Adult Track Faculty offering Research Placements

Julia Browne, PhD: Dr. Browne is a clinical psychologist in the Research Service at the Providence VA Healthcare System and an Assistant Professor (Research) in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University. Her program of research is aimed at improving quality of life and function in adults with serious mental illness. Her current research project is a VA-funded clinical trial (conducted at the Providence VA) aimed at developing and feasibility testing an exercise program for older Veterans with serious mental illness (i.e., schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder). This 5-year project will involve three stages: (1) qualitative interviews/analysis with stakeholders to develop the exercise manual, (2) small open trial of the exercise program with older Veterans with serious mental illness aimed at refining the manual, and (3) a larger open trial of the exercise program with older Veterans with serious mental illness aimed at evaluating feasibility. Residents will have opportunities to work on this trial, to assist with qualitative data analysis and refining the program manual, and contribute to research scholarship (i.e., papers and presentations). This research placement is ideal for a resident with interest in physical activity/health behavior change, aging, and/or gaining experience in working with individuals with serious mental illness.

Brandon Gaudiano: Dr. Gaudiano’s research focuses on the development, testing, and implementation of psychosocial interventions for patients with a variety of difficult-to-treat conditions (including psychosis, mood disorders, comorbid substance use, and suicidality). He also has expertise in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and technology-assisted interventions. Representative projects for the upcoming year include grant-funded clinical trials testing a multi-modal mHealth intervention for patients with severe mental illness during an acute care transition, an ACT-based video intervention for older adults with chronic pain in primary care, and a suicide prevention intervention for adolescents and young adults following an emergency department visit.

Christopher D. Hughes: Dr. Hughes works as a psychologist at Butler Hospital and is an assistant professor (research) in Brown University’s Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. His research centers around two complementary arms: (1) improving the identification and prediction of suicidal thoughts and behaviors through multimethod, intensive longitudinal data collection and novel analytical methods; and (2) improving the treatment and prevention of suicidal thoughts and behaviors through the development of brief, scalable, digital interventions, particularly during high-risk care transitions like discharging from inpatient hospitalization. Current projects include ecological monitoring of psychiatric inpatients hospitalized for suicidal thoughts or behaviors from hospitalization through discharge with 3 and 6 month follow-ups. Opportunities are also available for collaboration on various active projects including secondary data analysis, manuscript preparation, and development of grant proposals.

Morganne Kraines & Ana Abrantes: Dr. Kraines and Dr. Abrantes have several areas of research focus. Dr. Abrantes is the Co-Director of the Behavioral Medicine and Addictions Research (BMAR) group, where both Drs. Abrantes and Kraines conduct their research. Dr. Kraines is also Primary Faculty at the Mindfulness Center at Brown. Current and recently completed projects include the study of affective executive functioning as a mechanism of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for depression, qualitative interviews with caregivers of patients with cancer to best adapt a mindfulness-based treatment for this population, mindfulness-based interventions for at-risk populations, lifestyle physical activity intervention for women with depression and alcohol use disorder, ecological momentary assessment for emerging adults struggling with alcohol use disorder and mental health, and a study of cannabis use in perinatal women. Drs. Kraines and Abrantes share interests in cognitive-affective factors that serve as mechanisms or predictors of treatment for depression, substance use, and smoking cessation. Available opportunities include potential for collaboration on various projects including methodology, data analysis, manuscript preparation, and development of grant proposals. 

Kirsten Langdon: Dr. Langdon’s research is centered on two overlapping areas: 1) elucidating the interplay of mood/anxiety-based processes and co-occurring substance use disorders through experimental paradigms, and 2) developing specialized intervention programs designed to target these malleable risk factors to improve treatment outcomes for individuals with co-occurring mood/anxiety and substance use disorders, particularly through digital health platforms. Recent projects involve the development/evaluation of a combined web- and text message-delivered intervention to support stabilization in medication-based treatments for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD); mixed-method approach to examine structural changes to OUD treatment (specifically the delivery of buprenorphine) as a result of COVID-19; and mixed-method evaluation of combined long-acting injectable treatment for HIV and OUD.

