February 10th 2023 – Postpartum Depression Studied by ABC Team
For Immediate Release:
“…Congratulations! Your article…has been approved for publication…”
The editor and chief of Cureus accepted a manuscript entitled, Psychometric Features of Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale Among Malaysian Women: A Cross-Sectional Study. The original research was sponsored by ABC Medical and developed by the organizations clinic directors in conjunction with affiliates at the Universiti Putra in Serdang, Malaysia.
Postpartum depression remains a common, debilitating, diagnosis. Despite this there is continued debate about how best to screen women for the condition. In response, the clinic directors of ABC Medical, in collaboration with coinvestigators in Malaysia conducted an original research study on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. The study, comprising over two hundred research participants, and its commentary were accepted after peer review.
“The tragedy in Duxbury which transpired last month only supports the critical need for further research and treatment of women experiencing postpartum depression” said Adam Bied, lead author, and ABC Medical co-clinic director. “The diagnosis of postpartum depression is complex and likely influenced by a combination of biological factors, question interpretation and the physical impact of childbirth” reports Susan Njuguna, co-clinic director of the facility. The article reviews the optimal scoring of a validated scale used when screening women for the diagnosis. Postpartum depression is a common and impairing mental illness observed in some women.
The coinvestigator on the study, Husna, conducts research among pregnant and lactating women in Malaysia, focusing on psychological health and well being. By mutual agreement, her team and that of ABC Medical, developed this joint study over a period of several months. “I appreciate giving” me “the opportunity to express my gratitude” to the organization, reported Husna after hearing of the study’s approval for publication. Husna, who’s full name is, Nurul Husna M Shukri, retains a doctorate in infant nutrition, and is a member of the faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences at Universiti Putra Malaysia.
ABC Medical maintains a board-certified psychiatrist on staff and offers various behavioral health treatments for individuals with the postpartum depression diagnosis. Prospective clients may reach the facility for assistance.
The paper, developed in the Fall of 2022, underwent submission in the winter of 2023 and was accepted for publication this February. A finalized version of the article will be published in March of 2023 and is available for review below.
Link to Article: Click Here
Nurul Husna M Shukri, PhD
January 2023 – ABC Medical Remembers The Life of Joseph Biederman, MD
For Immediate Release:
“…the father of pediatric psychopharmacology has passed away…”
-ABC Medical Team.
Dr. Joseph Biederman, MD, the Chief of the Clinical and Research Programs in Pediatric Psychopharmacology and Adult ADHD at the Massachusetts General Hospital, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a respected physician passed away on the 5th, January 2023. The owners of ABC Medical remember him in this post.
Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, shortly after the conclusion of the second world war, his parents, were survivors of the Holocaust, who were saved by Oskar Schindler – the central figure of the Academy Award winning film Schindler’s List. He relocated to Argentina as a child, and at age 23 graduated from the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine. The following year he traveled to Israel, a nation in its initial years of existence, to pursue post-graduate training at Hadassah University Hospital, in Jerusalem. Eight years later, he moved to Massachusetts, completing additional training and joining the faculty of Massachusetts General Hospital in 1980. He went on to author numerous peer reviewed journal articles and furthered the field of psychopharmacology more than any physician in history.
Picture: Joseph Biederman, MD (left), Stephen Faraone, PhD (center), Adam Bied, MD (right) at the APSARD conference. The poster presented by the clinic director of ABC Medical, Bied, was later made into a published scientific paper authored by the three clinicians pictured.
“It was a privilege to have been allowed to help him” said Bied upon hearing of his death. “Having worked with him shall be a badge of honor for the rest of my life” said Bied when discussing his work with Biederman. “He was a respected figure and influenced our field tremendously” said Susan Njuguna, the COO of ABC Medical and co-clinic director.
A funeral service is being held on Monday, January 9, at 10:30am, at the Temple Emanuel on 385 Ward Street, Newton, Massachusetts. The co-owners of ABC Medical anticipate attending.
Obituary Posting: Click Here
August 2022 – ABC Medical Research Chosen for Prestigious Program
For Immediate Release:
“…Your submission…has been accepted for inclusion as part of the Research Pipeline program…”
-Timothy Wilens, M.D., A.A.C.A.P., Chair of Research Pipeline
The Chair of the Research Pipeline program of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry accepted an abstract entitled, Lumateperone: A Newly Approved Antipsychotic in Adults and Potential Consideration for Pediatric Use: A Systemic Review-Based Discussion of Current Evidence for inclusion in the conferences’ Research Pipeline program.
The original research was sponsored by ABC Medical and developed by its clinic directors in conjunction with an affiliate at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, in New York, and the Regis College of Nursing, in Weston, Massachusetts. It had previously been accepted for presentation in July of 2022 before later being selected for the prestiguous program. Called the Research Pipeline: New Findings on Therapeutics, this program is dedicated to exceptional research which in the words of the programs’ chair, Dr. Wilens, are “very timely, scientifically and clinically interesting, and would appeal to a broad group of attendees.”
“I was deeply honored by the response” reported Ritvij Satodiya, a coauthor of the presentation. “Ritvij is an uncany man who’ve I had the pleasure of working with both clinically and in many research endevors over the years” reported Adam Bied, the presentations’ coauthor and ABC Medical Clinic Director. “We are lucky to have him here and I can’t think of a better man to go on our behalf to do this important work” said Bied. “The attendees to AACAP will not be disappointed by the findings our organization brought to light or the man delivering our message” said Susan Njuguna, a coauthor and fellow manager at ABC Medical. At present use of lumateperone has been largely confined to adults with psychotic disorders though research is ongoing assessing its usefulness in children. This presentation is among the first pertaining to its use in that population and hence may be of benefit to the child psychiatrists in attendance.
