Research Placement Rotations
Information on the Research Placement Program and the Internship Grant Program.
Research Placement Rotations
Information on the Research Placement Program and the Internship Grant Program.
Research Placement Program
Cynthia Battle, PhD, Coordinator
Research and grant writing are a major activity of many psychologists in academic settings. The training program provides three possible research experiences. Two are optional and one is required. One option is that clinical psychology residents may choose to participate in research that is being conducted as part of the ongoing clinical programs. This could be integrated into part of their clinical duties. A second option is that clinical psychology residents may choose to independently investigate a research question under faculty supervision.
Participation in the Research Placement Program, which is required, provides clinical psychology residents with opportunities to work on programmatic faculty research; typically grant funded projects. Research sites have been developed within each of the four training tracks. Clinical psychology residents are assigned to a project based upon their previous experience in an area, research interests, training needs, and availability of training supervisors. Clinical psychology residents are assigned to a research site for the full internship year and spend approximately four to six hours a week at that placement. Clinical psychology residents may participate in research team meetings and have responsibilities that could include, but are not limited to, research design, data collection, coding and analysis, and manuscript preparation.
View specific Track (Adult, Child, Health Psychology/Behavioral Medicine, & Neuropsychology) for a listing of faculty offering potential research placements this recruitment year.
Adult Track Faculty offering Research Placements
Cynthia Battle: Dr. Battle’s research focuses on women’s mental health, with particular focus on the perinatal period. She has developed and tested a variety of nonpharmacologic interventions for depression and related conditions during pregnancy and the postpartum period including use of nontraditional approaches such as yoga and physical activity based interventions. Currently Dr. Battle is completing work on a Fitbit-based walking intervention to help reduce cannabis use during pregnancy. Also, with collaborators, she is conducting a longitudinal prospective EMA study that is tracking women’s cannabis use patterns over the perinatal transition. In addition, Dr. Battle is currently part of a team implementing a novel perinatal telepsychiatry program to promote better access to specialized care for mental health and substance use services during the perinatal period. Opportunities for clinical psychology residents may include collaboration on various ongoing projects, including potential involvement in practical elements of project implementation, data analysis, manuscript preparation, and/or development of new grant proposals.
Madeline Benz & Brandon Gaudiano: Drs. Gaudiano and Benz’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). They also have 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.
Rachel Gunn & Jane Metrik: 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.
Morganne Kraines: Dr. Kraines is a Psychologist at Butler Hospital in the Behavioral Medicine and Addictions Research (BMAR) group and an Assistant Professor (Research Scholar Track) within the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior.. She is also Primary Faculty at the Mindfulness Center at Brown (MC@B). Dr. Kraines’ research has two main focuses: 1) affective-cognitive factors that serve as mechanisms and predictors of change in mood disorders and health behaviors (e.g., depression, anxiety, substance use); and 2) adapting evidence-based mindfulness interventions for at-risk populations (e.g., first responders, caregivers of patients with cancer, dermatology patients). She uses mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative approaches), as well as mixed-method assessment (self-reports, clinical interviewing, computer-based tasks, etc.). Current and recently completed projects include (but are not limited to) examining affective executive functioning as a mechanism of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), the development of an implicit measure related to mindfulness, and qualitative interviews with caregivers of patients with cancer.
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.
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.
Ana Rabasco & Lauren Weinstock: This research placement provides exposure to intervention development, piloting, full-scale evaluation, and implementation within the areas of suicide prevention and treatment of serious mental illness. Drs. Weinstock and Rabasco have additional expertise in these areas within the context of high-risk care transitions (e.g., from criminal legal settings to the community, from inpatient to outpatient treatment, and after emergency department discharge). As the internship schedule allows, opportunities might be available to become involved in the Brown Consortium for Research Innovation on Suicide Prevention (CRISP) and the National Center for Health and Justice Integration for Suicide Prevention (NCHATS), for which Dr. Weinstock is MPI.
**NEW Heather Schatten and Gemma Wallace: Are licensed psychologists whose research focuses on multimethod approaches to predicting and preventing suicide. Current projects in their lab involve the use of multimodal ambulatory assessment to investigate biopsychosocial risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors in daily life (e.g., glucose regulation, stress-mediating biomarkers, alcohol use) and implementation of technology-based suicide prevention programs. Clinical psychology residents will also have opportunities to work with existing datasets that include ecological momentary assessment data, behavioral tasks, and clinical assessment data. Drs. Schatten and Wallace can provide mentorship in conducting research with adults at high risk for suicide, grant writing, manuscript preparation, and advanced statistical methods for analyzing longitudinal data.