Jane Metrik & Rachel Gunn: This placement has several available areas of research focus. The overall aim of this research placement is to provide training opportunities in the area of alcohol and cannabis co-use and related risk behaviors. Our NIH-funded program of research utilizes several levels of data collection including laboratory and field-based methods. Opportunities to collaborate on the following current and recently completed studies are as follows: 1) a human laboratory study examining acute effects of cannabis on alcohol craving and consumption; 2) an ecological momentary assessment study focused on assessing effects of cannabis on driving-related impairment; 3) an ambulatory assessment study of the impact of simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use on alcohol consumption and consequences using alcohol biosensors to measure alcohol use in the field; 4) a mixed-methods (laboratory and ecological momentary assessment) study of simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use, including examination of the impact of multiple cannabinoids (THC versus CBD) on drinking behaviors; and 5) a longitudinal study examining cannabis use and comorbidity with heavy drinking and affective disorders in returning Veterans. Opportunities for learning applied aspects of the human laboratory studies involving cannabis and alcohol administration are a major part of this placement, as well as integration of data from multiple levels (e.g., person- and event-level). Multiple other opportunities are available for collaboration on various projects including data analysis, manuscript preparation, and development of grant proposals.

Robert Miranda: The Vista Clinical Research Group at Brown University has several research opportunities available for a research placement. This research program focuses on how biobehavioral mechanisms that confer liability for addiction influence treatment responsiveness. The overarching goal of this work is to translate findings from the human laboratory and natural environment to improve treatment initiatives. Several recently completed (and ongoing) clinical trials investigated the combined effects of pharmacotherapy and psychosocial interventions for treating alcohol and cannabis misuse among adolescents and young adults. An innovative methodological strategy employed across much of this work involves the systematic pairing of experimentally controlled human laboratory paradigms with ecological momentary assessment (EMA), whereby participants use handheld electronic diaries to monitor their behavior as well as sensitivity to alcohol and other drugs in real time in their natural environment. Additionally, in each study a broad spectrum of psychopathology was assessed, as well as myriad domains of temperament and cognitive function. Multiple opportunities are available for collaboration in analyzes these large datasets, including manuscript preparation and the development of grant proposals. In addition, newly funded studies afford the opportunity for collaboration in various aspects of ongoing data collection. Individual and group research supervision will be provided by Dr. Robert Miranda.

Lindsay Orchowski: Sexual assault prevention, including the development and evaluation of approaches for young adult, college, and military populations; The intersections between sexual violence, substance use and other health risk behaviors; Perpetrator characteristics; Mental health consequences of sexual violence.

Jessica Peters: Dr. Peters’ current research focuses on the menstrual cycle and the role of ovarian steroid hormones in triggering or exacerbating psychiatric symptoms, including in the context of borderline personality disorder and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Upcoming projects include applying a range of modeling techniques to daily symptom and hormone data across the cycle in ongoing studies and existing datasets. Prior experience with advanced quantitative methods and coding (e.g., R, Mplus) is helpful.

Hayley Treloar Padovano: Dr. Treloar Padovano (she/her) is a licensed psychologist and member of the training faculty for the Brown Clinical Psychology Internship Training Program, offering a research placement in the Adult Track. Dr. Padovano is jointly appointed as Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior in the Division of BioMed and Associate Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences in the School of Public Health. She serves as training faculty for the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies postdoctoral training programs, co-chair of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging committee, and advisory board member for the Office of Women in Medicine and Science. Dr. Padovano is also Associate Director of Team Science for the Center for Addiction and Disease Risk Exacerbation, a Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE), funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Dr. Padovano’s program of NIH-sponsored clinical research evaluates the etiology and treatment of substance use disorder through multiple methodologies, including intensive longitudinal data collection in daily life and over time and randomized controlled trials.  Her currently funded trials seek to improve screening and brief interventions for chronic liver disease and study multi-level determinants of health, wellness, and substance use. Since 2021, Dr. Padovano has implemented all projects for which she is the primary researcher in English and Spanish. Dr. Padovano’s research laboratory seeks to actively support trainees with diversity-enhancing factors and unique perspectives or expertise.

