Dr. Benito is an Associate Professor (Research) in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and a licensed clinical psychologist. Dr. Benito directs research and quality improvement in the Pediatric Anxiety Research Center (PARC) at Bradley Hospital. She is a clinical trial researcher specializing in exposure-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and is particularly interested in therapetic processes that relate to hypothesized exposure mechanisms. Dr. Benito has received continuous federal funding for this work since joining the Brown faculty. Her current projects focus on testing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) as an augmentation strategy for youth receiving exposure therapy for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), applying novel statistical approaches to determine "what works, for whom" using harmonized data from prior clinical trials for pediatric OCD, and developing systems for automated quality coding of exposure therapy (for example, with machine learning). Along with other PARC researchers and clinicians, Dr. Benito is deeply committed to improving equitable access to high-quality exposure therapy for youth with anxiety, OCD, and related disorders. As part of this work, she is passionate about providing exposure therapy training and consultation for practicing clinicians in the community and working closely with stakeholders to improve both access and outcomes.
