Nodes

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSC Houston)

Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

UTHSC Houston’s Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders is part of the Louis A. Faillace, MD Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. The Center’s research team has several ongoing clinical trials that focus on Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder.

As an ongoing effort, the team has also established the Greater Area Houston Pediatric Bipolar registry, which aims to contribute to the investigation of neurobiological mechanisms underlying Bipolar Disorder in children and adolescents. The Center’s Director, Dr. Jair C. Soares, will serve as the Node Lead for the Houston area, with Dr. Cesar Soutullo and Dr. Giovana Zunta-Soares as Co-Leads.

Jair Soares, MD, PhD

Jair Soares, MD, PhD

Node Lead

Jair C. Soares, MD, PhD, joined UTHealth in 2009 and currently serves as professor and Pat R. Rutherford, Jr. Chair in Psychiatry at McGovern Medical School and as executive director of UTHealth Harris County Psychiatric Center.

Soares directs the Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders which focuses on the search for the causes and the development of new treatments for mood disorders.

Dr. Soares believes this network will aid in enhancing treatment and early intervention options available for children and adolescents suffering from depressive and suicidal symptoms. The coordination of nodes across different geographic areas will bring cohesive modalities of treatment to Texas as a whole.

Cesar Soutullo, MD, PhD

Cesar Soutullo, MD, PhD

Node Co-Lead

Cesar Soutullo, MD, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and the Director of the ADHD Outpatient Program. He is focused on the study of ADHD and bipolar disorders in children and adolescents. He has investigated the phenomenology of early stages of these disorders, studying children of parents with bipolar disorder, and pre-school children with early symptoms of possible ADHD.

Dr. Soutullo believes the TX-YDSRN can be instrumental to increase awareness & early recognition, and improve the care of these children, adolescents, and young adults with depression and depressive symptoms across the state of Texas, and serve as an example nationwide.

Node Team
Hali Temkin
Jessica Calderon