Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship
Research
Our research training track fills a critical training gap and national need for physician scientists, while minimally extending physician time in training.
Research
Our research training track fills a critical training gap and national need for physician scientists, while minimally extending physician time in training.
Our R25-funded Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Research Training Track (CAP-RTT) fills a critical training gap and national need for physician scientists, while minimally extending physician time in training. This two-year program (with an optional third year) pairs substantial dedicated research time with excellent clinical training in our Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) fellowship. The CAP-RTT program will propel candidates with prior research experience, or interest, towards independent and productive research careers. Our Division has more than 150 full-time faculty, 35 of whom are research funded. In 2021-22, the Division received more than $22 million for active grants (representing over $86 million in all years of funding for those projects).
The Division’s pioneering research in psychopathology, infant development, children’s sleep, psychophysiology, and HIV prevention has led to new and effective treatments for children and their families. Pioneering translational neuroscience, genetics, prevention, health disparities, and health services research are also abundantly funded. Finally, the Division’s excellent track record in mentorship and postgraduate T32 research training in child mental health are well known, with continual funding from the NIMH since 1994.
Research Fellows
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Candice Espinoza
Research Interests Mood Disorders in children and adolescents, suicidality, health disparities and inequity in underserved areas and in indigenous populationsResearch Mentor Dr. Anthony SpiritoDr. Candice Espinoza completed general psychiatry residency training at Johns Hopkins University, where she was awarded the Frank L. Coulson, Jr. Award for Clinical Excellence. She received her medical degree from The University of New Mexico School of Medicine in 2019 where she obtained a Public Health Certificate and a Basic Certificate in Quality and Safety. During residency, she collaborated with mentors to conduct a scoping review to assist with the development of a school-based education program, Adolescent Depression Awareness Program Junior (ADAP Jr.), aimed to educate middle school students and their families about the recognition and management of anxiety. Dr. Espinoza was accepted into the Brown NIMH R-25 Research Training Program and was selected to serve as an American Psychiatric Association Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Leadership Fellow (term 2023-2025).
Prior to medical school, Dr. Espinoza was a professional tutor, biology laboratory instructor, and spent several years working as an Advanced Emergency Medical Technician in rural New Mexico.
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Carla Hasson
Research Interests Early indicators of infant development and mental healthResearch Mentor Dr. Stephanie ParadeDr. Carla Hasson completed psychiatry residency at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She received her medical degree from the University of South Florida in Tampa, where she was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha and the Gold Humanism Honor Society. She began research during residency with the Initiative on Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR), focusing on infant attention as a predictor of childhood development. She has presented this research at AACAP’s national meeting and is excited to continue this work as a fellow. She also volunteers her clinical services for the Adolescent Leadership Council (TALC) helping adolescents with chronic medical illness and their parents find support in group therapy, as well as the Brown Human Rights Asylum Clinic (BHRAC) conducting asylum evaluations.
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Hyungjin (Tom) Kim, MD, MSc
Research Interests Resilience, medical education, anxiety/OCD, digital psychiatryResearch Mentor Dr. Joshua KempDr. Hyungjin "Tom" Kim completed psychiatry residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center where he graduated with the APA Resident Recognition Award. He received his medical degree from New York Medical College with a concentration in medical education and as a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Prior to his medical training, he was awarded the Rotary Global Grant Fellowship to earn his Master's in Global Mental Health from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine to learn about the intersection of culture, policy, economics, and mental health.
Dr. Kim has a wide range of academic and research interests, including curricula to foster resilience in 21st-century physicians, incorporating simulation-based learning in psychiatry training, and evaluating the safety and efficacy of digital mental health tools. He has received various awards for his research including an educational project award from the Shapiro Center for Education and the Solomon Award for best resident research at Harvard Medical School.
As a member of the Brown NIMH R-25 Research Training Program, he is studying the application of Artificial Intelligence to augment existing treatment modalities for Obsessive Compulsion Disorder in children and adolescents.
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Elizabeth Modde, MD
Research Interests Health equity, infant mental health, trauma and resiliencyMentor Dr. Stephanie ParadeElizabeth Modde is a Triple Board resident, completing her training in Pediatrics, Adult Psychiatry, and Child Psychiatry at Brown University. She graduated from University of Missouri School of Medicine, where she was active in community outreach as a director of the student-run free clinic and community member at St. Francis House, running a soup kitchen and homeless shelter. Her research in medical school centered on health equity through provider and medical student education. She implemented and evaluated programs and education about trauma informed care, intimate partner violence, LGBT health, and working with unhoused patients. Additionally, she worked with Dr. Melissa Lewis and an expert panel, utilizing Indigenous Research Methodologies to create an Indigenous Health Toolkit for providers.
For her R25 Research Education Program, Dr. Modde is focusing on early childhood, studying infant mental health and relationships with a focus on early life stress, trauma, and resilience among a diverse patient population.
