Jun 29, 2021

This week on Mind the Brain, Dr. Neill Epperson is joined by Drs. Thida Thant and Rose Mauch. Dr. Thant is the director of the University of Colorado Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Service and the Psychiatric Consultation for the Medically Complex clinic. She has expertise in the evaluation and management of psychiatric symptoms in the context of medical and neurological illness. Dr. Mauch is currently a 3rd year psychiatry resident at the University of Colorado, and is interested in how long-term effects of early childhood trauma on psychiatric and medical illness. Together, they discuss a phenomenon many of us have experienced – a phenomenon called ‘pandemic brain.’

Jun 8, 2021

In this episode of CU Anschutz 360, Emily Hemendinger, LCSW, explores the positive and negative consequences of social media use on our mental health. She asserts that the COVID-19 pandemic, when social media use skyrocketed, caused a mental health crisis.

May 25, 2021

This week on Mind the Brain, Dr. Neill Epperson is joined by Dr. Robert Werthwein, Director of the Office of Behavioral Health at the Colorado Department of Human Services, to talk about the work of Colorado’s Behavioral Health Task Force and behavioral health reform efforts in our state.

May 25, 2021

Department of Psychiatry faculty member Jenna Glover, PhD attributes current pediatric mental health crisis to ongoing stresses of COVID-19

May 25, 2021

On this episode of Mind the Brain, Dr. Neill Epperson has a conversation with Dr. Joseph Schacht about neuroimaging in clinical research, the part that genetics play in alcohol and substance use disorders, and how genetics can be used to target treatments for these disorders.

May 18, 2021

On this episode of Mind the Brain, Dr. Neill Epperson talks with Dr. Vincent Atchity (President and CEO of Mental Health Colorado) about the need to advance community mental health support systems and why brain health is imperative to a healthy and abundant life.

May 11, 2021

On this episode of Mind the Brain, Dr. Neill Epperson explores the intersection of breast cancer and brain health with her two guests: Dr. Anosheh Afghahi, the Medical Director of the Hereditary Cancer Program at the University of Colorado and an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the division of Medical Oncology, and Dr. Kristi Wilson, a breast cancer survivor—and one of Dr. Afghahi’s patients.

May 4, 2021

On this episode of Mind the Brain, Dr. Michelle West, the Director of the Program for Early Assessment, Care, and Study (PEACS) here in our Department of Psychiatry and the University of Colorado, talks to Dr. Neill Epperson about joining the Department of Psychiatry and starting PEACS mid-pandemic, and how to assess for and treat early psychosis.

Apr 27, 2021

On this premiere episode of Mind the Brain Season two, Chancellor Marks talks with Dr. Neill Epperson about what makes CU Denver’s student body unique—and uniquely vulnerable to the impacts of COVID-19—and how faculty and staff can support their students through extreme crisis while still taking care of their own stress.

Dec 16, 2020

Resilience – it’s what we are all searching for during this season of unprecedented uncertainty. In this week’s episode, Dr. Neill Epperson speaks with Dr. Anne Dondapati Allen to gain her insight on connecting with our inner resilience.

Nov 16, 2020

Laura Anthony, PhD, Pediatric Mental Health Institute, says we should expect kids to feel more stress, sadness and grief about the things they’re missing and to watch for signs of distress.

Dec 10, 2020

Sharon Hunter, a developmental psychologist at CU Anschutz Medical Campus [and associate professor of psychiatry at CU School of Medicine], said choline is “an important, neurotransmitter-like substance that’s really critical for appropriate fetal brain development.”

Dec 7, 2020

Dr. Steven Berkowitz is a psychiatrist specializing in trauma in children and adolescents. He says the pandemic has taken a mental health toll on all of us, especially Generation Z, the young people who lived through 9/11, natural disasters and a rapidly changing climate. The impacts, he says, will far outlast the pandemic.

Nov 15, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has ensured that holiday gatherings will look a lot different for many this year, and for some parents, it might be difficult to explain why to their children.

Dec 8, 2020

In our second episode of the new season, we discuss why some Americans may be hesitant to get COVID-19 vaccines and strategies for effectively addressing concerns related to new vaccines. Dr. Neill Epperson discusses these various barriers to participation in an insightful conversation with Dr. Chad Morris.

Nov 18, 2020

Dr. Neill Epperson is joined by family and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, Laura McGladrey. Together they reassess our definition of “thriving” as we continue to live through uncertainty and a rapidly changing reality.

Jul 28, 2020

You’ve probably heard people say that a healthy gut equals a healthy mind. But what does this actually mean and what can we learn from this in the time of COVID-19? In this episode, Dr. Neill Epperson explores how to mind our microbiome-gut-brain axis with Dr. Christoper Lowry, an Associate Professor in both the Department of Integrative Physiology at UC Boulder and the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Center for Neuroscience here on the Anschutz Medical Campus.

Jul 22, 2020

We can all agree that 2020 has been a real mess. The novel coronavirus pandemic has caused immense disruption to our daily routines, social connections, family relationships, working and academic goals, and plans for the future. In this episode, Dr. Epperson talks with Dr. Roselinde Kaiser, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at UC Boulder, about what brain science can teach us about adolescent stress and resilience

Jul 16, 2020

During a global pandemic, it comes as no surprise that getting good sleep can feel difficult. Decreased sleep quality and quantity including difficulty falling and staying asleep, sleeping too much, distressing dreams and sometimes nightmares are common during times of stress and the current period of prolonged urgency, uncertainty and heightened work/life demands. The following are concrete suggestions to help improve sleep during this challenging time.

Jul 13, 2020 by Department of Psychiatry

The School of Medicine Faculty Senate will have two continuing faculty officers and two newly elected officers for the 2020-2021 academic year. Newly elected are Gregary Bocsi, DO, assistant professor of pathology, as president-elect, and Merlin Ariefdjohan, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of psychiatry, as secretary. Continuing faculty officers are Jaime Arruda, MD, associate professor of clinical practice of obstetrics and gynecology, who will be president, and Nicole Draper, MD, associate professor of clinical practice of pathology, who will be past-president. Thanks to all for their leadership.