I serve as an Assistant Dean of Medicine for the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME), the 8-year liberal arts-medical continuum, and as a Mary B. Arnold longitudinal mentor to medical students.
My bioethics research and writing has focused on enhancing public policy, informing medical research, and improving clinical care. In particular, I have sought to identify how to best promote the interests of “vulnerable” populations in research, including individuals who are incarcerated or under correctional supervision, and those who have treatment refractory psychiatric illnesses. I have also studied policies that allow for the compulsory treatment of opioid and other substance use disorders and factors that lead to criminal justice involvement among individuals with psychiatric disorders. My work has been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Mental Illness, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, the Substance and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Greenwall Foundation.
| Hayaki J, Cinq-Mars H, Christopher PP, Anderson BJ, Stein MD. "Opioid relapse and MOUD outcomes following civil commitment for opioid use." Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, vol. 142, 2022, pp. 108873. |
| Jain A, Christopher PP, Fisher CE, Choi CJ, Appelbaum PS. "Civil Commitment for Substance Use Disorders: A National Survey of Addiction Medicine Physicians." Journal of Addiction Medicine, vol. 15, no. 4, 2021, pp. 285-291. |
| Vandergrift LA, Christopher PP. "Do prisoners trust the healthcare system?." Health & Justice, vol. 9, no. 1, 2021, pp. 15. |
| Christopher PP, Pridgen BE, Pivovarova E. "Experiences of Court Clinicians Who Perform Civil Commitment Evaluations for Substance Use Disorders." The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, vol. 49, no. 2, 2021, pp. 187-193. |
| Christopher PP, Stewart C, Manning W, Anderson BJ, Woodruff A, Monteiro J, Stein MD. "Risk behaviors among persons civilly committed for opioid use." Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, vol. 132, 2021, pp. 108493. |
| Blackwood KL, Christopher PP. "U.S. Extreme Risk Protection Orders to Prevent Firearm Injury: The Clinician's Role." Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 174, no. 12, 2021, pp. 1738-1739. |
| Christopher, Paul P. "Vulnerability in Research with Prisoners." The Oxford Handbook of Research Ethics, 2021. |
| Christopher PP, Anderson B, Stein MD. "Comparing views on civil commitment for drug misuse and for mental illness among persons with opioid use disorder." Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, vol. 113, 2020, pp. 107998. |
| Christopher PP, Appelbaum PS, Stein MD. "Criminalization of Opioid Civil Commitment." JAMA Psychiatry, 2019. |
| Christopher PP, Stein MD. "Should a Prison Salt Trial Be Federally Funded?." Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. Epub 5 March 2019, 2019. |
| Samuels, Elizabeth A., Warren, Otis U., Davis, Corey S., Christopher, Paul P. "Will Emergency Holds Reduce Opioid Overdose Deaths?." New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 381, no. 19, 2019, pp. 1795-1797. |
| Christopher, Paul P., Anderson, Bradley, Stein, Michael D. "Civil Commitment Experiences among Opioid Users." Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2018. |
| Jain, Abhishek, Christopher, Paul, Appelbaum, Paul S. "Civil Commitment for Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders: Does It Work?." Psychiatric Services, vol. 69, no. 4, 2018, pp. 374-376. |
| Christopher, Paul P. "Ethical Issues in Emerging Treatments for Neuropsychiatric Disorders." FOCUS, vol. 16, no. 3, 2018, pp. 285-288. |
| Divya R, Christopher PP, Filene EJ, Reifeis SA., White BL. "Financial Payments for Participating in Research while Incarcerated: Attitudes of Prisoners." IRB: Ethics & Human Research, vol. 40, no. 6, 2018, pp. 1-6. |
