Information from the Michigan State University Psychiatry Department:
Position: Associate Professor in Neurology & Ophthalmology and Psychiatry at Michigan State University
Background: A former Fulbright research scholar to the DR Congo (1990-91) and Uganda (2003-04), Dr. Boivin presently leads R34 MH082663; Cognitive and psychosocial benefits of caregiver training in Ugandan HIV children. He is also leading a study in Uganda on the cognitive rehabilitation of school-age Ugandan children affected by HIV (R34 MH084782, Neuropsychological Benefits of Cognitive Training in Ugandan HIV Children. He has led the neurodevelopmental assessment portions of an NIH R21 study on the neurocognitive effects of HIV subtype in Ugandan children (PI: Wong), and on a K01 study on the neurodevelopmental and factors affecting neurocognitive disability in rural Ugandan children affected by HIV (PI: Brahmbhatt). He recently published studies in evaluating cognitive rehabilitation programs in Ugandan school-age children with HIV and those having survived cerebral malaria. Presently he is collaborating on studies evaluating the neurcognitive effects of cerebral malaria in Malawian and in Ugandan children, as well as the developmental effects of maternal anemia in very young children in Benin. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Boivin has pioneered the application of neuropsychological assessment in gauging the neurocognitive impact of public health risk factors and interventions in African children.
Fellowships, Panels, Publications, Research
Contact Information:
Email: boivin@msu.edu
Phone: (517) 353-8122
OVC Wellbeing Content:
Neuropsychological benefits of cognitive training in Ugandan HIV children
Enhancing Ugandan HIV-affected child development with caregiver training
Cognitive and psychosocial benefit of caregiver training for Ugandan HIV children
Position: Associate Scientist at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
Paul Bolton’s main areas of expertise are program design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. His work treats all four elements as part of an integrated whole in which applied research methods play a core role. He uses this approach to conduct needs assessments and to plan and evaluate programs with service providers including major NGOs. This work has encompassed programs dealing with physical health (including infectious diseases) and more recently psychosocial problems in North America, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Caribbean. Much of this work has been with refugees and internally displaced persons during the disaster post-emergency phase, persons affected by violence, and other adults and children living in difficult circumstances. Dr. Bolton has also conducted program evaluations of psychosocial interventions in Africa and Asia in the form of randomized clinical trials.
Academic Degrees
Position: Medical Director of the Center for Traumatic Stress in Children & Adolescents at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA
Professor of Psychiatry at Drexel University College of Medicine.
Background: Judith Cohen is Medical Director of the Center for Traumatic Stress in Children & Adolescents at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA, and Professor of Psychiatry at Drexel University College of Medicine. She is a Board Certified Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist.
Since 1983 Dr. Cohen has been funded by more than a dozen federally-supported grants to conduct research related to the assessment and treatment of traumatized children. With her colleagues, Anthony Mannarino, PhD and Esther Deblinger, PhD, she has developed and tested Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), an evidence-based treatment for sexually abused and multiply traumatized children and their non-offending parents.
Dr. Cohen has served on the Board of Directors of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, and received its Outstanding Professional Award in 2000. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, and is Associate Editor of its Journal of Traumatic Stress. She also served as the first author of the ISTSS published guidelines for treating childhood PTSD. Dr. Cohen is the Principal Author of the Practice Parameters for the assessment and treatment of childhood PTSD published by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). In 2004, ACCAP awarded her its 2004 Rieger Award for Scientific Achievement.
In addition to her research and teaching duties, Dr. Cohen maintains an active clinical practice.
Contact Information:
jcohen1@wpahs.org
(412) 330-4321
OVC Wellbeing Content:
Cognitive behavioral therapy for symptoms of trauma and traumatic grief in refugee youth
Treatment of suicidal and self-injurious adolescents with emotional dysregulation
Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for adjudicated youth in residential treatment
Position: Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington, School of Medicine
Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology
Background: Shannon Dorsey, Ph.D., has a PhD in Clinical Psychology and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington, School of Medicine and an adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology. Her research is on evidence-based treatments (EBT) for children and adolescents, with a particular focus on EBT for youth impacted by trauma who are involved with child welfare and on clinician training and supervision strategies. She is the Principal Investigator on an NIMH-funded effectiveness trial evaluating Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and evidence-based engagement strategies for youth in foster care – Fostering Hope – and is involved in the evaluation of the SAMHSA-funded National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Dr. Dorsey is also currently working on a number of state and government-funded projects with the goal of enhancing outcomes for youth by improving training and supervision of clinicians in community settings. With Ms. Lucy Berliner, Dr. Dorsey also designed and directs the Washington State TF-CBT and CBT Plus Initiative, a statewide training and consultation program for clinicians who serve children and adolescents on Medicaid (funded by the Department of Behavioral Health and Recovery).
