Clinical Psychiatry

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Madeline Cusimano, MD

Madeline Cusimano, MD is Chief Resident of the Psychiatry Residency at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). She earned her medical degree from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and is completing her final year of psychiatry training at UMKC. Her clinical interests include inpatient psychiatry, consult-liaison services, substance use treatment, and perinatal psychiatry. Following graduation, she plans to practice as an inpatient psychiatrist in Kansas City.
Dr. Cusimano has a particular interest in postpartum psychiatric illness, especially postpartum psychosis, and has presented on this topic in departmental Grand Rounds. She has also delivered regional presentations on substance use disorders. Her presentation for the Spring Training Institute focuses on early recognition, systems-based intervention, and care coordination for individuals experiencing severe perinatal mental health conditions.

Presentation(s): 

When Reality Breaks After Birth: Postpartum Psychosis

 

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Mariana Edwards, MD

Dr. Edwards earned her Medical Degree from the University of Lisbon Faculty of Medicine in Portugal, where she completed an integrated master’s degree on Bipolar Disorder and Creativity, reflecting an early interest in the intersection of psychiatric illness and human experience.
Since joining UMKC Psychiatry Residency Program in 2022 she has worked across inpatient, outpatient, community, forensic and consultation liaison settings. She earned the honor of Resident of the Year for the 2024-2025 academic year. She has contributed with scholarly work including a case report on clozapine-associated myocarditis and pancreatitis. She strives to understand patients within their personal and cultural contexts and loves to talk about the importance of patient and family centered interventions in psychiatry across all diagnoses, and most specifically in schizophrenia.
She feels honored to provide mental health care to the population of Kansas City and to present on the topic of Neurocognitive Dysfunction in Schizophrenia.

Presentation(s): 

Neurocognitive Dysfunction in Schizophrenia: an Updated Review

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When Reality Breaks After Birth: Postpartum Psychosis

Room: Nautical Wheeler

Speaker(s):

Madeline Cusimano, MD

Presentation: Postpartum psychosis is a rare but severe maternal mental health condition that can emerge rapidly after childbirth and requires coordinated intervention across healthcare and community systems. This presentation will review core clinical features, risk factors, and early warning signs, with emphasis on distinguishing postpartum psychosis from more common perinatal mood disorders. Case examples will illustrate how symptoms may present across obstetric, emergency, outpatient, and child welfare settings.

The session will focus on the maternal health continuum of care, highlighting practical strategies for early identification, safety planning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and prevention of escalation. System-level considerations – including care fragmentation, access to perinatal psychiatric services, and coordination with families and caregivers – will be discussed to support professionals working across behavioral health, medical, and community settings.

Objectives:

  • Describe the epidemiology, clinical presentation, and diagnostic framework of postpartum psychosis (PPP)
  • Differentiate PPP from postpartum OCD, severe postpartum depression, and primary psychotic disorders
  • Review evidence-based acute treatment and relapse-prevention strategies, including lithium, antipsychotics, and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
  • Recognize suicide and infanticide risk using a prevention-focused, evidence-based framework.
  • Apply systems-level and family-centered strategies to the care of patients at high risk for PPP.

Slides and Handouts:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Neurocognitive Dysfunction in Schizophrenia: an Updated Review

Room: Nautical Wheeler

Speaker(s):

Mariana Edwards, MD

Presentation: Schizophrenia is a chronic illness that affects approximately 23 million people in the world. It is associated with high chronic risk of suicide and lifelong functional impairment, and it is one of the leading 15 causes of disability. People with schizophrenia are at more vulnerable to human rights violations, neglect, and homelessness and there is still stigma about the illness from society at large.

Objectives:

  • Highlight data and statistics about schizophrenia, and its cognitive symptoms
  • Present case of a patient with schizophrenia with prominent cognitive symptoms
  • Talk about cognitive symptoms and social difficulties in schizophrenia
  • Talk about the overall negative impact of cognitive symptoms in the lives of patients with schizophrenia
  • Discuss evidence-based treatments of cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia

Slides and Handouts: