ST. JOSEPH’S HEALTHCARE - WEST 5TH CAMPUS
LOWER AUDITORIUM, ENTRANCE LEVEL B1
EVERY WEDNESDAY: 9:00 - 10:00 A.M.
Psychiatry Grand Rounds Schedule for November 2015
We hope you enjoy the presentations we have put together for this season. Rounds are being
videoconferenced from the West 5th site to the Charlton Site-Miller Amphitheatre. To take the shuttle to
attend in person it is best to use the Charlton/West 5th shuttle which runs on a continuous 30 minute loop
between sites running from 530am to 730pm. This shuttle picks up and drops off in the small parking lot
outside the cafeteria level entrance at the Charlton and outside the outpatient entrance at West 5th
Wednesday, November 4th, 2015
Amy Colbourne
PGY3 Psychiatry Resident
Title: Oxytocin: The Forgotten Hormone
Presentation Description: This presentation will review the role of oxytocin in human behaviours and
its potential role in treating various psychiatric symptoms. The physiology of oxytocin will be explored as
well as its role in attachment, stress regulation, and social cognition.
Learning objectives:
1. To learn about the physiology of oxytocin.
2. To learn about the role of the oxytocin system in attachment, stress regulation, and social cognition.
3. To review the evidence for the use of intranasal oxytocin as a treatment for psychiatric illness.
Wednesday, November 11th, 2015
Erin Hanley
Psychiatry Resident
Title: An Overview of Depression in Palliative Cancer Care
Presentation Description: Cancer is on the rise. With medical advances in cancer diagnosis and
treatment, people are living longer with advanced stages of the disease. The psychological and psychiatric
sequelae of cancer are highly prevalent, diverse and challenging, with depression being associated with a
number of significant health outcomes that impact patients’ quality of life. The role of mental health
professionals is expanding in this field to address these concerns and presents opportunities to contribute to
the care of people facing life-threatening illness.
Learning objectives:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Consider psychiatry's role in palliative care
Review the challenges in diagnosing depression in patients with advanced cancer
Review the desire for hastened death and its contributing factors in advanced cancer patients
Consider the unique treatment needs of advanced cancer patients and review the evidence for
pharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions with an emphasis on novel treatment modalities
5. Consider the relevance and future directions
Wednesday, November 18th, 2015
Roberto Sassi
Associate Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences
Dr. Sassi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences and an
attending psychiatrist at the Child Psychiatry department and at the Mood Disorders Outpatient Program,
St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.
His medical training was completed in Sao Paulo, Brazil, followed by residencies in adult psychiatry in Sao
Paulo and in both adult and child & adolescent psychiatry at Harvard University. Dr. Sassi also completed a
postdoctoral fellowship in neuroimaging at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh,
working on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) investigations on bipolar disorder.
Dr. Sassi’s research interests include: understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mood disorders in
children and adolescents and possible early interventions in these populations; the effects of physical
activity in patients struggling with mood disorders; and the multigenerational transmission of risk for
psychopathology.
Title: The Very Early Origins of Mood Disorders
Presentation Description: Major mood and anxiety disorders often begin early in life. Many
biological and psychological risk factors have been identified, but understanding the complex interactions
among these genetic, psychological and environmental variables is challenging. We will review some of the
risk pathways and developmental trajectories in childhood psychopathology, including data from our
MAVAN longitudinal study, and briefly review the implications for intervention.
Learning objectives:
1. Brief overview of genetic, temperamental and environmental risk factors for mood disorders.
2. Review preliminary data on children within the MAVAN study.
3. Brief review of potential interventions to prevent the development of major mental illnesses.
Wednesday, November 25th, 2015
Robert Zipursky
Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences
Dr. Zipursky is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at McMaster University in Hamilton,
Ontario, Canada. He completed his medical training at McMaster University followed by residency training in
psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and research fellowship training in the area of structural brain
imaging at Stanford University. Before moving to McMaster University in 2007, Dr. Zipursky was Professor
and Tapscott Chair in Schizophrenia Studies at the University of Toronto. Dr. Zipursky’s research has focused
on characterizing the structural brain abnormalities associated with schizophrenia, defining optimal
pharmacologic treatment for the first episode of schizophrenia, and understanding the determinants of
outcome from schizophrenia. He is the recipient of the John Cleghorn Memorial Award for Excellence and
Leadership in Clinical Research from the Canadian Psychiatric Association, and the Kempf Fund Award for
Research Development in Psychobiological Psychiatry from the American Psychiatric Association.
Title: What’s DUP got to do with it?
Presentation Description: Schizophrenia is a highly treatable illness with the large majority of
patients achieving remission of their psychotic symptoms following their first episode of psychosis. Rates of
recovery, however, remain relatively low and underscore the challenge of returning to a full level of
functioning in the community following a psychotic illness. There has been much interest in the possibility
that longer periods of untreated psychosis (DUP) may limit the potential for improvement. This presentation
will address the question of whether DUP should be understood as a modifiable determinant of treatment
response and recovery.
Learning objectives:
1. To distinguish between DUP as a determinant versus a marker of outcome from schizophrenia.
2. To describe the magnitude of the association between DUP and outcomes from schizophrenia.
3. To summarize what is known about the relationship between DUP and both cognitive and structural
brain findings in schizophrenia.