Child Track Faculty offering Research Placements

Clinical Child Psychology

Anastacia Kudinova: Bio-behavioral mechanisms of youth suicide risk focussing on self-referential cognitive-affective processes (e.g., self-criticism, self-compassion) and sleep and circadian timing. The current studies integrate ecological momentary assessment technology, neuroimaging techniques, circadian phase and sleep biology measures, and self-report interview and questionnaire assessment modes.

Christopher Houck: Emotion regulation and its relationship to adolescent health risk behaviors (e.g., sexual risk, partner violence, and substance use) including behavioral interventions to promote ER.

Dave Barker: Pairing individual participant data from clinical trials with causal analysis to better understand what works for whom. Secondary data analysis with modern analytic techniques to address a variety of questions in clinical child psychology. 

Elizabeth Thompson: Psychosis-spectrum disorders in adolescence, with a focus on screening and assessment across settings, intervention development, and co-occurring suicidality.

Jared Saletin: Adolescent sleep research and cognitive neuroscience. Our current focus is on impact of sleep and sleep loss on cognition, brain function, and the underpinnings of mental health in early adolescents. We are particularly interested in ADHD as a lens of vulnerability to sleep loss. The lab blends sleep and circadian science with neuroscience techniques of EEG and fMRI, and cognitive and mental health probes of relevant functional domains (e.g., learning, attention, impulsivity). Our team is embedded in the Sleep for Science Lab and collaborates closely with Prof. Mary A. Carskadon, PhD.

Laura Stroud: Biobehavioral & epigenetic mechanisms of stress, mood, and substance use. The BAMBAM lab focuses on two sensitive periods of development: perinatal-fetal-infant transition and the adolescent/pubertal transition. Within the perinatal-fetal-infant period, we focus on the impact of perinatal stress, mood, and substance use on maternal, fetal and infant health and development. Within the adolescent period, we have focused on neural and neuroendocrine biomarkers of risk for adolescent depression. Opportunities for psychology residents typically include secondary analysis of existing data for manuscript submission and/or conference presentations, grant writing, and hands-on exposure to perinatal research.

Jennifer Freeman, Kristen Benito & Josh Kemp - Pediatric Anxiety Research Clinic (PARC): Assessment and treatment of childhood and adolescent obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety disorders; development of new treatments/augmentation strategies, including neuromodulation; dissemination and implementation of exposure treatment for anxiety, including development of innovative service models and technology to support implementation.

Jennifer Wolff & Katherine Tezanos:  Improving the identification and treatment of suicidal youth in various settings. Current research involves: 1) implementing evidence-based care in community settings for juvenile justice youth at risk for suicide, 2) developing a valid assessment of suicide for pre-adolescents, 3) bridge treatment for youth presenting in the emergency department with suicidal ideation, and 4) examining patient perspectives and outcomes in inpatient psychiatric treatment.

Stephanie Parade:  Early childhood development in the context of family and social risk; study of community dissemination of evidence-based preventive interventions for young children and families.

Petya Radoeva - Neural mechanisms of depressive symptoms in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD); broader interests include risk and protective factors for mood problems and disorders and for suicidality in youth with ASD (including sleep, nutritional factors, cognitive flexibility).

Sarah Thomas: Adolescent cannabis use and association with psychopathology; parent-adolescent interactions; and brain/behavior alterations (MRI) associated with reward-related decision-making in the context of adolescent cannabis use.

Pediatric Psychology

David Barker: Pairing individual participant data from clinical trials with causal analysis to better understand what works for whom. Secondary data analysis with modern analytic techniques to address a variety of questions in pediatric psychology.