In addition to this domestic work, Dr. Dorsey also has been focusing on implementing EBT in low and middle income countries. She is a Co-Investigator on an NIMH-funded study examining the feasibility of providing TF-CBT to youth who have been orphaned in Tanzania, Pamoja Tunaweza. She also collaborates with colleagues in the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health on a number of randomized controlled trials of a common elements, transdiagnostic approach to treating posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and depression in adults (USAID-funded; Iraq, Thailand, & Colombia).
Contact Information:
dorsey2@u.washington.edu
Phone: (206) 685-2085
Fax: (206) 685-3430
Public Behavioral Health and Justice Policy
2815 Eastlake Ave E., Suite 200
Box 358015
Seattle, WA 98102
Link to CV
OVC Wellbeing Content:
Improving Outcomes for Youth in Foster Care: Trauma-Focused CBT
Randomized Controlled Trial of Ways to Improve OVC HIV Prevention and Well-Being (Zambia CBT)
Improving Outcomes for Orphaned Youth: Implementation of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Childhood Traumatic Grief
Dr. McKenzie is the Walter B. Gerken Professor of Enterprise and Society at The Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine. Professor McKenzie has written on a range of economic topics, but has also conducted research on the outcomes of over 2,500 alumni from American orphanages. He is an alumnus of Barium Springs Home for Children where he grew up in the 1950s.
An economics professor and the Walter B. Gerken Professor of Enterprise and Society at the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California Irvine, Dr. McKenzie has authored 30 books and is a nationally recognized authority on the Microsoft anti-trust case. His research focuses on economic policy issues. He is currently writing a book on In Search of a Defense of Rational Behavior in Economics.
Some of his recent books include: Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies, And Other Pricing Puzzles; In Defense of Monopoly: How Market Powers Fosters creative Production; Digital Economics: How Information Technology Has Transformed Business Thinking; Trust on Trial: How the Microsoft Case Is Reframing the Rules of Competition.
He has written several hundred pamphlets, articles, chapters and scholarly articles for a variety of academic journals including Southern Economics Journal, Antitrust Bulletin, Public Choice, Journal of Political Economy and Ethics. His columns, articles and opinions have appeared in major newspapers, and his comments on national policy issues are cited often in newspapers across the country.
Professor McKenzie is a past president of the Southern Economic Association, and an adjunct scholar at The Cato Institute.
While Professor McKenzie officially retired in 2011, he continues his relationship with the Merage School and greatly impacts its programs and students.
Contact Information: mckenzie@uci.edu
Personal website: http://web.merage.uci.edu/~mckenzie/
Film: Homecoming: The Forgotten World of America’s Orphanages
Position: Assistant Scientist at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
A clinical psychologist by training, Dr. Murray has expertise in children, adolescents, and families. Dr. Murray is highly trained in numerous evidence-based treatments, with a particular specialty in researching and treating trauma and grief. Research interests include the treatment of HIV-affected children who have experienced trauma and/or grief, assessment of mental and behavioral health, as well as training on, adapting and testing evidence-based mental health interventions in low-resource environments. Two current projects include working with NGOs and government ministries in Zambia to integrate mental health assessment and treatment into existing HIV-care infrastructures and evaluate their effectiveness, and in Cambodia on the implementation of an evidence-based treatment for trafficked youth.
Position: Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Research Director of the Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital
Background: Nelson’s research interests are broadly concerned with developmental cognitive neuroscience, an interdisciplinary field that requires expertise in developmental neuroscience and developmental psychology. His specific interests are concerned with the effects of early experience on brain and behavioral development, particularly as such experience influences the development of memory and the development of the ability to recognize faces. Nelson studies both typically developing children and children at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders, and he employs behavioral, electrophysiological (ERP), and metabolic (MRI) tools in his research.
The Nelson Laboratory conducts research on a variety of problems in developmental cognitive neuroscience. One line of research concerns typical and atypical memory development. Results collected over the past few years in healthy infants suggest that some forms of explicit memory (subserved by the medial temporal lobe) come “on-line” sometime after six months of life and undergo a reorganization as children approach one year of age. Infants who have suffered a number of pre- or perinatal insults appear to show delayed and/or atypical development. In some cases we continue to follow these infants into childhood; in others we focus on children who experienced early brain injury.
