D Catherine Fuchs, MD, DFAACAP

Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Bixler-Johnson-Mayes Chair
Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Secondary Appointment: Professor of Pediatrics
Village at Vanderbilt
1500 21st Ave South, Suite 2200, TVC B706-A
Nashville
Tennessee
37212

Dr. Catherine Fuchs has been on the faculty since 1998 serving in many roles as a Clinician Educator. She is currently the Master Clinical Teacher in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences for Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She holds the Bixler-Johnson-Mayes Educational Chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She teaches in Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship, the General Psychiatry Residency, the Department of Pediatrics, and is a member of the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship (CIBS) Center. Her clinical research is in the field of Pediatric Delirium.

Clinical Interests

Intersection of acute illness and psychiatric care in children and adolescents.

Research Information

Pediatric delirium
PTSD following acute illness

  • Smith HA, Gangopadhyay M, Goben CM, Jacobowski NL, Chestnut MH, Savage S, Rutherford MT, Denton D, Thompson JL, Chandrasekhar R, Acton M, Newman J, Noori HP, Terrell MK, Williams SR, Griffith K, Cooper TJ, Ely EW, Fuchs DC, Pandharipande PP. The PreSchool Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU: Valid and Reliable Delirium Monitoring for Critically Ill Infants and Children. Crit Care Med 44(3):592-600, 2016
  • Ray WA, Stein CM, Murray KT, Fuchs DC, Patrick SW, Daugherty J, Hall K, Cooper WO. Association of Antipsychotic Treatment with Risk of Unexpected Death Among Children and Youths, JAMA Psychiatry, 2019 Feb 1; 76 (2).
  • Diaz I, Thurm C, Hall M, Auerbach S, Bearl DW, Dodd DA, Mettler BA, Smith AH, Fuchs DC. Disorders of Adjustment, Mood, and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents Undergoing Heart Transplantation and the Association of Ventricular Assist Device Support, J Pediatrics, 2019 November 12
  • Mooneyham GC, Ferrafiat V, Fuchs C, Stolte E, Cohen D. Developing Consensus in the Assessment and Treatment Pathways for Autoimmune Encephalitis in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Front Psychiatry, 2021 Mar 29:12:638901.
  • Brahmbhatt, Mournet AM, Malas N, DeSouza C, Greenblatt J, Afzal KI, Giles LL, Charoensook J, Feuer V, Raza H, Mooneyham GLC, Pergjika A, Schlesinger A, Chapman A, Strain A, Gandhi B, Johnson K, Mroczkowski MM, Ibeziako P, Graham R, Yoon Y, Plioplys S, Fuchs C, Shaw RJ, Pao M. Adaptations made to pediatric consultation-liaison psychiatry service delivery during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic: A North American multi-site survey. Journal Acad Consult Liaison Psychiatry. 2021 Sept-Oct; 62(5).
  • Canter MO, Tanguturi YC, Wilson JE, Williams SR, Exum SA, Umrania HM, Betters KA, Raman R, Ely EW, Pandharipande PP, Fuchs DC, Smith HA. Prospective Validation of the Preschool Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU to Screen for Delirium in Infants Less than 6 Months Old. Crit Care Med. 2021 Oct 1: 49 (10).
  • Tanguturi YC, Hanzlik E, Pagano L, Cundiff AW, Graham TB, Fuchs DC. Anti-NMDAR Encephalitis: Multidisciplinary Development of a Clinical Practice Guideline. Hosp Pediatr, 2021 Nov; 1(11).
  • Eken HN, Betters KA, Fuchs DC, Smith HAB, Williams SR. Improving Delirium Assessments in Vanderbilt Pediatric and Pediatric Cardiovascular Intensive Care Units. Pediatric Quality and Safety 4(7). July-Aug 2022. PMID: 35919397
  • Davis KA, Dietrich MS, Gilmer MJ, Fuchs DC, Akard TF. Postoperative opioid administration and post-traumatic stress symptoms in preschool children after cardiac surgery. J Pediatr Nurs 2023 Jan-Feb; 68:44-51. PMID 36333168
  • Smith JR, York T, Warn S, Borodge D, Pierce DL, Fuchs DC. Another option for aggression and self-injury, alternative benzodiazepines for catatonia in profound autism. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol. 2023 Apr; 33(3): 109-117. PMID: 37023406
  • Hickox BS, Brahmbhatt K, Smith Jr, Fuchs C, Tanguturi Y. CL Case Conference: Systemic challenges in management of aggression in a pediatric patient with seronegative autoimmune encephalitis. J Acad CL Psych (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaclp.2023.08.005
  • Barter KM, Fuchs C, Graham TB, Pagano LM, Vater M. Anti-NMDAR Encephalitis Clinical Practice Guideline: Improving Time to Diagnosis, Treatment, and Hospital Length of Stay. Neurol Clin Pract. 2024 Feb; 14(1). PMID: 38173540.
  • Ray WA, Fuchs DC, Olfson M, Patrick SW, Stein CM, Murray KT, Daugherty J, Cooper WO. Antipsychotic Medications and Mortality in Children and Young Adults. JAMA Psychiatry 2023 NOV 29:e234573. Doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.4573.Online ahead of print.
  • Accepted for publication: Smith JR, York T, Baldwin I, Fuchs C, Fricchione G,. Luccarelli J. Diagnostic Features of Pediatric Catatonia: a Multisite Retrospective Cohort Study. BJPsychOpen-23-0533.R1. 3_38_24.