| Christopher, Paul P., Garcia-Sampson, Lorena G., Stein, Michael, Johnson, Jennifer, Rich, Josiah, Lidz, Charles. "Enrolling in Clinical Research While Incarcerated:What Influences Participants’ Decisions?." Hastings Center Report, vol. 47, no. 2, 2017, pp. 21-29. |
| Brinkley-Rubinstein, Lauren, Rosen, David L, Christopher, Paul, Bazerman, Lauri, Beckwith, Curt G. "Long-Acting Injectable Antiretroviral Therapy: An Opportunity to Improve Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Treatment and Reduce HIV Transmission Among Persons Being Released From Prison Facilities." Clinical Infectious Diseases, vol. 65, no. 7, 2017, pp. 1247-1248. |
| Trojano, Max L., Christopher, Paul P., Pinals, Debra A., Harnish, Autumn, Smelson, David. "Perceptions of voluntary consent among jail diverted veterans with co-occurring disorders." Behavioral Sciences & the Law, vol. 35, no. 5-6, 2017, pp. 408-417. |
| Christopher, Paul P., Appelbaum, Paul S., Truong, Debbie, Albert, Karen, Maranda, Louise, Lidz, Charles. "Reducing therapeutic misconception: A randomized intervention trial in hypothetical clinical trials." PLOS ONE, vol. 12, no. 9, 2017, pp. e0184224. |
| Christopher PP, Stein MD, Springer SA, Rich JD, Johnson JE, Lidz CW. "An exploratory study of therapeutic misconception among incarcerated clinical trial participants." AJOB empirical bioethics, vol. 7, no. 1, 2016, pp. 24-30. |
| Christopher PP, Stein MD, Johnson JE, Rich JD, Friedmann PD, Clarke J, Lidz CW. "Exploitation of Prisoners in Clinical Research: Perceptions of Study Participants." IRB, vol. 38, no. 1, 2016, pp. 7-12. |
| Moitra, Ethan, Christopher, Paul P., Anderson, Bradley J., Stein, Michael D. "Coping-motivated marijuana use correlates with DSM-5 cannabis use disorder and psychological distress among emerging adults." Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, vol. 29, no. 3, 2015, pp. 627-32. |
| Recupero PR, Christopher PP, Strong DR, Price M, Harms SE. "Gender bias and judicial decisions of undue influence in testamentary challenges." The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, vol. 43, no. 1, 2015, pp. 60-8. |
| Christopher PP, Pinals DA, Stayton T, Sanders K, Blumberg L. "Nature and Utilization of Civil Commitment for Substance Abuse in the United States." The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, vol. 43, no. 3, 2015, pp. 313-20. |
| McCabe, Patrick J., Christopher, Paul P. "SYMPTOM AND FUNCTIONAL TRAITS OF BRIEF MAJOR DEPRESSIVE EPISODES AND DISCRIMINATION OF BEREAVEMENT." Depression and Anxiety, vol. 33, no. 2, 2015, pp. 112-119. |
| Aoun EG, Christopher PP, Ingraham JW. "Emerging drugs of abuse: clinical and legal considerations." Rhode Island medical journal (2013), vol. 97, no. 6, 2014, pp. 41-5. |
| McCabe PJ, Christopher PP, Pinals DA, Fisher WH. "Predictors of criminal justice involvement in severe mania." Journal of affective disorders, vol. 149, no. 1-3, 2013, pp. 367-74. |
| Wall BW, Christopher PP. "A training program for defendants with intellectual disabilities who are found incompetent to stand trial." The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, vol. 40, no. 3, 2012, pp. 366-73. |
| McCabe PJ, Christopher PP, Druhn N, Roy-Bujnowski KM, Grudzinskas AJ Jr, Fisher WH. "Arrest types and co-occurring disorders in persons with schizophrenia or related psychoses." The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, vol. 39, no. 3, 2012, pp. 271-84. |
| Christopher PP, Leykin Y, Appelbaum PS, Holtzheimer PE 3rd, Mayberg HS, Dunn LB. "Enrolling in deep brain stimulation research for depression: influences on potential subjects' decision making." Depression and Anxiety, vol. 29, no. 2, 2012, pp. 139-46. |