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. She is co-chair of the department’s Trainee Support committee and 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 Associate Director of Inclusive Excellence for the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies and Associate Director of Team Science for the Center for Addiction and Disease Risk Exacerbation. Dr. Treloar Padovano’s clinical research program evaluates the development, prevention, and treatment of alcohol and cannabis use disorders through longitudinal designs, personalized interventions, and assessments in daily life and in communities. Her recent and ongoing clinical trials seek to intervene earlier for metabolism- and alcohol-associated liver disease in primary-care and specialty clinics serving uninsured adults in Rhode Island. Another line of her research program pairs laboratory paradigms and ecological momentary assessment to identify multifaceted determinants of changing substance-use choices and wellness during early-to-mid adolescence. As of 2021, Dr. Treloar Padovano implements all studies for which she is the primary researcher in Spanish and English. Her research team seeks to welcome and actively support trainees with distinctive perspectives or expertise.
Child Track Faculty offering Research Placements
Clinical Child Psychology
Jennifer Freeman, PhD, Kristen Benito, PhD, & Josh Kemp, PhD: Pediatric Anxiety Research Clinic (PARC) research focuses on the assessment and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. Current work includes developing new treatments and augmentation strategies, including neuromodulation, and improving the dissemination and implementation of exposure-based treatment through innovative service models and technology.
Christopher Houck, PhD: Studies emotion regulation and its relationship to adolescent health-risk behaviors, including sexual risk, partner violence, and substance use. Research also includes the development and evaluation of behavioral interventions to strengthen emotion-regulation skills.
Anastacia Kudinova, PhD: Studies biobehavioral mechanisms of youth suicide risk, with a focus on self-referential cognitive-affective processes—including self-criticism and self-compassion. Current studies integrate ecological momentary assessment, neuroimaging, measures of circadian phase and sleep, and clinical assessments.
Petya Radoeva, PhD: Studies neural mechanisms underlying depressive symptoms in youth with autism spectrum disorder. Additional interests include risk and protective factors associated with mood disorders and suicidality among autistic youth, including sleep, nutrition, and cognitive flexibility.
Jared Saletin, PhD: Studies adolescent sleep and cognitive neuroscience, with a focus on how sleep and sleep loss affect cognition, brain function, and mental health during early adolescence. The lab is particularly interested in ADHD as a marker of vulnerability to sleep loss and integrates sleep and circadian science with EEG, fMRI, and assessments of learning, attention, impulsivity, and mental health. The team is based within the Sleep for Science Lab and collaborates closely with Mary A. Carskadon, PhD.
Laura Stroud, PhD: Studies biobehavioral and epigenetic mechanisms linking stress, mood, and substance use with health and development. The BAMBAM Lab focuses on two sensitive developmental periods: the perinatal–fetal–infant transition and the adolescent–pubertal transition. Research placements may include secondary data analysis for manuscripts or conference presentations, grant writing, and hands-on exposure to perinatal research.
Elizabeth Thompson, PhD: Research focuses on psychosis-spectrum disorders in adolescence, with an emphasis on characterizing early psychosis presentations and risk factors, improving screening and assessment practices across settings, and optimizing interventions. Current research studies and opportunities for collaboration focus on the intersection of adolescent psychosis and 1) sleep, 2) suicidality, and 3) cannabis use.
Jennifer Wolff, PhD & Katherine Tezanos, PhD: Research focuses on improving the identification and treatment of youth suicide risk in real-world settings. Interns have opportunities to utilize rich datasets from NIH-funded projects addressing suicide prevention for those with juvenile justice involvement, developmentally sensitive risk assessment for preadolescents, and parenting practices following psychiatric hospitalization. Projects may involve qualitative, daily diary, longitudinal, or behavioral data, with opportunities to contribute to manuscripts and presentations.
Yovanska Duarte, PhD & Gisela Jimenez-Colon, PhD: The InVita Lab is dedicated to advancing research on the socio-cultural factors that influence the mental health of Latine youth and their families. Our work centers on developing and implementing evidence-based interventions that are culturally responsive and tailored to the unique needs of our communities. We focus on critical areas such as depression, suicidality, and trauma, aiming to reduce disparities and promote healing.
Pediatric Psychology
David Barker, PhD: 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, PhD, Elizabeth McQuaid, PhD, ABPP & Daphne Koinis-Mitchell, PhD: 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.
Grace Cushman, PhD: Prevention and intervention development for youth with food allergy and their caregivers; psychosocial functioning and pain symptoms among adolescents with functional abdominal pain
Katherine Darling, PhD: 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, PhD: 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, PhD & Jack Nassau, PhD: 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.
Daphne Koinis-Mitchell, PhD: Risk and resilience in urban children with chronic illness; pediatric health disparities in asthma and sleep; asthma/sleep, immune and metabolic function in children; interventions enhancing lifestyle behaviors and chronic illness in urban children
Jared Saletin, PhD: 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.
Jenny Warnick, PhD: is the PI of the DiaCARE Lab at The Miriam Hospital. Her research broadly focuses on improving the health and well-being of youth and young adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Her projects involve a specific focus on improving disordered eating, diabetes distress, and cardiovascular health among youth living with T1D. Dr. Warnick is also involved in the development of a new clinic focused on early-stage T1D diagnoses.
