As the Director of the Pediatric Anxiety Research Center (PARC), I am actively working to highlight the importance of innovative care models, community training, and meaningful integration of research and clinical practice in a hospital setting. Over the last five years, our center has grown to include $13 million dollars in grant funding (direct costs) from NIMH and PCORI, 3 distinct partial hospitalization programs (combined census of 29), an outpatient clinic (including a contracted service with BCBSRI to cover team-based outpatient care), and a PARC training institute. As Associate Director of Research for Bradley Hospital, my work has focused on building community among researchers who are physically in different places and developing active subcommittees focused on issues related to our research infrastructure. I am also the Associate Director of the Research Fellowship Program (RFP) as part of Brown Clinical Psychology Training Consortium working with both T32 and Investigator funded fellows.
In addition to these roles, I sit on the following committees: DPHB Faculty Appointments and Promotions Committee; DPHB Clinical Psychology Training Committee; DPHB Anti Racism Steering Committee (ARSC); Child Academic Leadership Group; Bradley Collective Vision Subcommittee; Child Track Social Justice and Anti Racism Committee and the Lifespan Research Management Committee.
| Milgram, Lauren, Freeman, Jennifer B., Benito, Kristen G., Elwy, A. Rani, Frank, Hannah E. "Clinician-Reported Determinants of Evidence-Based Practice Use in Private Practice Mental Health." Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 2022. |
| Milgram, Lauren, Sheehan, Kate, Cain, Grace, Carper, Matthew M., O'Connor, Erin E., Freeman, Jennifer B., Garcia, Abbe, Case, Brady, Benito, Kristen. "Comparison of patient-reported distress during harm avoidance and incompleteness exposure tasks for youth with OCD." Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, vol. 35, 2022, pp. 100760. |
| Kim KL, Christensen RE, Ruggieri A, Schettini E, Freeman JB, Garcia AM, Flessner C, Stewart E, Conelea C, Dickstein DP. "Cognitive performance of youth with primary generalized anxiety disorder versus primary obsessive-compulsive disorder." Depression and Anxiety, vol. 36, no. 2, 2019, pp. 130-140. |
| Conelea, Christine A., Selles, Robert R., Benito, Kristen G., Walther, Michael M., Machan, Jason T., Garcia, Abbe M., Sapyta, Jeffrey, Morris, Sarah, Franklin, Martin, Freeman, Jennifer B. "Secondary outcomes from the pediatric obsessive compulsive disorder treatment study II." Journal of Psychiatric Research, vol. 92, 2017, pp. 94-100. |
| Stewart, Elyse, Cancilliere, Mary Kathryn, Freeman, Jennifer, Wellen, Brianna, Garcia, Abbe, Sapyta, Jeffrey, Franklin, Martin. "Elevated Autism Spectrum Disorder Traits in Young Children with OCD." Child Psychiatry & Human Development, vol. 47, no. 6, 2016, pp. 993-1001. |
| Wellen, B., Skriner, L. C., Freeman, J., Stewart, E., Garcia, A., Sapyta, J., Franklin, M. "Examining the Psychometric Properties of the Pediatric Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire in Two Samples of Youth with OCD." Child Psychiatry & Human Development, vol. 48, no. 1, 2016, pp. 180-188. |
| Skriner, L. C., Freeman, J., Garcia, A., Benito, K., Sapyta, J., Franklin, M. "Characteristics of Young Children with Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder: Baseline Features from the POTS Jr. Sample." Child Psychiatry Hum Dev, vol. 47, no. 1, 2015, pp. 83-93. |
| Franklin, Martin E., Kratz, Hilary E., Freeman, Jennifer B., Ivarsson, Tord, Heyman, Isobel, Sookman, Debbie, McKay, Dean, Storch, Eric A., March, John. "Cognitive-behavioral therapy for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder: Empirical review and clinical recommendations." Psychiatry Research, vol. 227, no. 1, 2015, pp. 78-92. |
| Benito, Kristen G., Caporino, Nicole E., Frank, Hannah E., Ramanujam, Krishnapriya, Garcia, Abbe, Freeman, Jennifer, Kendall, Philip C., Geffken, Gary, Storch, Eric A. "Development of the pediatric accommodation scale: Reliability and validity of clinician- and parent-report measures." Journal of Anxiety Disorders, vol. 29, 2015, pp. 14-24. |
| Anderson, Lindsay M., Freeman, Jennifer B., Franklin, Martin E., Sapyta, Jeffrey J. "Family-Based Treatment of Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder." Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, vol. 24, no. 3, 2015, pp. 535-555. |
| Conelea, Christine A., Freeman, Jennifer B. "What do therapists and clients do during exposures for OCD? Introduction to the special issue on theory-based exposure process." Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, vol. 6, 2015, pp. 144-146. |
| Cook, Nathan E., Freeman, Jennifer B., Garcia, Abbe M., Sapyta, Jeffrey J., Franklin, Martin E. "Assessment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Young Children: Psychometric Properties of the Children’s Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale." Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, vol. 37, no. 3, 2014, pp. 432-441. |
| Conelea, Christine A., Walther, Michael R., Freeman, Jennifer B., Garcia, Abbe M., Sapyta, Jeffrey, Khanna, Muniya, Franklin, Martin. "Tic-Related Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Phenomenology and Treatment Outcome in the Pediatric OCD Treatment Study II." Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, vol. 53, no. 12, 2014, pp. 1308-1316. |
As Professor (Research) at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Director of the Pediatric Anxiety Research Center (PARC) at Bradley Hospital, I have spent more than two decades building the PARC research, training, and clinical programs. I have received extensive funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) for research on pediatric OCD and anxiety. My research to date has focused on these primary areas: 1) cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) for pediatric anxiety and OCD with a focus on the development of novel treatments/delivery methods and targeted augmentation approaches for treatment-refractory youth, 2) dissemination of effective training for community therapists delivering CBT, 3) early childhood OCD including examination of course and trajectory of illness and long term durability of CBT when delivered at a young age and 4) developing new training and service models that provide high-quality, evidence-based care outside the office.
