowed Chair in the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, presented the 2026 State of the Department on Tuesday, Feb. 10, highlighting the department’s clinical, research, and educational mission areas.
Logan Wareham, M.D., PGY1, joined the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Neurobiology in June 2024. A native of Mandeville, Louisiana, Wareham completed his undergraduate education at Louisiana State University and his medical degree at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.
Taylor Spiletic, M.D., PGY1, joined the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology in June 2024. A native of Daytona Beach, Florida, Spiletic completed his undergraduate degree at The University of Florida and medical degree at Florida State University College of Medicine.
Justin Thomas, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, has been awarded a $3.4 million grant from the National Institute on Aging and the Office of AIDS Research to study the impact of insomnia treatment on cognitive health in older adults living with HIV.
Jennifer Lockman, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology and the leader of the Suicide Prevention and Recovery in Healthcare initiative at UAB, said that more healthcare providers at all levels of care at UAB are being trained on best practices to establish a recovery culture in suicide care.
The UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology is excited to welcome our newest class of residents in the 2025 Match.
Supporting those around you starts with supporting yourself. A new training offering at UAB not only emphasizes this but also teaches participants how to use self-regulation to benefit those around them, specifically in a healthcare setting while being transferable to other areas.
The UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology opened its Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Clinic in August 2025, a significant step forward in expanding access to cutting-edge treatment for depression.
Schizophrenia is a serious and often misunderstood mental illness that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. It involves a combination of symptoms, including hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, and social withdrawal.