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Research Fellowship Program (RFP)

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Research Fellowship Program (RFP)

Research Fellowship Program (RFP)

Elissa Jelalian, PhD, Director 
Jennifer Freeman, PhD, Associate Director

Learn more about the fellowships being offered in our Research Fellowship Program (RFP).

The RFP provides advanced research experiences and promotes the development of independent investigators.  Areas of emphasis include: adult, child, health psychology/behavioral medicine, and neuropsychology. RFP fellowships are funded through faculty research grants and/or through an existing NIH-Funded T32 fellowship listed below.

RFP fellowship positions are 1-2 years in duration. Agreement to continue for a second year of training, when available, is decided upon by the postdoctoral fellow and the primary supervisor midway through the first year. The supervisor informs the postdoctoral fellow that he/she would like him/her to stay a second year by mid-December.  Postdoctoral fellows must make a decision by January 1st in order to allow sufficient time to recruit a replacement. 

All postdoctoral fellowships are full-time positions. 

All candidates for admission are held to the onboarding requirements of the hospital in which they will be employed. 

All candidates for admission who are clinical/counseling/school psychologists are also strongly encouraged to purchase their own liability insurance (Professional Liability (Malpractice) Insurance for Pre-Licensed Psychologist) while on fellowship. Future employers may request that you supply proof of insurance while you were in training. 

At this time, the State of Rhode Island mandates that all healthcare providers and healthcare workers have received a complete series of COVID-19 vaccine (one dose of Johnson & Johnson, two doses of Pfizer or Moderna).  The sole exemption in the regulation is a medical exemption. For more information, please visit the Rhode Island Department of Health, COVID-19 Information website.

Postdoctoral fellows decide on the appropriate research activities in conjunction with the faculty supervisor.  All individualized training activities for postdoctoral fellows must include explicit goals and activities for their fellowship.  It is the responsibility of the primary supervisor to monitor that the fellow’s goals are being met.

Postdoctoral fellows in a research-focused fellowships spend at least 60% and up to 90% of their time on research. The primary goal of the RFP is to develop both the knowledge base and the skills to begin an independent research career within the chosen area of emphasis. This will include:

  1. a critical understanding of the literature and the current issues in the field; and
  2. the ability to independently develop a specific research project.

Postdoctoral fellows whose positions have a primary research focus are most often provided with experience working on grant-funded projects. Close supervision is provided for experimental design, research techniques, and grant writing. Grant writing is a focus of the training in some, but not all, of the fellowships.

The primary activities on a research fellowship may include:

  • developing a grant proposal which is submitted for funding;
  • propose, design, and implement a small research project; and/or
  • conduct secondary data analyses on existing data sets.

Projects are typically conducted in collaboration with the faculty supervisor and can take advantage of ongoing programmatic research at Brown University.

 

NIH-Funded T32 Postdoctoral Fellowships

Institutional (T32) and Individual (F32) NIH-funded research fellowships, described in this section, are either funded by a T32 Institutional Research Service Awards or an F32 Individual National Research Service Awards.

There are currently six NIH-supported institutional training grants associated with the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (DPHB) and the Research Fellowship Program (RFP).

Information on NIH Support for Postdoctoral Fellows

NIH/The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Adolescent/Young Adult Biobehavioral HIV Research

The Research Training Program in Adolescent/Young Adult Biobehavioral HIV Research prepares post-residency psychiatrists, postdoctoral psychologists, and behavioral scientists to conduct independent research in the area of  biobehavioral HIV as full-time University faculty members.

The program is a two-year fellowship in which research fellows train under the guidance of experienced mentors. It includes didactic work, participation in ongoing funded projects, and independent research.

A central characteristic of the program is its integration of biological and behavioral components to inform HIV research. Trainees receive dual mentorship both from a faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and a faculty in the Center for AIDS Research. Projects may involve infected, affected or at-risk youth in behavioral or biologic research. Ongoing funded projects target youth in diverse settings (HIV/STI Clinics, mental health treatment, public schools, the RI Family court, detention facilities, and community-based recreational programs), investigate novel interventions (family-based, ​internet​, gaming, and media) and include biological markers (HIV and other STIs, viral load, immune functioning and stress reactivity). Clinical experiences are also available for appropriate trainees.

Mentors

Research trainees select an established mentor whose area of research matches well with their own. Please contact potential mentors prior to applying, to determine their availability and the suitability of their research.  ​ 

Visit Researchers@Brown to learn more about the research and clinical interests of these Brown faculty mentors.