David Barker, Elizabeth McQuaid, Daphne Koinis-Mitchell: Using qualitative and quantitative data from a recently completed implementation trial along with medical records and insurance claim data to understand the impact of a community-based asthma treatment program implemented in Greater Providence, RI. The program was focused on communities with the highest asthma burden. 

Katherine Darling: Addressing weight stigma and weight-related health behaviors for children and adolescents; weight bias and stigma in adolescence; behavioral lifestyle interventions for adolescents; pediatrician interventions to decrease weight bias and improve weight-related health communication

Christopher Houck: Emotion regulation and its relationship to adolescent health risk behaviors (e.g., sexual risk, partner violence, and substance use) including behavioral interventions to promote ER.

Barbara Jandasek and Elizabeth McQuaid:  Pediatric Cardiology: Program Evaluation and QI focused on assessment and treatment of psychosocial and behavioral health issues amongst youth presenting to Outpatient Cardiology. Current research includes: 1) standardized assessment, evaluation, and enhancement of behavioral health services in the Pediatric Heart Center, 2) program development (e.g., for parents of children with Congenital Heart Disease),3) Evaluation of Heart Camp.

Barbara Jandasek and Jack Nassau:  Hasbro Children’s Partial Hospitalization Program: Research and Program Evaluation focuses on treatment of children with complex medical and psychiatric diagnoses treated at Hasbro Children’s Partial Hospitalization Program. Current research includes: 1) understanding health care utilization patterns prior and post HCPHP treatment course,  2) program outcomes, and 3) integration of standardized assessment and program outcomes.

Elissa Jelalian: Adolescent weight control; community-based interventions; and weight gain prevention. 

Daphne Koinis-Mitchell: Risk and resilience in urban children with chronic illness; pediatric health disparities in asthma and sleep; asthma and immune function.

Melissa Pielech: Pediatric pain, substance use, implementation science, and mixed methodologies. Current research involves: 1) RCT of a novel intervention targeting acute pain coping and substance use behaviors among youth after oral surgery; 2) Examination of pain experiences in youth who use substances; 3) Addressing barriers to family involvement in opioid use disorder treatment for adolescents and young adults; 4) Increasing access to evidence-based pain and substance use treatment.

Jared Saletin: Adolescent sleep research and cognitive neuroscience. Our current focus is on impact of sleep and sleep loss on cognition, brain function, and the underpinnings of mental health in early adolescents. We are particularly interested in ADHD as a lens of vulnerability to sleep loss. The lab blends sleep and circadian science with neuroscience techniques of EEG and fMRI, and cognitive and mental health probes of relevant functional domains (e.g., learning, attention, impulsivity). Our team is embedded in the Sleep for Science Lab and collaborates closely with Prof. Mary A. Carskadon, PhD.

Juvenile Justice/Behavioral Health

Christopher Houck: Emotion regulation and its relationship to adolescent health risk behaviors (e.g., sexual risk, partner violence, and substance use) including behavioral interventions to promote ER.

Kathleen Kemp: Mental health screening and treatment in the juvenile justice system; suicide prevention with juvenile justice-involved youth; substance use interventions; dissemination and implementation of evidenced-based treatment in juvenile justice settings. 

Robert Miranda: Pharmacotherapy and psychosocial intervention development research for adolescents with alcohol, cannabis, and other substance use disorders; ecological momentary assessment methods; psychophysiological and other laboratory-based methods.

Crosby Modrowski: Trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress among juvenile justice and child welfare youth; trauma exposure and adolescent risk behavior (e.g., substance use); crossover/dual-system youth.

Kaitlin Sheerin: Development and evaluation of family-based behavioral health treatments for youth involved in the juvenile legal system. Family- and systems-level factors associated with behavioral health services use and access. 

