Brown Clinical Psychology Training Consortium
Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Brain imaging, Neuropsychology, and Cardiovascular Disease
Site:
Butler Hospital TRG and Miriam Hospital Neuropsychology Clinic
Supervisor(s):
Lawrence Sweet, Ph.D. (Primary Supervisor)
Paul Malloy Ph.D.
Description of Site
Butler is the premier psychiatric treatment, teaching and research hospital serving Rhode Island and southeastern New England. It provides assessment and treatment of all major psychiatric illnesses and substance abuse. Butler is affiliated with the Brown Medical School and is the flagship for the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, which has been recognized by its peers as one of the top ten in the United States. Members of the Transdisciplinary Research Group (TRG) at Butler Hospital are currently conducting several neuroimaging research projects among neuropsychiatric and medical patient populations. The primary goals of the project “Brain imaging, Neuropsychology, and Cardiovascular Disease” is to achieve greater understanding of the effects of cardiovascular disease on brain functioning and assess how brain function can be measured in this population using functional magnetic resonance imaging and arterial spin labeling. Neuropsychological assessment opportunities are supervised by Dr. Paul Malloy in the Memory and Aging Program also located on the Butler Hospital campus. The Program provides high-quality, comprehensive evaluation and treatment of memory disorders. The Program is also dedicated to training medical residents, neuropsychology interns, and post-doctoral fellows from the Brown Medical School.
Fellowship Aims
- To provide the fellow with broad post-doctoral training in the areas of functional magnetic resonance imaging, experimental neuropsychology, and cardiovascular disease.
- To provide the fellow with a strong working knowledge of functional magnetic resonance imaging research, particularly as applied to the study of cardiovascular disease.
- To provide the fellow with research training and experience in preparation for a research career in functional magnetic resonance imaging, experimental neuopsychology, and cardiovascular disease.
- To provide the fellow with clinical neuropsychological experience in a general medical setting.
Fellowship Timeline
The duration of the fellowship is 2 years, contingent upon satisfactory progress. The anticipated start date is July 1, 2007.
Research Activity Plan (70% time)
The fellowship is primarily a research position. The fellow will be exposed to various aspects of functional magnetic resonance imaging research via participation in the following activities:
- Study coordination (approximately 50% time): The fellow will collaborate with research supervisor Dr. Sweet and other members of the research team to implement a project recently funded by the NHLBI “Hemodynamic and Cognitive Function in Cardiovascular Disease”.
- Grant writing (approximately 10% time): The fellow will be encouraged to develop a grant idea and submit a grant proposal by the end of the fellowship term. The fellow will be encouraged to develop their own research ideas in addition to collaboration on existing projects.
- Manuscript preparation and submission (approximately 10% time): The fellow will be encouraged to collaborate on manuscript preparation and poster submissions at national conferences. Individually tailored goals will be established in this area.
- Included as part of these research activities will be participation in Dr. Sweet’s weekly research meetings conducted in the Weld Bldg and review of literature. These meetings are FMRI lab and project-specific meetings. The fellow will be provided with a series of readings in the area of functional neuroimaging among clinical populations.
Clinical Activity Plan (20% time)
Opportunities for additional clinical experience will be provided as part of the position.
- Clinical assessment: Neuropsychology clinic at Butler Hospital Memory and Aging Program, supervised by Dr. Paul Malloy. This will involve complete interview, testing, scoring, report writing, and providing feedback for one case per week.
Didactics (10% time)
Post-Doctoral Seminars: The fellow will participate in the following post-doctoral seminars through the Brown Post Doctoral Training Program. Mandatory Didactics:
- Core Seminars (1 per month)
- DPHB Academic Grand Rounds (1 per month)
- Clinical Ethics – if intending to sit for licensure (1 per month)
- Neuropsychology Rounds (1 per week)
- Neuropsychlogy Seminar (1 per week in first year)
Optional Didactics:
- Academic Friday – Grantsmanship seminars, Special Topics in Statistics and Alcohol Center seminars.
- Neuropsychology Grant writing Seminar (1 per week)
Supervision and Evaluation
Supervision will be provided in the form of weekly group and individual supervision by Drs. Sweet (research supervision) and Malloy (clinical supervision).
At the conclusion and midpoint of the fellowship, the fellow and the supervisors are requested to provide formal evaluations, and evaluations of the program relative to the goals and learning objectives of the fellowship. It is anticipated that the fellow will accumulate enough clinical hours to be eligible for licensure in the state of Rhode Island.
Resource Requirements
Fellow will be provided with the following resources:
- Office space
- A computer and project specific software
- Internet access
- Telephone