Two researchers affiliated with Brain Institute get Presidential Early Career Awards

Elizabeth Skidmore, PhDPresident Obama has named Elizabeth Skidmore, PhD, and Tina Goldstein, PhD, as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Skidmore is associate professor and chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Goldstein is associate professor of psychiatry in the School of Medicine.

Skidmore’s research program focuses on interventions designed to promote independence and community re-engagement after stroke and other forms of brain injury. She says that individuals with brain injury frequently experience cognitive impairments that contribute to significant long-term disability. These individuals may have difficulty with simple activities such as bathing, dressing, or walking, as well as more complex activities such as managing their home or completing school or work-related activities. Her National Institutes of Health-funded work has identified innovative rehabilitation treatments that can be started within a few days after brain injury onset and are associated with significant reductions in disability in the long term. These treatments have been developed and tested in six of the inpatient rehabilitation units in the UPMC Rehabilitation Institute. Skidmore is planning the next phase of her research program, which is focused on studying a wide-scale implementation of these treatments in selected rehabilitation centers outside the region.

“I am incredibly honored and pleased to see rehabilitation science, particularly occupational therapy science, receive such prestigious recognition,” she says. Skidmore earned a master’s degree in occupational therapy and a PhD in rehabilitation science at Pitt.

Goldstein’s work focuses on the assessment and psychosocial treatment of youth with, or at risk of developing, bipolar disorder, with a particular interest in suicide prevention in this population. She aims to develop improved prevention and intervention strategies for young people, informed by an enhanced understanding of the complex relationship between biological and psychosocial determinants of mood disorder and suicide.

A graduate of the University of Colorado in Boulder, she earned her PhD in clinical psychology in 2003 and relocated to Pittsburgh, where she completed the Clinical Psychology Internship at Western 

Tina Goldstein, PhD

Psychiatric Institute and Clinic and a federally funded postdoctoral fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry. Recruited to the department faculty in 2006, Goldstein was appointed Director of Psychotherapy for Pediatric Mood Disorders in January 2014 and has played an important role in the training of interns, residents, postdoctoral fellows, and medical students in that area.

Goldstein has more than 60 peer-reviewed publications, including in high-impact journals such as The American Journal of Psychiatry, Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent  Psychiatry, and Archives of General Psychiatry, as well as numerous book chapters. She is co-author of a book on treatment of depressed and suicidal youth. She is also a popular lecturer who has presented her work at conferences and meetings in the United States, Turkey, Italy, and Canada.

“I am deeply honored by this recognition,” she says. “The award serves to further reinforce my commitment to the critically important investment in the mental health of 

America’s youth through clinically relevant research. I share this award with the many generous and wise mentors, collaborators, and students with whom I have been privileged to work—their efforts have made this work possible.” 

This year, a total of 105 researchers received Presidential Early Career Awards.  Four went to scientists at Pitt, a distinction shared only with MIT and the University of California, Berkeley. The awards, established by President Clinton in 1996, are coordinated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President. Awardees are selected for their pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and their commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, or community outreach.    

--Joe Miksch