Research and the Triple Board
Trainees can participate in research and academic endeavors on many levels. All residents benefit from the strong programs of research within all three specialties of the triple board, as these programs inform clinical care and support intellectual curiosity and rigor in the program. Within the division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, a substantial group of faculty have been awarded NIH-funded grants for clinical research in child psychiatry. A full list of researchers and links to their research pages is available on this web page, and include studies in obsessive compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, depression, HIV and risk-behaviors, asthma, sleep disorders, effects of chronic illness on siblings, developmental psychopathology, and many more!
Residents can participate in ongoing clinical research programs as therapists- recent and current residents have served as cognitive behavioral therapists and pharmacotherapists in a large multi-site study of obsessive compulsive disorder, pharmacotherapists in a multi-site study of treatment resistant depression in adolescents and in large a study of atomoxetine, and therapist in a family therapy study for sexually abused children.
Residents have also collaborated with faculty mentors to develop independent projects using existing data sets, including a recent project focused on children with learning disabilities, a project that won an AACAP Pilot Research Award. Working with Dr. Hunt at Bradley, residents also have access to a growing clinical database from the adolescent unit, and have presented findings related to adolescent patient's clinical presentation at national meetings. Residents interested in teaching, and they presented the outcome of an innovative didactic initiative at the national program directors' meeting... and won the department's trainee research award!
Residents interested in clinical and advocacy interventions can also use the faculty's academic and clinical mentorship to examine the outcomes of their intervention using in an academically rigorous approach. Current triple board residents Gary Maslow and Wendy Froehlich developed and coordinate a leadership council for teens with medical problems, for which they have won a national pediatric advocacy award, received state grant funding, and presented their program at multiple national meetings.
Triple Boarders at Brown are developing a tradition of research excellence. In the last 5 years, 7 residents have participated in formal research training after their residency. Dan Dickstein, now on faculty at Brown, trained at the NIMH, and has been awarded a K-award as well as a NARSAD to study neuroimaging in bipolar disorder. Mark Alter was a research fellow at Columbia University, and received a NARSAD award for his research in genetics and emotional development. Jack Fanton moved to the University of Pittsburgh for a T32 fellowship and was recently awarded an F32 to study preschool ADHD. Mary Margaret Gleason and Todd Levine both won the AACAP Pilot Research Awards for their studies of primary care mental health screening and learning disorders respectively. Lilia Romero-Bosch is completing a T32 fellowship at Brown and recently won a loan-repayment award, and Steve Dickstein went to NYU for a T32 fellowship (he is now a child psychiatry training director).
While most residents do not actively participate in research, the program provides a wide array of academically focused opportunities for those who are interested!