The research poster was accepted for presentation in late July of this year and later elevated to the Research Pipeline program in August. A finalized version of the poster is slated for presentation on Friday October 21st, 2022.
Presentation Information: Click Here
August 2022 – ABC Research Featured At International Conference
For Immediate Release:
“We are delighted to inform you that your submission… has been accepted.”‘
-James J. McGough, M.D., Chair, Program Committee, AACAP/CACAP
The Chair of the Program Committee of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry / Canadian Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry joint conference accepted an abstract entitled, Lumateperone: A Newly Approved Antipsychotic in Adults and Potential Consideration for Pediatric Use: A Systemic Review-Based Discussion of Current Evidence. The original research was sponsored by ABC Medical and developed by its clinic directors in conjunction with an affiliate at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, in New York, and the Regis College of Nursing, in Weston, Massachusetts.
Antipsychotics have become a leading choice among psychiatrists managing disruptive behavior disorders of childhood. Despite this, many of these drugs can cause metabolic disease and obesity. The staff at ABC Medical, in conjunction with research affiliates at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, in New York, and the Regis College, in Weston, Massachusetts evaluated a recently released antipsychotic, lumateperone, to determine the degree to which it causes these side effects. The research led to the creation of a poster presentation, later accepted at the joint AACAP-CACAP conference to be held in Toronto, Canada. A third author has agreed to present the research on behalf of the organization this October.
“The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry remains one of the preeminent organizations in my field” reported Adam Bied, a coauthor of the presentation and clinic director at ABC Medical. “Susan and I were overjoyed that our research was accepted for presentation in Toronto and hope our findings may better clarify best practice” reported Bied. “One of the major challenges we’ve had at ABC Medical, is balancing the side effects of antipsychotics with their beneficial effects.. this is doubly true in the children we treat” said Njuguna, a coauthor and fellow manager at ABC Medical. At present use of lumateperone has been largely confined to adults with psychotic disorders though research is ongoing assessing its usefulness in children.
ABC Medical provides psychiatric services, including talk therapy and medication management treatments, to children as well as adults. The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry is the largest professional association dedicated to the study of child mental illness. Their annual conference is held in Toronto this year as part of a collaborative agreement with their Canadian counterpart, C.A.C.A.P.
The research poster, developed in the Spring of 2022, was submitted for review in mid-2022 and accepted for presentation in late July. A finalized version of the poster is slated for presentation on Friday October 21st, 2022.
Presentation Information: Click Here
July 2022 – Antipsychotic Vetted by ABC Staff
For Immediate Release:
“We are pleased to tell you that your revised manuscript has been accepted.”‘
-Anthony J. Rothschild, M.D., Editor-in-Chief, The Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology
The editor and chief of The Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology accepted a manuscript entitled, A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials on Lumateperone and its Effects on Body Weight. The original research was sponsored by ABC Medical and developed by its clinic directors in conjunction with an affiliate at the Emory University Medical Center, in Atlanta, and the Regis College of Nursing, in Massachusetts.
Antipsychotics have become a mainstay of modern behavioral health practice with new agents approved periodically. Lumateperone is a novel antipsychotic which became commerically available in the United State in the Spring of 2020. Since its release questions about the medications safety and side effect profile have been raised by ABC Medical’s clients and staff alike. The discussion about this and the desire to be better understand the medication prompted the organizations clinic directors’, Adam Bied, MD and Susan Njuguna, NP, to take action.
“We were enormously concerned about the well-being of our clients and wished to ensure the care they were provided was informed by the most comprehensive knowledge available” said Bied, a psychiatrist and director of the facility. Antipsychotics, the study notes, often come with significant side effects and weight gain remains among the more common as well as more bothersome of them. In the study, the authors revealed that lumateperone displays a favorable profile, neither increasing nor decreasing weight substantially, among the participants in the study. “Additional research is warranted but the information we showed can better inform clinicians when selecting treatments for their clients” said Njuguna, a coauthor and fellow ABC Medical manager. The Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology is a leading publication in that field of medicine and has acheived an impact factor in excess of three, an attribute which influenced the staff of ABC Medical to pursue submission there.
The paper, developed in the winter of 2022, was submitted for review last Spring and accepted for publication in late June. A finalized version of the article electronically publication in August of 2022.
Link to Article: Click Here
February 6th, 2022 – Autism Studied by the ABC Team
For Immediate Release:
“Your co-authored article has been published!”
-The Cureus Editorial Team
The editor and chief of Cureus accepted a manuscript entitled, Autism in a Child With X-linked Agammaglobulinemia. The original research was sponsored by ABC Medical and developed by its clinic directors in conjunction with an affiliate at the NYU Langone Medical Center, in New York.
Autism remains an exceedingly complex diagnosis who’s origin have eluded behavioral health researchers for decades. In response, the clinic directors of ABC Medical drafted a case report with meaningful commentory articulating a possible deficiency in current autism dogma.
“Autism is a diagnosis which is both varied in its presentation and complex in its origins” said Bied, a psychiatrist and director of the facility. In this recently published article, a possible alternative explanation for autism, immune deficiency, is proposed. “Immune deficiencies have long been associated with autism” reported Njuguna, a coauthor, and fellow manager of ABC Medical, “yet the case we reviewed shows a possible alternative explanation for such associations.” The article reviews the relationship between autism spectrum disorder and B-lymphocyte deficiencies. B-lymphocyte deficiencies are rare conditions characterized by near total lack of b-cells, a type of white blood cell critical to preventing infection. ABC Medical maintains a board certified child psychiatrist on staff and offers various behavioral health treatments for individuals with the autism diagnosis.
The paper, developed in the Fall of 2021, underwent submission in the winter of 2022 and was accepted for publication last February. A finalized version of the article was published in March of 2022 and is available for review below.