Health Psychology/Behavioral Medicine Faculty offering Research Placements

Mary Carskadon: Psychological, behavioral, social, and biological factors that determine sleep amount and timing for children, adolescents, and emerging adults; sleep, circadian rhythms, and child and adolescent mental health; impact of alcohol on sleep and cognitive behavior in adults; sleep disparities in urban children with asthma; sleep, sleepiness, neurocognitive function, and neuroimaging in early adolescents with and without ADHD; measuring sleep, circadian rhythms, craving, and emotion regulation in people with opioid use disorder who are in treatment with opioid agonist medications.

Emily Gathright: Interventions for depression and/or health behavior change (e.g., medication adherence) and/or promotion of healthy aging; cardiovascular behavioral medicine; psychosocial and behavioral risk factors for poor prognosis in cardiovascular disease; cardiac rehabilitation; meta-analysis 

Carly Goldstein: Behavioral obesity treatment; digital health; optimization designs; implementation science; cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment; interventions delivered through integrated care.

Stephanie Goldstein: Applying digital health tools (like ecological momentary assessment [EMA], wrist-worn sensing, geolocation, just-in-time adaptive interventions [JITAIs]), innovative research methods (like optimization designs and behavioral phenotyping), and novel statistical approaches (like machine learning) to advance precision interventions for weight-related behaviors implicated in cardiovascular disease risk. Studying adherence, diet, and eating behaviors in the context of lifestyle modification programs.

KayLoni Olson: Identifying factors that impact health and well being among individuals of higher body weight and adapting evidence-based behavioral treatments to optimize health; weight-related stigma, body image, and weight-related chronic pain

Elena Salmoirago-Blotcher: stress reactivity and acute coronary syndromes; psychosocial determinants of atherosclerotic  cardiovascular disease (ASCVD); heart failure and cognitive dysfunction; mind-body interventions to promote cardiovascular health.

Laura Stroud: Intergenerational transmission of stress, trauma, psychopathology, and substance use. Biobehavioral & epigenetic mechanisms of stress, depression, tobacco, and substance use. Perinatal and women's health & health disparities; Tobacco, marijuana and new tobacco products (hookah, e-cigarettes); Stress response/HPA stress reactivity in infants/children/adolescents. Opportunities for psychology residents typically include secondary analysis of existing data for manuscript submission and/or conference presentations, grant writing, and hands-on exposure to perinatal and substance use research.

Graham Thomas: Technology for health behavior assessment and intervention; Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA); wearable devices/passive sensing; just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAI); engineering-inspired treatment optimization methodologies; behavioral obesity treatment.

Lisa Uebelacker: Study of physical activity, yoga, and integrated primary care interventions for depression and/or chronic pain, including in the context of HIV or opioid use disorder.

Rena Wing: Behavioral interventions for obesity and for weight gain prevention; Psychological, behavioral, social, and biological factors in weight maintenance; interventions prior to and during pregnancy; health benefits of modest weight loss.

Neuropsychology Faculty offering Research Placements

Jennifer Davis, PhD, ABPP-CN, Seth Margolis, PhD, ABPP-CN: Researching Everyday Activities of Living (REAL) Lab (RIH). Researching Everyday Activities of Living (REAL) Lab. Drs. Davis and Margolis co-direct the REAL Lab research placement and will be accepting one resident for the 2023-2024 training year. REAL Lab studies center on functional and psychosocial aspects of cognitive impairment in adults and older adults. Current interests relate to neuropsychological and psychosocial aspects of medication adherence, predictors of functional decline and compensatory strategy use in MCI and mild dementia, the ecological validity of cognitive testing, neuropsychological side effects of medications, individual factors related to driving safety, as well as psychosocial adjustment to illness and disability more broadly. There will be opportunities to be involved in grant funded projects aimed at testing new neuropsychologically informed interventions (i.e., beta and feasibility testing of an internet-based anti-stigma intervention for people with epilepsy; health behavior promotion among mid-life adults at risk for cognitive decline in both English and non-English speaking individuals).

