Changing the Landscape of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Research
The Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Cincinnati Children’s uses both clinical and translational psychiatric research. Our mission is to improve mental health outcomes and access to care for those with mental health problems.
We are a clinician-led team that conducts research in a wide range of key areas—specifically neurodevelopmental disorders, suicide prevention and risk prediction of high-risk behaviors. As part of the Mental and Behavioral Health Institute, we collaborate with the Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology division, as well as Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.
In recent history, we’ve expanded the scope of our federal funding to include:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
- National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)
Recent awards include:
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) Fragile X Center grant, focused on translational medicine and brain physiology in Fragile X syndrome
- Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) funding to investigate managing suicidal youth
Our Research
While our team regularly participates in clinical trials and conducts traditional research in the lab, our focus is clinical and translational human subjects research. It’s what sets us apart. In fact, we have the largest research group in the United States for neurodevelopmental disorders that collaborates across psychiatry disciplines.
Our two main research programs are the Neurobehavioral Research Group and the Child and Adolescent Forensic Research Program.
Neurophysiology
Our Neurobehavioral Research Group includes a team of child and adolescent psychiatrists and researchers. We investigate brain pathophysiology in conditions such as autism spectrum disorder, Angelman syndrome and Fragile X syndrome.
We use various research modalities—for example, EEG, transcranial magnetic stimulation, MRI, eye tracking and computer-based cognitive testing.
Suicide and Suicide Prevention
Our Child and Adolescent Forensic Research Program centers around violence and suicide prevention. We created a standardized assessment tool called the Brief Rating of Aggression by Children and Adolescents (BRACHA). It predicts violence and aggression in inpatient units. We’re also looking at other potential predictive biomarkers including functional MRI measures, eye gaze and salivary hormones.
To expand on BRACHA, we are studying the prediction of school violence through an artificial intelligence (AI) system.
