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.

Giovana Beux Zunta-Soares, MD
Giovana Beux Zunta-Soares, MD
Node Co-Lead

Giovana Beux Zunta-Soares, MD, serves as the Medical Director of the ARPA Stress and Anxiety Program. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. With over 25 years of clinical experience as an adult psychiatrist, she combines knowledge with compassion to provide excellent care for patients with an integrative approach, tailoring the treatment for all patients, as unique individuals with their own needs.

Dr. Zunta-Soares has a special interest in Anxiety and Mood Disorders. She has extensive training and experience in the treatment of these conditions. She is currently working to expand clinic services through the Stress and Anxiety Clinic at the main location. The clinic is composed of child and adult psychiatrists and therapists under her coordination. The clinic has two main goals, to provide an integrative treatment approach to patients, including medication management, psychotherapy, and Complimentary Alternative Medicine, which may include, mindfulness, yoga, and nutrition discussions; and an educational component, involving residents and fellows to get exposure and experience of dealing with anxiety.

Zunta-Soares actively participates in research on mood disorders with the Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders. Her research focuses on the brain mechanisms involved in bipolar and unipolar mood disorders, neuroimaging and neurocognitive studies, and clinical trials to develop new treatments for these conditions. She has authored more than 110 peer-reviewed publications and mentored clinical investigators including graduate students, research assistants, research coordinators, and postdoctoral research fellows. Her current work is focused on how to integrate neuroimaging, neurocognitive, and other biomarkers into meaningful clinical diagnostic tools.

Node Team
D. Sofia Galarza Estrella
Muhammad Akhta
Sydney Solberg