News from Our Office
Jeff Lam Receives the Dupont Warren Fellowship
Jeff Lam, MD has recently been awarded the Dupont Warren fellowship through Harvard Medical School for his project entitled “From Risk to Resilience: Positive Psychosocial Resources and Suicide in Early Psychosis.” Building off his previous research on protective factors and recovery outcomes in mental illness, Dr. Lam will explore how positive psychosocial resources, such as social connectedness, hope, and meaning, may protect against suicidal thoughts and behaviors in early psychosis. Ultimately, this project aims to guide future early psychosis interventions toward building protective resources to prevent suicide during early psychosis.
Psychiatry Research Office Hosts Inaugural Psychiatry Research Day
On October 8th, the Psychiatry Research Office held the first ever Psychiatry Research Day to share research across the department and encourage cross-departmental collaboration. Senior researchers, early stage investigators from the CHA psychiatry research labs, psychiatry residents on the research track and other researchers from clinical departments participated, along with members of the CHA Foundation team. Five early stage investigators presented their projects, with a mentor discussant and open discussion following each presentation. Small breakout groups in suicide prevention, non-pharmacologic approaches to wellbeing and youth mental health set the stage for future cross-departmental research development. The event was positively received by participants, supporting networking opportunities for continued collaboration across the Department, as well as plans to repeat the event on a biannual basis.
Jessica Stubbing Receives CSRP Training Award
Dr. Jessica Stubbing has recently been accepted into the Center for Suicide Research and Prevention Scholars Program, which provides support and mentoring for the next generation of suicide prevention researchers. Mentored by Dr. Nick Carson, Dr. Stubbing plans to adapt Brief Cognitive Behavior Therapy for suicide prevention to an adolescent inpatient setting for her project. Dr. Stubbing has previously completed research on suicide prevention and Brief Cognitive Behavior Therapy in New Zealand and will build on this experience through this program.
Gili Grunfeld Joins the Early Psychosis Research Lab
Gil (Gili) Grunfeld, MSc, MA, a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at Boston University, has joined the Early Psychosis Research Lab at Cambridge Health Alliance as a PI on a mixed-methods project at the Recovery in Shared Experiences (RISE) Program at CHA, where she is investigating the interaction between daily experiences of loneliness and early psychosis symptom course. Gili has had a recent publication in JAMA Psychiatry based on research at the Prevention and Early Intervention Program for Psychosis- Montréal (PEPP-Montréal) and the Douglas Mental Health University Institute focused on the thematic content of psychosis symptoms in the first-episode population. To read this article, click here.
Mena Ads Receives Weil Foundation Funding
Mena Ads has received a second year of funding from the Weil Foundation to support the implementation of an innovative, pilot intervention for underserved, minoritized children and adolescents that addresses pediatric obesity and behavioral health using an interdisciplinary approach in primary care. This quality improvement project aligns with the mission of the Weil foundation to increase access to psychological services for a traditionally underserved, young BIPOC population. This award builds on Mena's prior work to adapt childhood obesity populations to include more behavioral health content, and will allow for outreach and implementation among a broader proportion of CHA patients.