Ryan Van Patten, PhD, ABPP-CN (primary) & W. Curt LaFrance, Jr., MD, MPH: Cognition and mental health in functional neurological disorder and diverse neuropsychiatric conditions. This research rotation includes a focus on assessment and treatment of cognition and mental health in people with functional neurological disorder (FND), as well as complex neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g., TBI, epilepsy, PTSD, long COVID, depression, somatization and others). Due to the diverse interests of Drs. Van Patten and LaFrance within neuropsychiatric disorders, there are opportunities for a wide variety of research projects in this rotation. For example, a highly motivated resident with a primary interest in a related topic (such as machine learning, neuroimaging, stigma, anxiety disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders, psychometric test design, telehealth, or others) would be eligible for this rotation and could likely find meaningful projects to work on within the broad and integrated research programs of Drs. Van Patten and LaFrance. It would be important for the resident to collaboratively discuss their background, interests, and ideas with Drs. Van Patten and LaFrance to ensure that it is the right fit.

Jennifer Barredo, PhD & additional supervisor TBD Neuropsychology Faculty: Neuroimaging in Suicide and Mental Health Research (VAMC). A placement in neurocognitive approaches to suicide and mental health research will be offered at Providence VA Medical Center. This placement involves hands-on analysis of cognitive testing and/or brain imaging data. MRI analyses may involve either structural and functional MRI data (e.g., structural T1-weighted images, diffusion imaging, task-based and/or resting-state fMRI). Residents will work with supervisors to develop specific research projects with a goal of presenting results at national conferences and/or submitting a manuscript for publication. Dr. Barredo is the main supervisor for this experience; post-doctoral fellows may assist with supervision and training. Prior imaging experience and/or intermediate-level Python proficiency is required. 

Athene Lee, PhD: Alzheimer's disease risk disclosure, subjective cognitive decline and cultural beliefs in aging. This research placement focuses on a variety of topic areas on Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive aging, including the identification of preclinical and prodromal Alzheimer’s disease using biological, cognitive, and behavioral markers; impact of disclosure of Alzheimer's disease risk biomarkers; roles of cultural beliefs and stigma in subjective cognitive decline. Residents in this rotation will have access to the Butler Alzheimer’s Prevention Registry, the neuropsychological clinical database, and selected multi-site clinical trial database to identify specific research projects with a goal of presenting results at conferences and/or preparing manuscript submission for publication.

Brian Kavanaugh, PsyD, ABPP-CN: Modulation of Frontoparietal Dynamics in Adolescent Working Memory Deficits. This research placement focuses on the modulation of frontoparietal oscillatory dynamics underlying adolescent working memory deficits. Our group utilizes brain imaging (e.g., structural and resting-state functional MRI), electrophysiological activity recording (e.g., task-related EEG), non-invasive brain stimulation (e.g., TMS), and computational modeling to modulate the neural dynamics underlying working memory deficits in adolescents. This involves two ongoing research projects that are attempting to modulate oscillatory dynamics underlying working memory deficits in adolescents with ADHD. The resident will have opportunities to be actively involved in active study procedures, EEG/MRI data analysis, and literature reviews on related topics. There is also access to our pediatric neuropsychology dataset as well as our ongoing study that is investigating smartphone-based neurocognitive testing in children and adolescents. Prior experience with analysis of EEG or MRI data is strongly encouraged.

Brown University Department of Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Science

David Badre, PhD & additional supervisor TBD Neuropsychology Faculty: Basic cognitive neuroscience of cognitive control and executive function. Behavioral, fMRI, and brain stimulation methods.

William Heindel, PhD & Elena Festa, PhD - additional supervisor TBD Neuropsychology Faculty: Neurocognitive changes in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD); mechanisms of resistance and resilience to AD.  Methodologies include EEG, fMRI, pupillometry, and behavioral assessment.

Methodologies include EEG, pupillometry, and cognitive neuropsychology.