My research interests are in the areas of assessment and treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents.  My future goals are to continue: 1) studying cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) for pediatric anxiety and OCD with a focus on therapist training and dissemination to community practitioners, 2) the development of novel treatments/delivery methods and targeted augmentation approaches for treatment refractory youth; 3) the identification of specific treatment processes and cognitive/behavioral mechanisms through focused experimental therapeutics designs, and 4) work in the area of early childhood OCD including examination of course and trajectory of illness and long term durability of CBT when delivered at a young age.

Since the completion of internship and postoctoral training at Brown, I have established a productive research program in the area of pediatric anxiety treatment, specifically CBT for pediatric OCD.  I have concurrently worked to grow the Pediatric Anxiety Research Center (PARC) into a thriving group of well-funded researchers, cutting edge clinical programs, and a sought after training site for psychology and psychiatry residents and fellows.  PARC’s nationally recognized research group has received continuous NIMH research funding since 1999.  As the Director of Research and Training within the PARC program, I have helped to create (along with DPHB colleagues Abbe Garcia PhD and Brady Case MD) a model for the true integration of active research and training within a busy clinical service line. 

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 am currently 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 recently 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. 

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: 3/1/2018-5/31/2023

 

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

 

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

1994- Present American Psychological Association (APA)
1994- Present APA, Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (53)
1995- Present Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT)
2004- Present Rhode Island Psychological Association (RIPA)
2006-Present International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation (IOCDF)

Since my faculty appointment, I have been deeply committed to providing clinical and research mentorship to trainees at the undergraduate, internship, and post-doctoral level through Brown’s Clinical Psychology Training Program.  I am committed to the training mission of the department in my role as Child Track Coordinator for the Brown Clinical Psychology Internship program and through my membership on the Clinical Psychology Training Committee.  I have mentored a number of psychology residents and postdoctoral fellows including eight NIMH T32 fellows.  Many of these trainees have gone on to obtain academic positions in psychology and psychiatry departments as well as to secure federal funding for their research. I also have served as a clinical supervisor for numerous trainees in both the psychology and psychiatry training programs.