Juvenile Justice Behavioral Health
Christopher Houck, PhD: 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, PhD: 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, Jr, PhD: 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.
Lauren Micalizzi, PhD: Early-life substance exposure; just-in-time adaptive interventions for perinatal substance use; self-regulatory and mental health correlates of substance use.
Kaitlin Sheerin, PhD: 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
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.
Sharon Lee: Biobehavioral mechanisms linking stress and trauma with cardiovascular health risk; psychophysiology of stress reactivity; stress measurement via laboratory paradigms and ambulatory assessment methods (e.g., wearable devices, ecological momentary assessment); resilience and posttraumatic growth
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.
Jessica Unick – Remotely-delivered behavioral interventions for promoting physical activity and weight loss; understanding variability in treatment response and adherence; development and implementation of adaptive interventions; interrelationships between yoga, weight, and eating behaviors; ecological momentary assessment (EMA).
Neuropsychology Faculty offering Research Placements
Laura Korthauer, PhD, and Jennifer Davis, PhD, ABPP-CN (1 slot): This research placement at Brown University Health (BUH) focuses on risk, resilience, and protective factors for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias-associated cognitive decline. The primary goal is to contribute to ongoing clinical trials focused on behavioral interventions for the prevention of ADRD, including an efficacy trial for a novel multidomain behavioral intervention and an intervention development project for a dyadic intervention for people with MCI and their care partners. There may also be opportunities to publish data from existing research and clinical databases (e.g., normal pressure hydrocephalus database, Alzheimer's Disease Prevention Registry database). The resident in this rotation will work with the supervisors to develop specific research projects with a goal of presenting results at conferences and preparing manuscripts for publication.
Ryan Van Patten, PhD, ABPP-CN; W. Curt LaFrance Jr., MD, MPH (2 slots): This research rotation at VA Providence includes a focus on assessment/treatment of cognition and mental health in people with complex neuropsychiatric conditions such as functional neurological disorder (FND), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and epilepsy. Due to the diverse interests of Drs. Van Patten and LaFrance, 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 (e.g., stigma, anxiety disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders) or methodology (e.g., psychometrics/test development, qualitative research, neuroimaging, machine learning) 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.
One cross cutting theme of this research rotation is the effort to collect deeply phenotyped datasets in patients with neuropsychiatric conditions such as FND, in order to improve diagnosis, mechanisms, treatment, and general clinical care. The combined labs can provide access to a wide variety of datasets for generation of posters, peer reviewed papers, and other research products. In addition, the resident would be supported in developing their own ideas for new projects that fit within the scope of the research programs. Specific opportunities and additional details can be discussed with Drs. Van Patten and LaFrance.
Preeti Sunderaraman, PhD & Edward (“Ted”) Huey, MD (2 slots): The Memory and Aging Program (MAP) at Butler Hospital offers clinical psychology interns the opportunity to conduct innovative projects. Examples of projects include neuropsychiatric symptoms, digital and non-digital cognition, and complex instrumental activities of daily living (iADLs) across diverse populations including cognitively healthy older adults at risk, as well as individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease, Frontotemporal dementia, Huntington’s disease, and primary progressive aphasia. Depending on the project, interns will utilize behavioral, biomarker, neuroimaging, cognitive, functional, and psychophysiological datasets. The intern will work with a collaborative team of psychologists, psychiatrists, statisticians, and research coordinators. While basic statistical proficiency is expected, supervision for advanced statistical methods is fully available. Mentors closely guide residents in conceptualizing independent project ideas, with explicit opportunities to publish in peer-reviewed journals, present at local, national, and international conferences, and participate in broader MAP research initiatives.
Alyssa De Vito, PhD (1 slot): Digital Assessment for Neurodegenerative disease Detection Improvement (DANDI) Lab (Butler Hospital). The DANDI Lab evaluates digital tools to improve detection and monitoring of Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease related dementias (AD/ADRD) with a focus on digital phenotyping through personal digital devices (e.g., smartphones, smartwatches). There will be opportunities to be involved in Dr. De Vito’s NIA-funded K23 project aimed at developing and validating a digital phenotype of affective neuropsychiatric symptoms in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). There are also opportunities to analyze previously collected survey, ecological momentary assessment, and passive data that were used to evaluate acceptability and feasibility of passive monitoring in older adults. These data can be used to support a resident generating a conference poster, peer-reviewed manuscript, and/or other research deliverables. Supervision in intensive longitudinal data analysis is available but prior experience with digital phenotyping, wearables, and/or neuropsychiatric symptoms in AD/ADRD is encouraged.
Internship Grant Program
The Internship Grant Program was created to provide the opportunity for clinical psychology residents to apply for 'seed money' for small research projects during the internship year. This research is generally an outgrowth of the research placement, with the research placement supervisor serving as a mentor. There is a small amount of funds available per internship year.