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Bhargav Patel, MD
Research Interests PTSD, resilience, and the biological implications of early life stressResearch Mentor Dr. Audrey TyrkaDr. Bhargav Patel completed medical school and psychiatry residency at the Medical College of Georgia. He did his undergraduate education at Vanderbilt University where he studied the overlap between psychology, religious studies, and philosophy. During residency, he also completed an MBA in healthcare administration from the University of Arizona Eller College of Management. During his medical career, he has developed expertise in PTSD, trauma, and resilience with multiple textbook chapter publications and peer-reviewed publications, and he is currently working on a book on trauma & resilience to be published in 2025. As part of the R-25 research program at Brown, he is studying childhood trauma and stress and its impacts on biology, genetics, and beyond. He is also passionate about a broad range of interests including neuroscience, entrepreneurship, nutrition, healthcare innovation, and AI in healthcare. During medical school, he started a vegan nutrition company named myPEAK and is also currently part of a healthcare AI co-pilot & medical decision support company named Sully.ai. Outside of work, he is an avid reader, meditator, and hiker who is currently trying to complete a visit to all 63 national parks in the US.
Graduates
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Julia Katz, MD
Dr. Julia Katz completed psychiatry residency at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She received her medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, where she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. She also co-led both the Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry interest groups and participated in research at the UNC Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, examining the developmental trajectory of reward processing deficits in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). She maintained an interest in ASD as a resident, collaborating with mentors at the Seaver Autism Center at Mount Sinai. Dr. Katz served as Chief Resident for the psychiatry residency for the 2020-21 academic year. Prior to college, Dr. Katz earned the rank of Sergeant in the Israeli Defense Force and served as a medic providing primary and preventative health care to thousands of soldiers.
Upon completion of her R25 research fellowship, Dr. Katz joined the faculty at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she serves as an attending at the neurodevelopmental outpatient clinic working with children with autism and developmental disabilities.
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Elizabeth Olsen, MD
Dr. Elizabeth Olsen completed psychiatry residency at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She received her medical degree from Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University in 2018. During medical school, Dr. Olsen was awarded the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, the Kristen Harris Award for Excellence in Psychiatry, and the Stony Brook School of Medicine Excellence in Clinical Research Award. During residency, Dr. Olsen served on the Brown Curriculum Committee, the Brown Selection Committee, and the Brown Recruitment Committee. She volunteered her clinical services for The Adolescent Leadership Council (TALC) helping adolescents with chronic medical illness and their parents cope more effectively. Dr. Olsen is interested in clinical research and has authored several peer-reviewed manuscripts and has also presented at national meetings including the AACAP and APA annual meetings.
Upon completion of her R25 research fellowship, Dr. Olsen joined Brown University's T32 Research Training Program in Adolescent/Young Adult Biobehavioral HIV Research under the mentorship of Drs. Larry Brown and Laura Whiteley. She also serves as a Junior Attending at Bradley Hospital, where she provides coverage for the inpatient units and partial hospital programs.
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Joshua Wortzel, MD
Dr. Joshua Wortzel completed psychiatry residency at the University of Rochester, where he was a chief resident, an Academic Psychiatry Trainee Editorial Fellow, and an APA/APAF Leadership Fellow. He received his medical degree at Stanford University. His research focus has been on studying and advocating for the impacts of climate change on mental health. He has over fifteen peer reviewed publications and book chapters and has been published several times in national and professional organization news periodicals. In 2023, he was appointed the chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Committee on Climate Change and Mental Health and the vice-chair of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s (AACAP) Resource Group on Climate Mental Health. He was selected nationally as a fellow of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP) think tank, where he serves on the Climate Mental Health Committee. He also serves on the steering committee for the national non-profit Climate Psychiatry Alliance (CPA). He has presented on the topic of climate change and mental health to national audiences within the APA and AACAP and at grand rounds across the country. As part of the R-25 research program at Brown, he is currently studying the effects of heat on suicide in young people and the impact that distress about climate change has on their mental health. He has received an AACAP Pilot Research Award for Early Career Faculty and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellows for this research.
Upon completion of his R25 research fellowship, Dr. Wortzel took a position at the Institute of Living’s Young Adult Intensive Outpatient Program with 50% protected research time to continue studying climate change and mental health with mentors at the Institute of Living, Yale, and Brown.
I [completed the] research track, which provides protected time and support throughout fellowship to pursue research interests. The program is able to provide around 20% of protected time during first-year of training and up to 60% during second-year. The research experience here can be tailored depending on the resident's background and interests. For my first year, the research track allowed for regular meetings with my mentors, completion of ongoing projects from my adult residency, and development of an independent clinical research project I will be implementing [in my second] year.
I have found Brown to be an ideal environment to start my research career, given our wonderful faculty, facilities, and patient populations! Our program directors are supportive and creative in being able to guide trainees to a good balance of clinical and research activities, and are fantastic resources to become oriented to Brown's academic environment. Fellows are also encouraged to present their research both internally and at national/international conferences and have the infrastructure to do so. My experience in C&A fellowship on the research track has confirmed my understanding that our institution has a clear dedication to fostering residents with an interest in research- and the quality and accessibility of our mentorship cannot be surpassed.
Class of 2018