The primary mentors are:

David Barker, Ph.D.
Curt G. Beckwith, M.D.
Katie Biello, Ph.D.
Larry K. Brown, M.D. (Director)
Phillip Chan, M.D.
Susan Cu-Uvin, M.D.
Rani Elwy, Ph.D.
Timothy Flanigan, M.D. (Co-Director)
Omar Galarraga, Ph.D.
Abigail Harrison, Ph.D.
Christopher Houck, Ph.D.
Chanelle Howe, Ph.D.
Jaclyn Hughto, Ph.D.
Elissa Jelalian, Ph.D.
Christopher Kahler, Ph.D.
Rami Kantor, M.D.
Kathleen Kemp, Ph.D.
Mark Lurie, Ph.D.
Brandon Marshall, Ph.D.
Elizabeth McQuaid, Ph.D., ABPP (Co-Director)
Nicole Nugent, Ph.D.
Lindsay Orchowski, Ph.D.
Stephanie Parade, Ph.D.
Josiah Rich, M.D.
Anthony Spirito, Ph.D., ABPP
Audrey Tyrka, M.D., Ph.D.
Laura Whiteley, M.D.
Ira Wilson, M.D., M.Sc.
Caron Zlotnick, Ph.D.

NIH/The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Weight Control & Diabetes Research Center
Center for Behavioral & Preventive Medicine

Research Training in Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine

The primary goal of the Research Training Program in Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine is to train postdoctoral fellows to become researchers who address behavioral problems related to cardiovascular disease. This T32, which is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), develops researchers who have the expertise to a) advance the scientific understanding of behaviors associated with cardiovascular disease and b) develop effective interventions targeting these behaviors in order to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease. Research training addresses the most prominent lifestyle risk factors for CVD, including but not limited to cigarette smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity. There is also an emphasis on addressing pediatric risk factors for cardiovascular disease, innovative technologies and methodologies to improve the impact and dissemination potential of research, and behavioral interventions for populations that are underserved and disproportionately affected by cardiovascular disease. There are opportunities to study ways to use advances in basic science to inform behavioral interventions (moving from “bench to bedside”) and ways to cost-effectively disseminate effective treatments to the community (“bedside to community”).

Training is highly individualized with all fellows developing excellent core competencies in areas such as CVD epidemiology, behavioral clinical trials methodology, and research skills. Fellows will also develop a complementary set of specialized competencies specific to their area of research (e.g.,, tobacco use, obesity, physical activity, or behavioral cardiology). A curriculum includes both formal didactics (i.e., coursework and seminars) and mentored research experiences. The mentoring team will be headed by a senior behavioral scientist; typically with a physician or population scientist and a junior faculty member as secondary mentors. Applicants with a wide variety of backgrounds are sought, including doctoral level behavioral, social, or public health scientists and physicians who are interested in research areas related to cardiovascular behavioral medicine, including weight control, physical activity, diet and eating behavior, nicotine dependence, pediatrics, and e/mHealth. For more information about our programs, please visit the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center and Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine. 

This T32 fellowship program prioritizes consideration of applicants from NIH-defined underrepresented populations in the U.S. biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social sciences research enterprise (NOT-OD-20-031), and provides tailored mentoring opportunities to support trainees of diverse backgrounds.

Dr. Rena Wing serves as Director of this T32 fellowship program. Drs. Elissa Jelalian and J. Graham Thomas serve as Associate Directors.

Senior Mentors in Behavioral Medicine:

Ana Abrantes, Ph.D.
Beth Bock, Ph.D.
Rani Elwy, Ph.D.
Allison Field, Ph.D.
Elissa Jelalian, Ph.D. (Associate Director)
Christopher Kahler, Ph.D.
Daphne Koinis-Mitchell, Ph.D.
Bess Marcus, Ph.D.
Elizabeth McQauid, Ph.D.
Kathleen Morrow, Ph.D.
Elena Salmoirago-Blotcher, M.D., Ph,D., FAHA
Michael Silverstein, M.D.
Laura Stroud, Ph.D.
Graham Thomas, Ph.D. (Associate Director)
Lisa Uebelacker, Ph.D.
David Williams, Ph.D.
Rena Wing, Ph.D. (Director)

Junior Mentors in Behavioral Medicine:

Shira Dunsiger, Ph.D.
Whitney Evans, Ph.D.
Emily Gathright, Ph.D.
Carly Goldstein, Ph.D.
Stephanie Goldstein, Ph.D.
Ernestine Jennings, Ph.D.
Akeila Dulin Keita, Ph.D.
Kathryn McDermott, Ph.D.
KayLoni Olson, Ph.D.
Emily Panza, Ph.D.
Jessica Unick, Ph.D.

Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Community Health:

Joseph Braun, Ph.D.
Leslie Brick, Ph.D.
Melissa A. Clark, Ph.D.
Omar Galarraga, Ph.D.
Joseph Hogan, Sc.D.
Richard Jones, Ph.D.
Eric Loucks, Ph.D.
Robert Miranda, Ph.D.
David A. Savitz, M.D., Ph.D.
Patrick Vivier, M.D.

