Traffic Alert: Southbound traffic at 6410 Fannin will be detoured overnight, from 1-3 a.m., July 18 due to a CenterPoint Energy vault repair. The UPB Garage will only be accessible from Main Street, and the UPB valet drive will be closed. 

UTHealth Houston conference to explore mental health in athletes March 28

By Roman Petrowski, McGovern Communications
A basketball player sits on an outdoor court with his head resting on his arms, appearing fatigued or disappointed, with a basketball and water bottle nearby.

Photo by Getty Images

The Louis A. Faillace, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences will host the 2026 UTHealth Houston Sports Psychiatry Conference March 28 at the TMC3 Collaborative Building.

The event brings together leaders in psychiatry, sports medicine, and performance science to advance the dialogue on athlete mental health, resilience, and peak performance.

The full-day program begins at 8 a.m. and features leading-edge discussions and practical strategies for optimizing athlete care. Attendees will learn to apply trauma-informed frameworks, integrate neuroscientific principles, and leverage data-driven tools such as sleep metrics, neurofeedback, and virtual reality.

Keynote speaker for the event is David R. McDuff, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. McDuff is a nationally recognized expert in sports psychiatry, with more than three decades of experience as team psychiatrist and performance consultant for professional and collegiate teams, including the Baltimore Orioles, Baltimore Ravens, and Indianapolis Colts.

His integrated, on-site model addresses performance enhancement, recovery, stress management, and comprehensive mental health care across Olympic, professional, and collegiate sports.

Additional presenters include conference co-chairs Nesreen S. Ibrahim, MD, MBA, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at McGovern Medical School, and Summer Ott, PsyD, associate professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at McGovern Medical School and director of the UTHealth Houston Concussion Program, as well as Richard Dishman, MS, chief executive officer of Dishman Performance, LLC.

The conference will also include core panels and sessions focusing on topics including:

  • Organizational approaches to athlete mental health
  • Mental health and transitions in sport
  • The role of sports medicine providers in supporting mental health
  • Medication management of psychiatric disorders in athletes
  • Cognitive skills training and performance enhancement
  • Additional sessions covering trauma-informed approaches, interdisciplinary collaboration, and athlete well-being across different populations

For more information, or to register for the event, visit the UTHealth Houston Sports Psychiatry Conference website or email Aaron Zapata, senior marketing coordinator at McGovern Medical School.

Related topics