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Training in Behavioral & Preventive Medicine

The Miriam Hospital
bms.brown.edu/DPHB/training/psychology_training/NIH_fellowships/b ehavmed_fellowship.htm

Director: Rena Wing, PhD
Address, phone, e-mail

Abstract

The primary goal of this program is to train post-doctoral fellows to conduct research related to changing behavior to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The Brown University Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine (CBPM) provides a wealth of research training experiences to address the most prominent lifestyle risk factors for CVD, cigarette smoking, adverse diet, obesity, and physical inactivity. Specifically, there are opportunities to learn to use multidisciplinary approaches to treat healthy and medically ill populations (e.g. individuals with diabetes; participants in cardiovascular rehabilitation programs), deliver services in unique settings (e.g., emergency departments, neonatal intensive care units, after cardiovascular procedures), and use innovative channels of delivery (Internet, telephone, print) to more efficiently disseminate interventions. There are on-going collaborations between behavioral researchers at the CBPM and faculty in the Brown Department of Medicine and Department of Community Health. Currently funded clinical trials evaluate the effect of behavior change on cardiovascular endpoints, studies of genetic and environmental contributions to health behaviors and CVD, and projects assessing the role of psychosocial factors in cardiovascular disease and adherence to behavior change recommendations. The strength and competitiveness of the research and training programs in the CBPM attract outstanding candidates for research fellowships. Program faculty have an outstanding history of successful mentoring. Our aim will be to recruit three fellows each year, with two M.D. fellows recruited over the project.

Areas of Special Emphasis

Training will be highly individualized with all fellows developing excellent core competencies in areas such as CVD epidemiology, clinical trials related to behavioral risk factors; and research skills. Fellows will also develop a complementary set of specialized competencies specific to their area of research (i.e., tobacco use, obesity, or physical activity). A formal 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; with a physician or population scientist and a junior faculty member as secondary mentors. An individual training plan, constructed with the fellow's unique training needs in mind, will outline the competencies, mentoring arrangement, training activities, and objectives for each fellow. Formal mechanisms will be in place to monitor and evaluate each fellow's progress toward developing competencies. We believe the strengths of our faculty, funded research opportunities, and training record make us uniquely qualified to offer this training program in behavior change and CVD.

Type of Training: Post-doctoral

Key Faculty Available as Preceptors

Beth Bock, PhD, Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Human Behavior. Smoking cessation, exercise promotion and computer based technologies for supporting exercise in cardiac patients.

Belinda Borrelli, PhD, Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Human Behavior. Smoking cessation with hard to treat populations.

Alfred Buxton, MD, Professor of Medicine. Mechanisms of ventricular arrhythmias. Identification of persons at risk for sudden cardiac death.

Melissa Clark, PhD, Associate Professor, Community Health. Survey design for screening/smoking cessation.

Sean David, MD, Assistant Professor, Family Medicine. Tobacco use prevention from genetic level to informing policy.

Charles Eaton, MD, Professor, Family Medicine. Health risk behaviors and cardiovascular disease.

Michael Goldstein, MD, Adjunct Professor, Psychiatry and Human Behavior. Physician training in counseling patients regarding health behaviors.

Elissa Jelalian, PhD, Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Human Behavior. Adolescent obesity.

Stephen McGarvey, PhD, MPH, Professor, Community Health. Environmental/genetic interaction that increase CVD risk factors.

Richard Millman, MD, Professor of Medicine. Obstructive sleep apneas, role of sleep disordered breathing in mediating changes in blood pressure following weight loss.

Peter Monti, PhD, Professor, Community Health and Psychiatry and Human Behavior. Addictive behavior, prevention and treatment.

Alfred Parisi, MD, Professor of Medicine. Clinical trials, coronary disease echocardiography.

Bernardine Pinto, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. Improving lifestyle health behaviors and maintaining exercise after cardiac rehabilitation.

Richard Rende, PhD, Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Human Behavior. Genetic studies, familial transmission of psychopathology affective disorders and tobacco use.

Damaris Rohsenow, PhD, Professor, Community Health. Basic process and treatment for addictive disorders.

Robert Smith, MD, Professor of Medicine. Basic and translational research on insulin resistance, diabetes mellitus, diabetes complications, human growth, and related diseases.

Peter Tilkmeier, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine. Psychosocial factors in cardiac disease, new cardiovascular imaging agents.

Patrick Vivier, MD, Associate Professor, Community Health and Pediatrics. Pediatric obesity and health services issues for low income families.

David Williams, MD, Professor of Medicine. Cardiovascular interventions.

Last updated: January, 2009