My initial research work began with Henrietta Leonard M.D. and other national leaders on the multisite Pediatric OCD Treatment Studies (POTS I and POTS II) (1999-2007). I subsequently received a multisite NIMH R01 to study a family based treatment model for young children with OCD that we developed here at Brown (POTS Jr) (2008-2012). These were the first large randomized controlled trials to test CBT for youth with OCD and the collective results of these studies guide the current evidence based practice parameters for the treatment of youth with OCD (and serve to guide the treatments delivered within our PARC clinical programs). As the POTS trials wrapped up and the federal funding landscape for treatment outcome research began to change, I was able to continue a productive line of research related to understanding the principles underpinning exposure therapy, as well as how these principles are meaningful for understanding quality, fidelity, and the best methods for training therapists in community settings. I was the MPI (along with DPHB colleague Kristen Benito, PhD) on an NIMH R21/R33 grant to examine a theory-based training method to promote dissemination of CBT for pediatric OCD in the community (2013-2017) and I was also co-I on an NIMH R01 award (Kristen Benito PhD, PI) focused on validation of the exposure fidelity/quality tool developed in the R33 study (2017-2020). As another example of the connection between PARC clinical programs and research efforts, my recent work has focused on health services related questions about barriers to accessing CBT for youth with anxiety disorders. Based on the success of home-based treatment models developed in our PARC partial hospital programs, I was awarded a 5 year PCORI contract (2018-2023) to compare the efficacy, efficiency, and feasibility of patient centered, home-based CBT to traditional office-based care and had a COVID-19 Supplement on this project to study telehealth treatment during the pandemic. I am also currently co-I on two other lab grants- an R41 (PI Kemp) and an R01 (MPI Benito and Barker) as well as Deputy Director of Bradley Hospital's Sleep, Circadian Rhythms, and Mental Health COBRE (PI Carskadon). A core component of my work in recent years has involved community engagement and the integration of a variety of stakeholders, including patients/family members, hospital administrators, patient advocates, community clinicians, and payers into our research programs. Additionally, I serve as Associate Director of Reserach at Bradley Hospital and have many national and international collaborations which are relevant to this work.
GRANTS AND RESEARCH
1. "Treatment of Pediatric OCD"
(University of Pennsylvania, subcontract, funded)
Principal Investigator (Brown site): Henrietta Leonard, M.D.
Co-Investigator (Brown site): Jennifer Freeman, Ph.D.
Total Direct Costs: $25,000
Project Period: December 1, 2000 to June 1, 2002
3. "A Randomized, Double-Blind Study of Atomoxetine Hydrochloride and Placebo in Pediatric Outpatients with ADHD and Comorbid Tic Disorders"
Eli Lilly and Company
Site Principal Investigator: Henrietta Leonard, M.D.
Co-Investigator: Jennifer Freeman, Ph.D.
Total Direct Costs: $149,331
Project Period: August 2001 to March 2003
4. "Long-Term, Open-Label, Safety Study of Atomoxetine Hydrochloride in Patients, 6 Years and Older with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder"
Eli Lilly and Company (B4Z-MC-LYAI/Site 218)
Principal Investigator: Henrietta Leonard, M.D.
Co-Investigator: Jennifer Freeman, Ph.D.
Total Project Costs: $146,623
February 1, 2002 to indefinite
5. "Family Based Treatment of Early Childhood OCD"
NIMH R21MH60669, funded
Principal Investigator: Henrietta Leonard, M.D.
Co-Investigator: Jennifer Freeman, Ph.D.
Total Direct Costs: $374,123
Project Period: March 2002 to February 2005 (No cost extension to February 2006)
6."Family Processes in Early Childhood OCD"
Lifespan Junior Faculty Research Grant, funded
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Freeman, Ph.D.
