Dr. Jacobson completed both her medical and psychiatric training at the University of Pittsburgh. She received her undergraduate degrees from Dartmouth College and Oxford University, and worked as a business consultant for an information-technology company based out of Washington, D.C., prior to pursuing a career in medicine.
Dr. Jacobson’s clinical and advocacy efforts are focused on the prevention of suicide in youth through her work at the Services for Teens at Risk (STAR) Center at Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic.
Nationally, she is the co-chair of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Training and Education Committee and on the AACAP Presidential Initiative Taskforce. In these roles, she has become one of the pioneers in a field devoted to reforming our relationship with media in order to promote positive mental health messaging for our nation’s youth.
Dr. Jacobson has earned a reputation for creating and implementing innovative educational initiatives such as the Academic Administrator, Clinical Educator (AACE) Track and the Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic Physician Well-Being Initiative.
As co-chair of the UPMC Graduate Medical Education WELL committee, in collaboration with Vu T. Nguyen, M.D., Dr. Jacobson oversees wellness initiatives to support all residents and fellows across the UPMC health care system.
Dr. Jacobson is the author or co-author of numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, as well as a recipient of the Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic Exemplary Faculty Teaching Service Award, Golden Apple Teaching Award, Samuel Gershon Teaching Award, Arnold P. Gold Foundation Teaching Award, Medical Humanism Award, University of Pittsburgh Excellence in Clinical Psychiatry Award, and a National Institutes of Health Research Training Award.