Drexel University College of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry is committed to developing and implementing programs that are consistent with the College's mission to innovate in education, research, and in the delivery of compassionate care. Priorities have been delineated, with teaching programs being paramount. High-quality clinical care and increased research funding have a high priority, as do service and consultation to the public sector.
These are challenging and exciting times for the field of psychiatry. The Department of Psychiatry embraces change as part of life in our complex health care system. Our department closely collaborates with its clinical partners to ensure that our responsibilities for our academic missions are fulfilled, while supporting the missions and goals of our affiliated clinical partners.
Training medical students and psychiatric residents is central to our mission. Drexel University College of Medicine is a leader nationally in medical education and the College is among the top medical schools in the country for educating medical students who choose to specialize in psychiatry.
Divisions, Centers & Programs
Research
The field of psychiatry is extremely exciting, with research findings that are elucidating the underlying molecular and genetic foundations of psychiatric illness. Treatments are emerging that integrate the latest findings from psychopharmacological studies with those psychosocial interventions that have demonstrated efficacy. Such multimodal treatment strategies are effective in not only reducing psychiatric symptoms, but in promoting wellness.
The Department of Psychiatry, through its educational programs and its affiliated clinical programs, seeks to reduce the gap between emerging research and practice. The support of evidence-based care and the development of new delivery systems that provide state-of-the-art care to patients and their families are central to our clinical mission.
Our faculty have developed broad and productive collaborations with the researchers from Drexel University as well as from other institutions. Such collaboration has led to publication in prestigious journals and grant awards. Our recent research includes:
- the treatment of substance use disorders
- autism and autism spectrum disorders
- developmental studies regarding the impact of acute and chronic stressors in childhood
- child maltreatment and other stressors contributing to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders of childhood
- treatment-resistant depression
- neuropsychological impact of pediatric genetic disorders
- innovative psychotherapy education and supervision projects
- impact of medical cannabis on patients living with HIV, PTSD and chronic pain
News and Announcements
Shi Receives New Investigator Award
Denia Cai Shi, PhD, received the prestigious New Investigator Award from the International Society of CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology (ISCTM). Her poster won one of only three awards for Distinguished Poster at ISCTM Annual Conference. Dr. Denia Cai Shi is a fellow in the Janssen-Drexel Fellowship in Psychiatric Drug Development and an instructor in the Department of Psychiatry. Congratulations to her mentors Carla Canuso, MD, vice president, Neuroscience Clinical Development at Janssen, and David Bennett, PhD, professor of psychiatry, Drexel University College of Medicine.
Dr. Petros Levounis at Special Grand Rounds
Dr. Petros Levounis presents at grand rounds.
On December 13, 2023, Department of Psychiatry hosted a special grand rounds in the new Health Science Building. Our guest speaker was Dr. Petros Levounis, Professor of Psychiatry, Chair of Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers University Medical College. He also serves as President of American Psychiatric Association. The grand rounds lecture topic was "New Neurobiology of Addiction."
2023 Faculty LAUNCH
Two faculty members in the department successfully completed a year-long leadership development program, LAUNCH, at Drexel University College of Medicine. Congratulations to Dr. Zhabiz Kazeminezhad, assistant professor of psychiatry at Phoenixville Hospital, Tower Health and Dr. Eduardo Espiridion, associate professor of psychiatry, at Reading Hospital, Tower Health.
2023 Faculty Awards
Wei Du, MD, professor and chair, was the recipent of the 2023 June Klinghoffer Clinical Educator Award. This lifetime achievement award recognizes a faculty member at the rank of professor who has devoted their career to promoting excellence in clinical skills education and knowledge, serving as an innovative educator, a leader and a role model for students, residents and faculty colleagues.
The Future of GME in Expanding and Improving Health Care
Wei Du, MD, professor and chair, recently wrote a guest editorial for the Berks Medical Society’s magazine Medical Record, “The Future of GME in Expanding and Improving Health Care.”
Psychiatry Resident News
Dr. Saral Desai, PGY2 psychiatry resident in Phoenixville Hospital General Psychiatry program, was selected to be an American Psychiatric Association Foundation Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellow.
Dr. Kathrine Hubert, PGY4 psychiatry resident in Phoenixville Hospital General Psychiatry program, is the recipient of 2023 CBT Scientific Paper or Case Formulation Award for Resident from the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society.
The Janssen-Drexel Fellowship in Psychiatric Drug Development recently onboarded its third fellow. Participants in the program, from organizers to fellows, said the initiative offers a much-needed combination of two different research environments. Read more.
In the Media
July 2021: Wei Du, MD, professor and chair, was quoted in stories in the Daily Local News and The Unionville Times about Brandywine Hospital’s plan to address opioid overdose in the local community.
April 2021: Wei Du, MD, professor and chair, was quoted in stories in ChesCo about telepsychiatry service at Brandywine Hospital.
August 31, 2020: Wei Du, MD, professor and academic chair of the Department of Psychiatry, was interviewed in a Patch.com story about the shift to telemedicine for behavioral health treatment in Chester County, Pa.
August 25, 2020: Wei Du, MD, a professor and academic chair of psychiatry, was quoted in stories in MyChesCo and West Chester Patch about behavioral health services offered by Brandywine Hospital during the pandemic.
August 7, 2020: Wei Du, MD, professor and academic chair of the Department of Psychiatry, and Donna Sudak, MD, professor and vice chair for education in the Department of Psychiatry, were quoted in a Philadelphia Inquirer story about the mental health toll of the pandemic in the United States.
May 14, 2020: David S. Bennett, PhD, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry, was featured in a Healio Infectious Diseases in Children article about co-authoring research linking early screen time in infants with development of autism spectrum disorder-like symptoms later in childhood.
May 5, 2020: Research from Karen F. Heffler, MD, a researcher in the College of Medicine, and David S. Bennett, PhD, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry, linking early screen time in infants with development of autism spectrum disorder-like symptoms later in childhood was featured in Mediblurb, Business Daily and Neurology Advisor.
See all College of Medicine faculty in the media
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