Total Direct Costs: $19,500
Project Period: April 2002 to April 2003
7."Treatment of Pediatric OCD: An Augmentation Study of Partial Responders"
NIMH Collaborative R01MH64188, funded
Principal Investigator (Brown site): Jennifer Freeman, Ph.D.
Total Direct Costs: $1,062,500
Project Period: September 2003 to August 2008 (No cost extension to July 2009)
8. "A Trial of Penicillin Prophylaxis for the PANDAS Subgroup"
(NIMH Intramural professional services contract, funded)
Principal Investigator: Henrietta L. Leonard, M.D.
Co-Investigator: Jennifer B. Freeman, Ph.D.
Total Project Costs: $150,000
Project Period: 10/1/03 - 9/30/04
9. "Child Anxiety Disorders: Parenting & Temperament Effects"
(NIMH K23 MH071754, funded)
Principal Investigator: Abbe M. Garcia, Ph.D.
Research Psychologist: Jennifer B. Freeman, Ph.D.
Total Direct Costs: $ 656,909.
10. "Family Based Treatment of Early Childhood OCD" (NIMH Collaborative R01MH079217, funded)
Principal Investigator: Jennifer B. Freeman, Ph.D.
Total Direct Costs: $925,000 (Brown Site)
Project Period: September 2007 to August 2012
11. “CBT for Pediatric OCD: Effective Therapist Behaviors and Community Training Pilot” (NIMH MH096828-01, funded)
Principal Investigator: Jennifer B. Freeman, Ph.D, Kristen Benito, Ph.D.
Total Direct Costs: $896,445
Project Period: 6/5/2012-6/05/2017
12. “Quality Assessment in Exposure Therapy” (NIMH 1 R01 MH112516-01, funded)
Principal Investigator: Kristen Benito, PhD.
Co-Investigator: Jennifer Freeman, PhD
Total Direct Costs: $1,285,263
Project Period: 4/1/2017-3/31/2022
13. “Comparison of Patient Centered versus Provider Centered Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (CBT) for Pediatric Anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)” (PCORI , funded)
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Freeman, PhD
Total Direct Costs: $2,452,322
Project Period: 3/1/2018-8/31/2024
14. “Examining Behavioral Strategies for Enhancing Therapists' Delivery of Exposure Therapy” (NIMH, 1R34MH118199-01, funded)
Principal Investigator: Joshua Kemp, PhD
Co-Investigator: Jennifer Freeman, PhD
Total Direct Costs: $450,000
Project Period: 3/1/2019-2/28/22
15. Designing a Clinical Trial Repository for Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (PCORI, funded)
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Freeman, PhD
Total Direct Costs: $38,000
Project Period: 10/1/2019-9/30/2020
16. “Comparison of Patient Centered versus Provider Centered Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (CBT) for Pediatric Anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)- COVID-19 Enhancement Award” (PCORI , funded)
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Freeman, PhD
Total Direct Costs: $500,000
Project Period: 5/1/20-4/30/21
17. “Center for Sleep and Circadian Rhythms in Child and Adolescent Mental Health.” (National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the NIH, P20GM13974, funded)
Deputy Director: Jennifer Freeman, PhD
Total Direct Costs: $10,239,062
Project Period: 4/11/21-2/28/25
18. “Optimization of Parent-Led Exposure Delivery in Pediatric OCD.” (International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation, funded)
Co-Investigator: Jennifer Freeman, PhD
Total Direct Costs: $50,000
Project Period: 9/1/21-8/31/22
19. “What works for Whom in Pediatric OCD.” (NIMH 1 RO1 MH128595, funded)
Co-Investigator: Jennifer Freeman, PhD
Total Direct Costs: $888,276
Project Period: 7/15/22 – 6/30/2025
20. " Simulated Exposure Trainer (SET-VR): Implementing Targeted Experiential Training with a Virtual Patient” (NIMH R41 MH131229 funded)
Co-Investigator: Jennifer Freeman, PhD
Total Direct Costs: $470,010
Project Period: 8/4/2022 – 7/31/2024
| Year | Degree | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | PhD | State University of New York at Buffalo |
| 1992 | BA | Wesleyan University |
1996 Annual Student Research Award, Division 37 (Child, Youth, and Family Services), American Psychological Association (APA)
1998 Second Prize Psychology Intern Research Poster, Third Annual Research Symposium on Mental Health Sciences, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown Medical School
2010 The Toy Caldwell-Colbert Excellence in Teaching Award,Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University
2018 Education Committee Award, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Division of Clinical Psychology, Alpert Medical School of Brown University
2020 Annual DPHB Faculty Mentoring Award, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Benito, Kristen | Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research) |
| Herren, Jennifer | Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Clinician Educator |
| Kemp, Joshua | Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research) |
| O'Connor, Erin | Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Clinician Educator |
| Righi, Giulia | Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior |
| Walther, Michael | Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior |
