Weisberg, Risa

Risa Weisberg

Adjunct Professor of Family Medicine

Overview

Risa B. Weisberg, PhD, is a Adjunct Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She is a Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University and Assistant Chief of Psychology at VA Boston Healthcare System. Dr. Weisberg is also Training Director of the VA Boston Healthcare System Clinical Psychology Doctoral Internship Program. Dr. Weisberg is a graduate of Tufts University (BA) and the University at Albany, State University of New York (PhD in clinical psychology). She completed a predoctoral internship and a postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University. Dr. Weisberg is a past recipient of an NIH Career Development Award which sought to adapt efficacious, cognitive-behavioral treatments for anxiety disorders to primary care settings. She has served as PI or Co-I on two large-scale studies of the longitudinal course of anxiety disorders in diverse populations. Currently, she is PI or Co-I on 3 NIH-funded projects, and 1 Rhode Island Foundation project, focusing on behavioral health-primary care integration. Three of these studies focus specifically on collaborative behavioral treatments for depression and chronic pain in primary care patients. Dr. Weisberg's primary areas of research interest are the integration of mental and behavioral health care in primary care settings, the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based mental health treatments, and cognitive and behavioral factors related to anxiety disorders and their treatment (including cognitive biases and cognitive bias modification).

Brown Affiliations

Family Medicine

Research Areas

Research

Research Overview

Dr. Weisberg's research interests are anxiety disorders, mental and behavioral health treatment in general medical settings, cognitive-behavioral therapy, dissemination and implementation of evidence-based care, and sexual and reproductive health. Her current work focuses on developing cognitive-behavioral treatments and cognitive bias modification interventions, specifically for application in general medical settings, and on examining the nature and course of anxiety disorders in various populations.

Research Statement

My research interests are anxiety disorders, mental and behavioral health treatment in general medical settings, dissemination and implementation of evidence based care, and sexual and reproductive health. Currently, I am the principal investigator (MPI) or co-Investigator of 3 National Institute of Health funded projects to develop a behavioral treatments for primary care patients with chronic low back pain and comorbid physical and mental health problems (depression, HIV+, and opiate dependence). I have also served as PI and Co-investigator of the Harvard/Brown Anxiety Research Project (HARP) and the Primary Care Anxiety Project (PCAP). Both are longitudinal, observational studies, examining the nature and course of anxiety disorders. HARP currently focuses on anxiety in ethnic minorities. PCAP focused on anxiety in primary care patients.

I have recently completed a K-23 Career Development Award that developed a cognitive-behavioral therapy for primary care patients with anxiety disorders. I have also conducted research and published on the etiology and treatment of sexual dysfunction and on anxiety disorders in ob-gyn patients.

Funded Research

Ongoing Funded Research

Principle Investigator 7/01 - 3/14
Harvard/Brown Anxiety Research Project (HARP)
R01MH051415
$686,415 Funding Source: NIMH
MPI: Martin B. Keller, M.D.

Principal Investigator
Psychosocial Treatment Development for Depression with Comorbid Chronic Pain 7/10 3/14 (with NCE)
1R34MH085762-01A2
$199,939 Funding Source: NIMH
MPI: Lisa Uebelacker, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator
Treating Chronic Pain in Suboxone / Buprenorphine Patients in
Primary Care Settings 9/12 8/15
R34-DA032800-01A1
$200,614 Funding Source: NIDA
MPI: Michael Stein, MD

Site PI /Co-Investigator 7/12 - 6/14
Treating Chronic Pain and Depression in HIV+ Patients
in Primary Care Settings
1R21NR013438-01A1
$221,874 Funding Source: NINR
Principal Investigators: Michael Stein, M.D. and Lisa Uebelacker, Ph.D.

Site PI / Co-Investigator 9/12 8/15
Primary-Behavioral Health Integration Project
$110,346 Funding Source: Rhode Island Foundation
Principal Investigator: Lisa Uebelacker, Ph.D.

Scholarly Work

Uebelacker, L.A., Weisberg, R.B., Millman, M., Yen, S., & Keller, M. (2013). Longitudinal study of predictors of suicidal behavior in individuals with anxiety disorders. Psychological Medicine, 43, 1465-1474. PMCID: PMC3686832

Perez Benetiz, C.I., Zlotnick, C., Stout, R.L., Liu, F., Dyck, I., Weisberg, R.B., & Keller, M.B. (2012). Five-year longitudinal study of posttraumatic stress disorder in primary care patients. Psychopathology, 45, 286-93.

Beard, C. Rodriguez, B.F., Weisberg, R.B., Perry, A. & Keller, M.B. (2012). Psychometric properties of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale in a longitudinal study of Latinos with anxiety disorders. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 34, 269-278.

Weisberg, R.B., Beard, C. & Keller, M.B. (2012). The Harvard/Brown Anxiety Research Project – Phase II (HARP-II): Rationale, methods, and features of the sample at intake. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 26, 532-543. PMCID: PMC3319242

Beard, C., Weisberg, R.B., & Primack, J. (2012). Socially anxious primary care patients' attitudes toward cognitive bias modification (CBM): A qualitative study. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 40, 618 633.

Ramsawh, H.J., Weisberg, R.B., Dyck, I., Stout, R.L., & Keller, M.B. (2011). Age of onset, clinical characteristics, and 15-year course of anxiety disorders in a prospective, longitudinal, observational study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 132, 260-264. PMCID: PMC3109118

Moitra, E., Dyck, I., Beard, C., Bjornsson, A.S., Sibrava, N.J., Weisberg, R.B., & Keller, M.B. (2011) Impact of stressful life events on the course of panic disorder in adults. Journal of Affective Disorder, 134, 373–376. PMCID: PMC3170458

Moitra, E., Beard, C., Weisberg, R.B., & Keller, M.B. (2011). Occupational impairment and social anxiety disorder in a sample of primary care patients. Journal of Affective Disorders. 130, 209-212. PMID: 20934220

Marcks, B.A., Weisberg, R.B., Dyck, I., & Keller, M.B. (2011). Longitudinal course of obsessive-compulsive disorder in patients with anxiety disorders: A 15-year prospective follow-up study. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 52, 670-677. PMCID: PMC3683832

Bjornsson, A.S., Dyck, I., Moitra, E.., Stout, R.L., Weisberg, R.B., Keller, M.B., & Phillips, K.A. (2011). The clinical course of body dysmorphic disorder in the Harvard/Brown Anxiety Research Project (HARP). Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 199, 55-57. PMCID: PMC3667613

Beard, C., Weisberg, R.B., & Amir, N. (2011). Combined cognitive bias modification treatment for social anxiety disorder: A pilot trial. Depression and Anxiety, 28, 981-988. PMCID: PMC3215809

Beard, C. Rodriguez, B.F., Moitra, E., Sibrava, N.J., Bjornsson, A., Weisberg, R.B., & Keller, M.B. (2011). Psychometric properties of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) in a longitudinal study of African Americans with anxiety disorders. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 25, 722-726. PMCID: PMC308966

Weisberg, R.B., Beard, C., Pagano, M.E., Maki, K.M., Culpepper, L. & Keller, M.B. (2010). Impairment and functioning in a sample of primary care patients with generalized anxiety disorder. The Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 12, e1-8. PMCID: PMC3025993

Marcks, B.A., Weisberg, R.B., Edelen, M.O., & Keller, M.B. (2010). The relationship between sleep disturbance and the course of anxiety disorders in primary care patients. Psychiatry Research, 178, 487-92.

Background

Education and Training

Year	Degree	Institution
1999	PhD	State University of New York at Albany
1990	BA	Tufts University

Honors and Awards

Young Investigator Award, Association for Clinical Psychosocial Research, October, 2001

Fellow, NIH Summer Institute for Randomized Clinical Trials Involving Behavioral Interventions, July 2002

New Investigator Award, NIH Complexities of Co-occurring Conditions Conference, June 2004

Affiliations Visualize it

Collaborators

Name	Title
Eaton, Charles	Professor of Family Medicine, Director of Primary Care and Prevention, Professor of Epidemiology
Phillips, Katharine	Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
Stein, Michael	Adjunct Professor of Medicine
Stout, Robert	Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior

Affiliations

American Psychological Association (APA)
Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT)
Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA)
North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG)

Researchers@Brown