Sleep and Cardiovascular Disease-related Medicine:

Brian Abbott, M.D.
Dawn Abbott, M.D.
Ghada Bourjeily, M.D.
Mary Carskadon, Ph.D.
Charles Eaton M.D., MS
Simin Liu, M.D., MPH
Megan Ranney, M.D., MPH
Katherine Sharkey, M.D., Ph.D.
Wen-Chih Wu, M.D.

NIH/The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Child Mental Health Research

The T32 Research Training Program in Child Mental Health prepares post-residency psychiatrists, postdoctoral psychologists, and behavioral scientists to conduct independent research in the area of child mental health as full-time University faculty members.

The program is a two-year fellowship in which research fellows train under the guidance of experienced mentors. It includes didactic work, grant writing, participation in ongoing funded projects, and independent research. 

A central characteristic of the Child Mental Health Research Program is its diversity and breadth. Participating faculty mentors have expertise in a range of areas including:1) developmental psychopathology  and risk factors, with emphasis on infants, toddlers, and preschoolers; 2) pediatric psychology/ psychiatry with an emphasis on HIV, obesity, and asthma; 3) biological basis of biobehavioral regulation with an emphasis on chronobiology; 4) health disparities; 5) implementation science; 6) youth  mood, anxiety and substance use disorders; and7) treatment development.

Mentors

Research trainees select an established mentor whose area of research matches well with their own. Learn more about the research and clinical interests for faculty mentors listed below.

The primary mentors are:

David Barker, Ph.D.
Applied Statistical Modeling

Kristen Benito, Ph.D.
Pediatric OCD/Anxiety Disorders

Larry Brown, M.D.
Adolescent HIV Risk

Mary A. Carskadon, Ph.D. 
Chronobiology and Sleep

Yovanska Duarte-Velez, Ph.D.
Culturally-Centered Treatment

Rani Elwy, Ph.D.
Implementation Science 

Jennifer Freeman, Ph.D. 
Pediatric OCD/Anxiety Disorders

Christopher Houck, Ph.D.
Adolescent Sexual Risk Behavior and Emotion Regulation

Jeff Hunt, M.D.
Pediatric Mood Disorders

Elissa Jelalian, Ph.D.
Weight Regulation

Kathleen Kemp, Ph.D.
Juvenile Justice Behavioral Health, Dissemination and Implementation

Daphne Koinis-Mitchell, Ph.D.
Pediatric Health Disparities

Barry Lester, Ph.D.
Perinatal Risk Factors

Elizabeth McQuaid, Ph.D., ABPP 
Asthma and Families

Eric Morrow, M.D., Ph.D.
Genetics of Developmental Disorders

Nicole Nugent, Ph.D.
Traumatic Stress and Interplay of Biology and Social Context 

Stephanie Parade, Ph.D.
Developmental Psychopathology, Early Childhood Intervention

Justin Parent, Ph.D.
Parenting and Developmental Psychopathology

Jessica R. Peters, Ph.D.  
Adolescent Borderline Personality Disorder, Menstrual Cycle, LGBTQ+

Jared Saletin, Ph.D.
Pediatric Sleep and Cognitive Functioning

Anthony Spirito, Ph.D., ABPP
Adolescent Psychopathology

Audrey Tyrka, M.D., Ph.D. 
Social, Behavioral and Molecular Mechanisms of Risk and Resilience

Jennifer Wolff, Ph.D.
Treatment Development and Implementation

NICHD/The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Research Training in Childhood Stress, Trauma, and Resilience         

The STAR T32 research training program is an intensive fellowship designed to prepare PhD and MD postdoctoral fellows to conduct cutting-edge, translational, developmentally informed research on childhood stress, trauma and resilience. The STAR T32 program takes a broad approach to stress, adversity, and trauma experienced by children and families and their impact on health outcomes across development, including research on adults with a history of early and later stress/trauma. Fellows emerge as innovative and productive independent investigators through intensive mentorship, foundational didactics, and formulation of an independent STAR research project and grant proposal. Fellows also benefit from activities and career development opportunities offered through the newly funded COBRE Center for Stress, Trauma, and Resilience, which provides infrastructure to catalyze the development of early career faculty and includes a Technology, Assessment, Data, and Analysis Core and a Community Collaborative Core.   