| Christopher PP, McCabe PJ, Fisher WH. "Prevalence of involvement in the criminal justice system during severe mania and associated symptomatology." PS, vol. 63, no. 1, 2012, pp. 33-9. |
| Fisher CE, Dunn LB, Christopher PP, Holtzheimer PE, Leykin Y, Mayberg HS, Lisanby SH, Appelbaum PS. "The ethics of research on deep brain stimulation for depression: decisional capacity and therapeutic misconception." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 1265, 2012, pp. 69-79. |
| Christopher, Paul P., Candilis, Philip J., Rich, Josiah D., Lidz, Charles W. "An Empirical Ethics Agenda for Psychiatric Research Involving Prisoners." AJOB Primary Research, vol. 2, no. 4, 2011, pp. 18-25. |
| Christopher PP, Arikan R, Pinals DA, Fisher WH, Appelbaum PS. "Evaluating psychiatric disability: differences by forensic expertise." The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, vol. 39, no. 2, 2011, pp. 183-8. |
| Leykin Y, Christopher PP, Holtzheimer PE, Appelbaum PS, Mayberg HS, Lisanby SH, Dunn LB. "Participants' Perceptions of Deep Brain Stimulation Research for Treatment-Resistant Depression: Risks, Benefits, and Therapeutic Misconception." AJOB Primary Research, vol. 2, no. 4, 2011, pp. 33-41. |
| Christopher PP. "Psychiatric hospitalization--bridging the gap between respect and control." Narrative inquiry in bioethics, vol. 1, no. 1, 2011, pp. 29-34. |
| Christopher PP, Boland RJ, Recupero PR, Phillips KA. "Psychiatric residents' experience conducting disability evaluations." Academic Psychiatry, vol. 34, no. 3, 2010, pp. 211-5. |
| Christopher PP, Foti ME, Roy-Bujnowski K, Appelbaum PS. "Consent form readability and educational levels of potential participants in mental health research." PS, vol. 58, no. 2, 2007, pp. 227-32. |
Greenwall Foundation, 7/1/2018 – 6/30/2021
Title: An updated empirically-informed ethical framework for clinical research involving prisoners
Role: PI
R21DA046000, NIDA 3/1/2018 – 2/29/2020
Title: Is Civil Commitment Effective Public Policy for Reducing Opioid Use and Related Mortality?
Role: PI
K23DA034030, NIDA 4/1/2013 - 3/31/2018
Title: Measuring Prisoners' Voluntary Consent to Clinical Research for Opioid Dependence
Role: PI
R21AT008648, NCCAM 9/1/2014 – 7/31/2016
Title: Therapeutic misconception and scientific reframing
Role: Co-Investigator (PI: Lidz)
5H79SM058804, SAMSHA 10/1/2008 - 9/30/2013
Title: Jail Diversion and Trauma Recovery Program - Priority to Veterans
Role: Co-Investigator (PIs: Pinals, Smelson)
Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program, NIMH 7/01/2010 - 6/30/2012 and 7/01/2014 – 6/30/2015
BOOK CHAPTERS
Christopher PP, Dunn LB. Risk and consent in neuropsychiatric DBS: an exemplary analysis of treatment-resistant depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and dementia. Chapter in: Handbook of Neuroethics. Clausen J, Levy N (Eds.) Springer, 2015, pp 589-605.
Christopher PP, Dunn LB. Psychiatric Research Ethics: Informed Consent, Capacity, and Voluntarism. Chapter in: Oxford Handbook of Psychiatric Ethics. Sadler J, Fulford B, van Staden CW (Eds.) Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, in press. Oxford Handbooks Online. Epub Nov 2014. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198732372.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780198732372-e-11.
Christopher PP, Dumont DM, Rich JR. Compulsory treatment for injection drug use following release from incarceration. Chapter in: Global Perspectives on Public Health Ethics: A Casebook. Barrett DH, Bolan G, Dawson A, Ortmann L, Reis O, Saenz C (Eds.) Centers for Disease Control, 2016.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Christopher PP. Review of Faith in Freedom: Libertarian Principles and Psychiatric Practices by Thomas Szasz. Psychiatric Services. 57(1):148, 2006.
Christopher PP, Philip NS. Finding medications for the uninsured: the pitfalls of prescribing samples. The American Journal of Psychiatry, Residents' Journal. 3(6), 2008.
Christopher PP. Safekeeping. Brown Medicine. 13(1):38-44, 2008.
Christopher PP. Residents in Psychotherapy: Where Have All the Hours Gone? The American Journal of Psychiatry, Residents' Journal. 4(6), 2009.
Christopher PP, Pinals DA. Civil commitment based on predicted deterioration. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. 37: 399-401, 2009.
Christopher PP. A jail diversion program for veterans with co-occurring disorders: MISSION – DIRECT VET. Issue Brief: Center for Mental Health Services Research. UMass Medical School. 7(1), 2010.
Christopher PP, Pinals DA. Capacity to consent to sexual acts: understanding the nature of sexual conduct. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. 38: 417-420, 2010.
Christopher PP. A winding path to the emergency room. New York Times. January 4, 2011, page D6.
Christopher PP. Addicted to painkillers, unready for help. New York Times. October 2, 2012, page D5.
| Year | Degree | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | MD | University of Massachusetts |
| 1998 | BA | Wesleyan University |
Senior Scholar, UMass Medical School, 2005.
First Prize, Resident Research, 10th Annual Research Symposium, Brown University Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, 2006.
Rappeport Fellow, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 2008.
Robert G. Fenley Writing Award for Excellence, Group on Institutional Advancement, Association of American Medical Colleges, 2009.
Second Prize, Resident Research, 13th Annual Research Symposium, Brown University Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, 2009.
Fellow, 4th Academic and Health Policy Conference on Correctional Health, 2011.
Young Investigator Award, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 2011.
Fellow, Forensic Mental Health Research and Policy, UMass Medical School, 2009-2011.
Fellow, Division of Medical Ethics, Harvard Medical School, 2012-2013.
Faculty Scholar in Bioethics, Greenwall Foundation, 2018-2021.
Emerging Leader, National Academy of Medicine, 2018-2021.
Lecturer, Medical Student Clerkship, Alpert Medical School, Brown University: “On Suicide.” 1 hour/6 weeks. 2006-2009.
Lecturer, PGY-1, Psychiatry Residency, Brown University: “Introduction to Rhode Island Mental Health Law.” 1 hour/year. 2006-2010, 2012-2016.
Co-Lecturer, PGY-1 and PGY-2, Psychiatry Residency, Brown University: “Evaluating Psychiatric Disability.” 1 hour/year. 2010, 2012
Co-Lecturer, PGY-1 and PGY-2, Psychiatry Residency, Brown University: “The Legal High: the Growing Problem of Designer and OTC Drug Abuse.” 1 hour/year, 2012-
Invited Discussant, Psychiatry Residency, Brown University: “Morbidity and Mortality Conference.” 1hour/session. 11/27/12 and 2/12/13.
Lecturer, PGY-1 and PGY-2, Psychiatry Residency, Brown University: “Informed Consent and Decisional Capacity.” 1 hour/year. 2014-2017.
Invited Lecturer, Responsible Conduct in Research Course, University of Massachusetts Medical School. “Ethical Issues in Research with Incarcerated Individuals.” 1 hour. 10/21/2014.
Invited Lecturer, Physician Assistant Program, Bryant University: “Clinical Ethics in Behavioral Medicine.” 2 hours. 4/10/2015.
Invited Lecturer, Physician Assistant Program, Bryant University: “Nontraditional Drugs of Abuse.” 2 hours. 4/17/2015.
Invited Lecturer, Medical Education Concentrators, Alpert Medical School, Brown University: "Medical Ethics and Professionalism." 1.5 hours. 10/7/2015.
Faculty Advisor for several students in PLME Summer Research Assistantship, Alpert Medical School, Brown University.
Thesis Advisor for several MD and MPH students, Brown University.
