Our department conducts its work through nine divisions, each with its distinctive focus. They all actively focus on the UNM HSC missions of clinical service, education, research, and community. Given the highly collaborative nature of our efforts, many of our faculty serve in more than one division. We also have several partnerships with other departments in the UNM School of Medicine, UNM Hospitals, across campuses, and in the broader New Mexico and national arenas.
This division offers many opportunities to learn about, treat, and research substance misuse and its consequences both at the state and national levels. In addition to an active fellowship, our faculty train and mentor students, residents, and rural providers in how to treat substance use disorders. The Division collaborates with other UNM Departments, The Mind Research Network, and other universities. UNM serves as the Southwest Node for NIDA Clinical Trials Network [CTN]. At any given time, multiple major clinical trials are being conducted here. Addictions faculty currently are involved in research in the following areas such as: investigating psilocybin as a treatment for alcohol use disorder; neuroimaging of substance use disorders; finding optimal dosing and psychosocial treatment strategies for buprenorphine treatment; investigating a novel medication to treat opioid withdrawal; investigating TMS as a potential treatment for methamphetamine use disorder; exploring ketamine assisted psychotherapy as a potential treatment for PTSD; and impact of tele-mentoring on buprenorphine prescribing by rural providers. Division faculty help provide cutting-edge pharmacologic and psychosocial treatments for substance use disorders (SUD) and co-occurring conditions in a culturally sensitive and inquisitive manner in a variety of clinical settings.
This division oversees the clinical care, education, and research pertaining to behavioral health disorders in medical settings. In particular, division members provide evaluation and treatment of behavioral symptoms in neurological diseases, HIV infection, reproductive disorders, oncologic disorders, and in primary care settings. Our Division researchers conduct federally funded studies in the use of advanced neuroimaging and neuromodulation to address these symptoms. The UNM/NMVAHCS Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship provides subspecialty training in this field for highly qualified graduates of general psychiatry residencies.
This division strives to meet the needs of New Mexico’s culturally diverse populations and to increase access to behavioral health services, especially in rural and frontier communities. Our faculty’s research interests include trauma-focused care, prodromal and first-break psychosis, neuromodulation, eating disorders, what happens when children with psychiatric challenges present in emergency settings, enhancing systems of care, and integrated care. They also have expertise in severe mood disorders, catatonia, developmental disability, autism, infant mental health, substance use treatment, and working with medically fragile children. We regularly partner with families, schools, state organizations, communities, and national organizations such as the Indian Health Service. We are excited about the construction on the new Children’s Psychiatric Hospital, which will allow more opportunities to fulfill all of our missions.
This division addresses health care disparities through health services research and evaluation; training and workforce development; and through increasing access to quality behavioral health services that are holistic, cost-effective, and provided with respect to the unique cultures within the communities served. The Division partners with faculty and programs within the University, New Mexico communities, tribal communities, state and national stakeholders, and other collaborators to achieve its missions.
This division is an interdisciplinary division with a team focused on providing high quality, evidence-based, and culturally informed forensic services. Our forensic psychologists are equipped to conduct a wide variety of forensic evaluations to address the needs of our diverse referral sources across local, State, and federal jurisdictions.
This division was the first division in our department and, from the beginning, it has emphasized the four missions of clinical care, education, research, and community. The Division has grown through the years. Most recently, in partnership with UNM Hospitals and Bernalillo County, we broke ground on the County’s first Crisis Triage Center. In addition, we are now providing behavioral healthcare to the Metropolitan Detention Center. We also have New Mexico’s only 24/7 Psychiatric Emergency Service. All of these facilities complement our already active clinical, educational, and community programs. Our faculty researchers have many interests including the neuromechanisms of schizophrenia, early psychosis, trauma-informed, treatment of bipolar disorder. We also have one of the few Reproductive Psychiatry Fellowship programs in the county.
This division emphasizes maximizing the quality of life, maintaining independence and function, and providing culturally-sensitive healthcare to older individuals in New Mexico and the Southwest region. We have a strong collaborative relationship with the Veteran’s Affairs hospital as well as other departments and centers in the University such as geriatric medicine , the Center for Aging and Memory, and the Center for Geriatric Medicine. Our division chief is nationally recognized for research and treatment in electroconvulsive therapy. Our faculty are also researching applications for ketamine for the older individuals who live with major depression; substance use and treatment; eating disorders, and transcranial magnetic stimulation, and neuropsychiatry. The Division has an active consultation liaison service as well. Considering that Geriatric Psychiatry is one of the most under-resourced specialties in New Mexico, the Division is also dedicated to a strong educational mission with a fellowship offering training experiences in acute hospitalization, consultation-liaison, rehabilitation, nursing home, and outpatient settings.
This division provides a conduit for interdepartmental and interagency collaboration to support evidence-based, standard of care for behavioral services. To foster this, we also are involved in all levels of interdisciplinary education, as well as research on the development and testing of psychosocial interventions. Finally, in service to our community, division faculty contribute widely to activities of advocacy, community-based training, and health care policy.
This division focuses on the use of non-invasive magnetic or electrical stimulation to treat neuropsychiatric disorders such as treatment-resistant depression, brain injury, and addiction. The COmputational NeuroSCiences and Precisions Therapeutics (CONSCePT) lab has numerous projects focused on improving and refining neuromodulation to improve efficacy and reduce side effects. CONSCePT lab projects apply electric field modeling to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS). The application of pre-treatment neuroimaging conducted at the Mind Research Network identifies disease-related targets for stimulation, and longitudinal imaging detects treatment responsive and cognitive biomarkers. In addition to the research opportunities for patients, CONSCePT offers numerous opportunities for learners with collaborations with the Mind Research Network, UNM Hospitals, NM Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center, and other sites conducting similar research nationally and internationally.