The program embraces an apprenticeship model where fellows work closely with one of a broad base of exceptional faculty mentors conducting innovative, NIH-funded, translational research in STAR-related areas often involving diverse, underserved and disadvantaged populations. Fellows may also receive additional mentorship from a secondary mentor depending on the trainee’s interests and training needs. Foundational didactics include training in research design, grant writing, professional development, and ethical issues in research. Ongoing funded projects take a comprehensive and in-depth approach to the full range of exposures and traumas, which include pre- and post-natal exposure to stress, trauma, and substance use, domestic violence and parenting influences, childhood maltreatment, parental loss, trauma presenting to the emergency department, gun violence, neighborhood violence, peer interactions, as well as poverty and other contextual risk and resilience factors occurring throughout development and into adulthood. Research topics also include a focus on the biological (genomic, epigenomic, metabolic, hormonal, inflammatory mechanisms), social (including virtual and online interactions), and behavioral pathways and mechanisms of risk and resilience for health disparities and consequences of adversity; health behaviors and outcomes including birth outcomes, as well as later behavioral, psychiatric, and other medical conditions; and interventions and community partnerships that are evidence-based and provide services and treatments to those children and families most at risk.

Learn more about the Initiative on Stress, Trauma, and Resilience in the Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior (DPHB).

The Mentors

Research trainees select an established mentor whose area of research matches well with their own.  Learn more about the research and clinical interests for faculty mentors listed below.

CORE STAR T32 Mentors
Laura Stroud, Co-Director, STAR Initiative, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Audrey R Tyrka, Co-Director, STAR Initiative, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
Nicole R Nugent, Associate Director, STAR Initiative, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
Stephanie Parade, Associate Director, STAR Initiative, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior

Additional Mentors
Michael F Armey, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research)
Cynthia Battle, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior​
Leslie Brick, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
Larry K Brown, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior​
Margaret Bublitz, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Assistant Professor of Medicine
Linda L Carpenter, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
Mary A Carskadon, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior​
Kate M Guthrie, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Elissa Jelalian, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Professor of Pediatrics
Daphne Koinis-Mitchell, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research), Professor of Pediatrics (Research)
Elizabeth L McQuaid, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Professor of Pediatrics
Lindsay M Orchowski, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research)
Noah S Philip, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
Megan L Ranney, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Associate Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice
Anthony Spirito, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
Rena R Wing, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior

NIH/The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Suicide Research

Based out of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior’s Consortium for Research Innovation in Suicide Prevention (CRISP), the T32 in Suicide Research is an intensive training program designed to prepare the next generation of PhD and MD researchers to conduct cutting-edge translational and prevention research on suicidal ideation and behaviors. Fellows in this program will receive rigorous foundational training in research design and statistics, ethics and responsible conduct of research, scientific rigor and reproducibility, and grant writing, alongside focused training in suicide research organized by the four key questions prioritized by the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention: 1) Why do people become suicidal? (Basic Research); 2) How can we better or optimally detect/predict risk? (Prediction Research), 3) What interventions are effective? (Interventions Research), and 4) What services are most effective for treating the suicidal person and preventing suicidal behavior? (Implementation Research). The T32 in Suicide Research is grounded in an apprenticeship model, with formative hands-on training in areas of suicide research most relevant to fellow interests, combined with formal didactics and other professional development opportunities.

Participating program faculty’s expertise provides opportunities for mentorship and training in suicide research across a broad range of age and patient populations, covering basic experimental and predictive methods, intervention development and clinical trials, and implementation science. Affiliated faculty offer expertise in areas that are highly complementary to important questions in suicide research, including sleep, genetics, neurostimulation, biomedical informatics, emergency and pediatric medicine, geriatrics, and advanced statistical methodologies. Based on the fellow’s interests and overlap with faculty expertise, each fellow will be assigned to a senior suicide researcher as a primary mentor in addition to a co-mentor as a complement to the training experience. Learn more about the research and clinical interests of the faculty mentors and affiliated faculty, listed below: 

Program Directors

Ivan Miller, PhD
Lauren Weinstock, PhD

Program Faculty

Michael Armey, PhD
Jennifer Barredo, PhD
Yovanska Duarte-Valez, PhD
Brandon Gaudiano, PhD
Kathleen Kemp, PhD
Nicole Nugent, PhD
Noah Philip, MD
Jennifer Primack, PhD
Megan Ranney, MD, MPH
Heather Schatten, PhD
Anthony Spirito, PhD
Lisa Uebelacker, PhD
Jennifer Wolff, PhD

Faculty Affiliates

Cynthia Battle, PhD
Leslie Brick, PhD
Stephen Buka, ScD
Linda Carpenter, MD
Mary Carskadon, PhD
Elizabeth Chen, PhD
Rani Elwy, PhD
Gary Epstein-Lubow, MD
Benjamin Greenberg, MD, PhD
Jeffrey Hunt, MD
John McGeary, PhD
Jessica Peters, PhD
Katie Sharkey, MD, PhD
Mark Zimmerman, MD

Brown University
Providence RI 02912 401-863-1000

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Research Fellowship Program (RFP)