A second theme of the Nelson Lab is concerned with infants’ and children’s ability to recognize faces and facial emotion. Based on the assumption that the neural architecture underlying face processing becomes specialized with experience viewing faces, much of the work being conducted focuses on the role of experience in face processing. We juxtapose our work with typically developing infants and children with infants at risk for developing autism and children who already meet criteria for autism spectrum disorder. As is the case with our research on memory, a subset of our studies on face processing is done in collaboration with colleagues around the Boston area.
A final and dominant theme of the lab is concerned with the role of experience in influencing the course of brain development. Here our work focuses not only on typical experiences but as well, children exposed to early biological and psychosocial adversity. A case in point concerns an ambitious study in Bucharest, Romania, in which we are examining the effects of early institutionalization on brain and behavioral development.
Contact:
1 Autumn Street, 6th Floor
Boston, MA 02115
Tel: 617.355.0401
Email: Charles.nelson@childrens.harvard.edu
OVC Wellbeing Content:
Child transitions from residential facilities to other communities: predictors of child wellbeing
Position: Associate Professor in Medical Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry and Assistant Professor in Pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center and a Senior Research Fellow in Health Policy at Duke University.
Background:
Karen O’Donnell, Ph.D., is a child psychologist with a background in child development and Pediatric HIV. Her research interests are in early development risk: drug exposure, HIV infection, and iodine deficiency. She has ongoing research in developmental outcomes of children exposed prenatally to drugs and alcohol.
Education: Ph.D., University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill, 1983
Current Projects: Dr. O’Donnell is currently working on a variety of project through the Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research (CHPIR). Her current CHPIR projects include: Positive Outcomes for Orphans (POFO), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Child Status Index (CSI), and Malawi Orphans and Vulnerable Children Evaluation (MOVE).
Contact Information:
odonn002@mc.duke.edu
2812 Erwin Road, Suite 403; Durham, NC 27705-4594
OVC Wellbeing Content:
Correlates of Poor Health among Orphans and Abandoned Children in Less Wealthy Countries: The Importance of Caregiver Health
More than the loss of a parent: Potentially traumatic events among orphaned and abandoned children
Child work and labour among orphaned and abandoned children in five low and middle income countries
Prevalence and predictors of HIV-related stigma among institutional- and community-based caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children living in five less-wealthy countries
A Comparison of the Wellbeing of Orphans and Abandoned Children Ages 6–12 in Institutional and Community-Based Care Settings in 5 Less Wealthy Nations
DGHI study finds child labor is prevalent among orphans
Position: Associate Research Professor at Duke University
Background: Jan Ostermann, Ph.D., is an Associate Research Professor in Duke University’s Global Health Institute. Dr. Ostermann is a health services and population health researcher who specializes in analytic techniques for longitudinal and complex survey designs. Dr. Ostermann led the research design for the multi-year, five country orphan research, and residing in Tanzania for 5 years.
Education:
Ph.D., University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill, 2000
M.S., Health Policy& Management, University at Albany, Albany, NY, 1996
B.A. (equiv.), Business Admin/Economics, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany, 1994
Current Projects: Dr. Ostermann is currently working on a variety of projects through the Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research (CHPIR) at Duke University. His current projects include: Positive Outcomes for Orphans (POFO) and feasibility of discrete choice experiments to determine preferences for alternative HIV testing options
Contact Information:
Email: jan.ostermann@gmail.com
Mail: 2812 Erwin Road, Suite 403; Durham, NC 27705-4594
OVC Wellbeing Content:
Correlates of Poor Health among Orphans and Abandoned Children in Less Wealthy Countries: The Importance of Caregiver Health
More than the loss of a parent: Potentially traumatic events among orphaned and abandoned children
Child work and labour among orphaned and abandoned children in five low and middle income countries
Prevalence and predictors of HIV-related stigma among institutional- and community-based caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children living in five less-wealthy countries
A Comparison of the Wellbeing of Orphans and Abandoned Children Ages 6–12 in Institutional and Community-Based Care Settings in 5 Less Wealthy Nations
A conceptual framework for the targeting and evaluation of UNICEF-supported pro-equity programmes
A Brief Assessment of Learning for Orphaned and Abandoned Children in Low and Middle Income Countries
Malawi Orphans and Vulnerable Children Evaluation (MOVE)
Cambodia Orphan Project Evaluation (COPE)
Positive Outcomes for Orphans (POFO): Longitudinal study of orphaned and abandoned children (OAC) from ages 6-12 to ages 15-21 living in 6 diverse settings
Child transitions from residential facilities to other communities: predictors of child wellbeing
News articles:
Duke study recently released finds orphans in need of protection
Study finds orphanages are viable option for some children
Protective mental health services critical for orphans worldwide
DGHI study finds child labour is prevalent among orphans
Study finds less reported HIV-related stigma against orphans in institutional care