Pediatric Mental Health Research

The Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center (BHCRC) is engaged, on average, in more than 50 diverse research projects at any one time. Projects encompass neuroscience, genetics, social science, prevention, intervention, and health disparities and health services research. In all of these areas, investigators are conducting innovative and exciting work, advancing their fields, and having a powerful and positive impact on the lives of children.

The center continues a long tradition of taking valuable clinical research and applying it directly to the mission of improving the lives of children. For example, the center’s pioneering research in children’s sleep, infant development, psychophysiology, and HIV prevention has translated into new and effective treatments and strategies for children and their families.

The Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center is also committed to training the next generation of researchers. Research training in child mental health at Bradley Hospital, Hasbro Children’s Hospital and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health since 1994, and has continued to expand. Today, the center is known as one of the nation’s premier child mental health research training sites.

Part of the BHCRC, the Bradley Campus Research Unit is home to the Pedi-MIND Program and the Developmental Disorders Genetics Research Program (DDGRP). The goal of the Pedi-MIND Program is to identify biological and behavioral markers of psychiatric illness in children and adolescents in order to improve diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of these conditions. The DDGRP seeks to identify genes associated with autism and intellectual disability so they can be detected and diagnosed earlier and more accurately and treated more effectively.