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Professor and Chair of Psychiatry

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pliszka@uthscsa.edu

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Departments & Divisions

Steven R Pliszka, M.D.

Dielmann Distinguish Professor and Chair

Currently not seeking mentees

Steven R. Pliszka, M.D. is Dielmann Distinguish Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He has been a faculty member at UT Health San Antonio since 1986, joining the Department of Psychiatry after completing his general and child adolescent psychiatry residencies at UTHSCSA. Throughout his career he has been involved in a wide range of administrative, research, clinical and educational activities. Prior to being Chair he served as Chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry from 1995-2015. His research has focused on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and related disorders. He has been involved with clinical trials of the most medications used for ADHD. He currently uses functional magnetic imaging to try to understand the mechanisms of action of treatments for ADHD. He has been involved in several projects to integrate mental health services into pediatric primary care. Dr. Pliszka is the author of “Neuroscience for the Mental Health Clinician, 2nd ed.” and “Treating ADHD and Comorbid Disorders (Guilford Press). He has been very active in the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, authoring the academy’s practice parameters for the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in 2007. Dr. Pliszka has an active clinical practice, caring for many children and adolescents with ADHD and other psychiatric disorders; he also serves as the attending psychiatrist for two residential facilities for children with severe behavioral and emotional disorders.

  • Professional Background

    Education

    • 1986 - Residency - Child & Adolescent Psychiatry - University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
    • 1986 - Residency - General Psychiatry - University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
    • 1981 - MD - Medicine - University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
    • 1977 - BA - Psychology - University of Texas at Austin

    Highlights

    2014 Roy Maas Humanitarian Award:  This award is reserved for individuals who have demonstrated significant commitment and leadership, and is not necessarily awarded annually.

    Texas Psychiatric Excellence Award 2010: 

    Elaine Lewis Schlosser Award: Awarded for the best paper on ADD in the Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

    Appointments

    • 9/2003 - Professor - The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Psychiatry, San Antonio

  • Instruction & Training

    • 9/2013 - Present, Mind, Brain Behavior, The University of Texas Health Science Center
    • 6/1995 - Present, Child Adolescent Psychiatry, The University of Texas Health Science Center
    • 7/1989 - Present, Neurobiology and Advanced Psychopharmacology
    • 7/1986 - Present, Child General Psychiatry Resident Supervision, ClarityChild Guidance Center
    • 7/1986 - Present, Psychiatry Clerkship, The University of Texas Health Science Center
    • 7/1986 - Present, Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Disorders

  • Research & Grants

    Grants

    Private

    Funding Agency Meadows Foundation Title Semp Russ Research Professorship in Child Psychiatry Status Active Period 9/2000 - Present Role Principal Investigator Grant Detail Funds pilot research projects and supports ongoing child psychiatry research at UTHSCSA. Funding Agency Ironshore Pharma Title A Phase 3, Multicenter, Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Parallel Group Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Evening-dosed HLD200, a Novel Delayed and Extended Release Formulation (DELEXIS) of Methylphenidate Hydrochloride, on Post-w Status Complete Period 1/2016 - 12/2016 Role Principal Investigator Grant Detail Trial of ADHD medication which can be dose in evening to be effective the next day

  • Publications

      Book Chapter

      Pliszka SR. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In: Mina Dulcan, Editor. Dulcan's Textbook of Child and Adolescent Psychiaty. New York: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc; 2015. Pliszka SR. Comorbid Psychiatric Disorders. In: Russell Barkley, editor. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Handbook for Diagnosis. New York: Guilford Press; 2015.

      Book/Monograph

      Pliszka SR. Neuroscience for the Mental Health Clinician, 2nd Edition 2015.

      Journal Article

      Cha, J., Fekete, T., Siciliano, F., Biezonski, D., Greenhill, L., Pliszka, S. R.,Posner, J. Neural Correlates of Aggression in Medication-Naive Children with ADHD: Multivariate Analysis of Morphometry and Tractography Neuropsychopharmacology 2015 Jul;40(7):1717-1725. Olvera RL, Glahn DC, O`Donnell L, Bearden CE, Soares JC, Winkler AM, Pliszka SR. Cortical Volume Alterations in Conduct Disordered Adolescents with and without Bipolar Disorder J Clin Med 2014 Apr;3(2):416-431. Semrud-Clikeman, M, Pliszka SR, Bledsoe, J, Lancaster JL. Volumetric MRI differences in treatment naive and chronically treated adolescents with ADHD combined type Journal of Attention Disorders 2014 Jan;18(6):511-520. Blader JC, Pliszka SR, Kafantaris V, Foley CA, Crowell JA, Carlson GA, Sauder C, Margulies J, Sinha C, Sverd J, Matthews TL, Bailey BY, Daviss WB. Callous-unemotional traits, proactive aggression, and treatment outcomes of aggressive children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2013 Dec;52(12):1281-1293. Caetano SC, Olvera RL, Hatch JP, Sanches M, Chen HH, Nicoletti M, Stanley JA, Fonseca M, Hunter K, Lafer B, Pliszka SR, Soares JC. Lower N-acetyl-aspartate levels in prefrontal cortices in pediatric bipolar disorder: a ?H magnetic resonance spectroscopy study J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2011 Jan;50(1):85-94. Caetano SC, Olvera RL, Glahn DC, Fonseca M, Pliszka SR, Soares JC. Fronto-limbic brain abnormalities in juvenile onset bipolar disorder Biological Psychiatry 2005 Oct;58(7):525-531. Olvera RL, Glahn DC, Caetano SC, Pliszka SR, Soares JC. Neuroimaging studies in bipolar children and adolescents Int Rev Neurobiol 2004 Jan;62:121-146.

      Not Specified

      Bledsoe, J. C., Xiao, D., Chaovalitwongse, A., Mehta, S., Grabowski, T. J., Semrud-Clikeman, M. Diagnostic Classification of ADHD Versus Control: Support Vector Machine Classification Using Brief Neuropsychological Assessment Journal of Attention Disorders 2016 Jan;40(7). Sikirica, V., Pliszka, S. R., Betts, K. A., Hodgkins, P., Samuelson, T. M., Xie, J., Wu, E. Q. Impact of atypical antipsychotic use among adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder American Journal of Managed Care 2014 Sep;20(9):711-721.

  • Clinical

    Board Certifications

    • 1990 - American Board of P&N/Child Psychiatry
    • 1988 - American Board of P&N/Psychiatry