Naomi Elliott, LCSW, a case manager on PRI’s women’s inpatient unit, was named the UAMS MVP for the month of February. Elliott, who was recognized by UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson on Feb. 11, “always goes above and beyond for patients on the unit and will often be one step ahead in providing follow-up care. Naomi […]
Former Intern Awarded Cambridge Scholarship
A second-year UAMS College of Medicine student and former intern in the UAMS Addiction Research Training Program, which is based at PRI, recently received a Gates Cambridge scholarship to complete the Ph.D. portion of her M.D./Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in England. Nicole Occidental worked in PRI’s Brain Imaging Research Center with Andrew James, […]
Arkansas Suicide Prevention Update
The Arkansas Suicide Prevention Update, hosted by the Psychiatric Research Institute, will feature a number of experts on this sensitive subject as well as a special presentation by Dr. Christine Yu Moutier, M.D., the chief medical officer for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The landmark event, scheduled for Thursday, April 10, from 8:30 to […]
A Message From The Director
Dear Friends of the Psychiatric Research Institute, It has been one and a half years since I joined UAMS as PRI’s Director and Chair of the UAMS Department of Psychiatry. It is true that time flies – this time feels like it has flown by as I’ve learned more and more about the state of […]
Brain Imaging System Gives Researchers New Option
The origins of human mental health and illness lie in our early life when the brain is undergoing the programs and patterns of organization in structure and function that underlie these differing developmental outcomes. Magnetic resonance imaging, better known as MRI, has become the dominant brain imaging technology used in exploring the complex relationship between […]
Research Profile
An article written by a Psychiatric Research Institute (PRI) researcher is featured in each edition of “Mind Matters.” This article was written by Mollee Steely Smith, an assistant professor in PRI’s Health and the Legal System (HEALS) Lab. “An integrative literature review of substance use treatment service need and provision to pregnant and postpartum populations […]
Young Patients Explore Life Cycles Of Butterflies
There are roughly 750 species of butterfly in the United States. That fact may come as a surprise to most people, but probably not to the young patients on the Child Diagnostic Unit (CDU) in the UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute (PRI). The young children on the inpatient unit spent four weeks in March learning a […]
Four Join PRI In Leadership Roles
The Psychiatric Research Institute’s leadership has seen four new additions in recent months. Jason Williams, Psy.D., M.S.Ed., came aboard on Jan. 1 as the new Division Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). He also serves as Senior Vice President and Chief […]
Smart Phone App Hopes To Reduce Opioid Cravings
A smart phone application designed by three Psychiatric Research Institute (PRI) researchers to decrease opioid cravings and optimize medication-assisted treatment among individuals with opioid use disorder is drawing national attention. A prototype of the app, known as OptiMAT (Optimizing Medication Assisted Treatment), was one of five winning entries in the 2022 National Institute on Drug […]
Researchers Forming Alliance to Help Women Who Have Been Incarcerated
A team of University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) researchers recently received an award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to help launch an alliance of Arkansas organizations that provide services to women who have been incarcerated. According to research, justice-involved women commonly suffer from chronic physical and mental health conditions that are […]