UPMC Experts Take Center Stage at AACAP 2026

Experts from UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, and the UPMC Insurance Services Division will present their innovative work during more than 40 sessions at the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry’s 2026 Annual Meeting in Atlanta from October 26 to 31. The conference brings together thousands of professionals from around the world for a week of connection, discovery, and the latest scientific advancements in the field.

On October 29, colleagues, alumni, and friends are invited to join our evening reception at the meeting. RSVP here.

Read how our faculty are contributing to the conversation.

Monday, Oct. 26

1:30 to 3 p.m.
Accessing the Hidden Curriculum: A Guide to Thriving Across Career Stages
Rameshwari V. Tumuluru, MD, University of Pittsburgh/UPMCS
Session

3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Symposium 3: Before the Diagnosis: Early Signals of Emerging ADHD
Symposium 3.1: Revisiting Neuroprotective Assumptions of Breastfeeding: Duration Does Not Predict ADHD Symptoms
Heather Marie Joseph, DO, UPMC
Session

4 to 6 p.m.
Clinical Perspectives 10: Benefits of Family Support and Youth Peers in Unique Integrated Settings
Justin Schreiber, DO, and Daniella Hafeman, MD, PhD, UPMC
Session

Clinical Perspectives 10.1: Peer Support for Transition-Age Youth With Severe Mood Disorders: Preliminary Outcomes of the STEAM Project
Memphis Kastner, BA, Psychiatry, Erin Belback, LPC, and Danella Hafeman, MD, PhD, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital

Clinical Perspectives 10.3: Family Peers in a Primary Care Psychiatry Clinic
Justin Schreiber, DO
Abstract

Tuesday, Oct. 27

9 to 11 a.m.
Clinical Perspectives 16: Cannabis Use and Early Psychosis Syndromes
Tushita Mayanil, MD, UPMC
Discussant

12 to 1 p.m.
Workgroup on Sports Psychiatry
Chair: Raymond J. Pan, MD, MS, University of Pittsburgh

1 to 3 p.m.
Clinical Perspectives 24: Navigating Challenging Behaviors in Intermediate Levels of Care: Supporting Trainees and Staff While Helping Patients
Shanique C. Bailey, MD, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, and Rameshwari V. Tumuluru, MD, University of Pittsburgh/UPMC Session

Symposium 14.2: National Norms and Sociodemographic Measurement Invariance of the Parent-Report Mood and Feelings Questionnaire for School-Aged Children
David J. Kolko, PhD, Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, UPMC Western Behavioral Health
Abstract

Clinical Perspectives 25.4: Building Care Team and Leadership Capacity to Sustain Doctor Office Collaborative Care Using Implementation Science
David J. Kolko, PhD, Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh/UPMC Western Behavioral Health
Abstract

2 to 4 p.m.
Symposium 14: Providing Nationally Representative Norms for Pubertal Status, Mood Symptoms, and Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors
Boris Birmaher, MD, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
Discussant

Symposium 14.2: National Norms and Sociodemographic Measurement Invariance of the Parent-Report Mood and Feelings Questionnaire for School-Aged Children
Rachel A. Vaughn-Coaxum, PhD, Krithika Prakash, PhD, Claire S. Tomlinson, PhD, Lan Yu, PhD, David J. Kolko, PhD, Paul Pilkonis, PhD and Oliver Lindhiem, PhD, Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh

Wednesday, Oct. 28

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Symposium 17.4: Longitudinal Findings from the COBY Study: Course, Outcomes, and Risk Predictors
Boris Birmaher, MD, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
Presenting Author

Symposium 17.1: Lived-Experience Perspectives From the Course and Outcome of Bipolar Youth (COBY) Study: Diagnoses, Symptoms, Functioning, and Treatment
Danella Hafeman, MD, PhD, UPMC
Presenting Author

2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Symposium 20: Emerging AI and Imaging Techniques for Diagnosis and Risk Stratification in Pediatric Mood Disorders
Symposium 20.2: Linking Mood With Energy and Movement: AI Detection of Bipolar Disorder in Youth
Rasim Somer Diler, MD, Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, and Boris Birmaher, MD, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
Session

Clinical Perspectives 49: Unraveling Polypharmacy in Youth and the Path to Thoughtful Deprescribing
Gail Ann Edelsohn, MD, MSPH, MBE, UPMC Insurance Services Division, Community Care Behavioral Health Organization
Chair

Clinical Perspectives 49.2: Psychotropic Oversight and Ethical Tensions
Gail Ann Edelsohn, MD, MSPH, MBE, UPMC Insurance Services Division, Community Care Behavioral Health Organization
Abstract

Symposium 23.4: Understanding Shared and Unique Parent-Child Perspectives on Dysphoria in Autistic and General Population Youth: Insights From Trifactor Model Analyses
Soo Youn Kim, PhD, Caitlin M. Conner, PhD, Jessie B. Northrup, PhD, Carla A. Mazefsky, PhD, Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh
Abstract

2:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Workshop 16: How To Get Published
Justin Schreiber, DO, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
Session

3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Clinical Perspectives 56: Social Media and the Physically Ill Child: Clinical Challenges, Opportunities, and Guidance for Psychiatrists
Kristin A. Dalope, MD, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital and UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Session

Clinical Perspectives 54.4: What We Know and What We Don't Know: Reviewing the Data about Combined Training
Lindsay M. Leikam, MD, Psychiatry, UPMC
Abstract

Clinical Perspectives 54.1: Three Roads, One Career: What Combined Training Can Teach Categorical Trainees
Lindsay M. Leikam, MD, Psychiatry, UPMC
Abstract

Thursday, Oct. 29

9 to 10:30 a.m.
Clinical Perspectives 58.3: Injury in Youth Athletes
Raymond J. Pan, MD, MS, Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh
Presenting Author

9 to 11 a.m.
Clinical Perspectives 59.2: Legal and Ethical Tensions in Life-Threatening Nonadherence
Kristin A. Dalope, MD, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital and UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Presenting Author

9 a.m. to noon
The Time is NOW: Incorporating Advocacy Into Training Programs
Justin Schreiber, DO, UPMC
Co-Presenter

Workshop 19: Helping You Know What You Don’t Know: A Self-Assessment Review of Psychopharmacology
Boris Birmaher, MD, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
Session

A World on Screen: Finding Mental Health, Media, and Meaning Across Cultures
Ijeoma C. Unachukwu, MD, and Kalika Mahato, MD, Psychiatry, UPMC
Session

Workshop 19: Helping You Know What You Don’t Know: A Self-Assessment Review of Psychopharmacology
Boris Birmaher, MD, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
Session

9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Mind the Gap: Navigating Generational Change, Feedback, and Meaning in Academic Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Sansea L. Jacobson, Psychiatry, UPMC
Session

11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Symposium 35.2: Neural Underpinnings of Inattention and Increased Likelihood of ADHD
Heather Marie Joseph, DO, Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh
Presenting Author

12 to 1:30 p.m.
AACAP’s International Medical Graduate (IMG) Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Caucus
Rameshwari V. Tumuluru, MD, UPMC
Session

1 to 3 p.m.
New Research Poster 4.41: Age, Symptom Profile, and Neural Reward Circuit Activity Influence Improvement in Youth Depression With Frontostriatal Neuromodulation: Targeting Early Intervention
Kalyan Tripathy, MD, PhD, Helmet Karim, PhD, Neal D. Ryan, MD, Ashley Pogue, BA, Neil Jones, PhD, Jihui Diaz, PhD, Rebecca Price, PhD and Erika E. Forbes, PhD, UPMC
New Research Poster

1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Workshop 24: Making Sense of Individualized Education Program (IEP) Reports and (Neuro) psychological Assessments
Dara J. Sakolsky, MD, PhD, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
Session

2 to 5 p.m.
Using an Ethical Framework for Meaningful and Effective Use of Artificial Intelligence in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Gail Ann Edelsohn, MD, MSPH, MBE, Community Care Behavioral Health
Session

Clinical Perspectives 58.3: Injury in Youth Athletes
Raymond J. Pan, MD, MS, Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh
Abstract

Clinical Perspectives 59.2: Legal and Ethical Tensions in Life-Threatening Nonadherence
Kristin A. Dalope, MD, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital and UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Abstract

Symposium 35.2: Neural Underpinnings of Inattention and Increased Likelihood of ADHD
Heather Marie Joseph, DO, Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh
Abstract

2:30 to 4:30 p.m
Symposium 38.3: Predictors of ADHD Medication Use in Youth and Adults With Co-occurring Substance Use Disorders
Brooke S.G. Molina, PhD, University of Pittsburgh
Author

Friday, Oct. 30

9 to 11:30 a.m.
Diversity and Culture Committee Roundtable: Innovative Approaches to Building Community Resilience in Uncertain Times
Rameshwari V. Tumuluru, MD, UPMC
Chair

10 to 11:30 a.m.
Clinical Perspectives 80: Future-Ready: Novel Ways to Address Workforce and Training Gaps
Abigail B. Schlesinger, MD, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
Discussant

7 to 10 p.m.
Media Theatre 15: Psychodynamics of Youth Sports: Lessons From King Richard
Raymond J. Pan, MD, MS, University of Pittsburgh
Co-Presenter

Saturday, Oct. 31

12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Symposium 59.1: Assessing Cannabinoid Receptor Alterations in Psychosis and Cannabis Use Through Postmortem Human Brain Samples and Rodent Models
Shinnyi Chou, MD, PhD, University of Pittsburgh
Abstract

1 to 3 p.m.
Clinical Perspectives 121.4: ADHD and Cannabis Use: Challenges in Diagnosis and Treatment
Susan Morine, MD, University of Pittsburgh
Presentation