The research opportunities within the Department of Psychiatry at the MGH and at McLean Hospital are unlimited. Each campus has world-renown researchers in all areas of psychiatry including both the clinical and basic sciences. The combined annual research budgets for the MGH Department of Psychiatry and the McLean Hospital are over $100 million. This represents a variety of federal grants through NIH and NIMH as well as private and industry supported grants. Additionally, our faculty collaborates with other clinical and research teams throughout Harvard University, across the country, and around the world. This great wealth of clinical and research resources is available to our residency training program through individual and group supervision, seminars, and research opportunities.
Elective time is available to PGY-2, PGY-3, and PGY-4 to complete a substantial research project during residency training. Each resident will design an individual experience that meets his/her needs and interests with the assistance of Training Mentors provided by the Training Program.
Please browse the links at right for more specific information about the multitude of clinical programs and research opportunities currently available within the MGH Department of Psychiatry and McLean Hospital.
The rich academic community in the Boston area also provides a tremendous opportunity for interdisciplinary research, and residents have participated in these interdisciplinary projects. Leading researchers from an array of centers, departments, and institutions in the Boston area have ongoing collaborations with groups from MGH Psychiatry and McLean. Links to a selection of outside centers, departments, and institutions is provided at right.
Academic Project
All Residents are expected to participate in an academic project that can be presented at a professional meeting (e.g., Harvard Psychiatry Research Day, Harvard Education Day, Senior Talks, the APA annual meeting, etc.) and/or published in a peer-reviewed journal by the end of PGY-4. In order to do this, we have built in opportunities to find a research mentor during the PGY-1 and PGY-2 curriculum. This allows ready focus on the academic project during PGY-3 and PGY-4.
During the psychiatry months of PGY-1, residents are encouraged to take time to meet with possible mentors on both campuses. During the Blake 11 rotation at MGH, each resident will meet with Dr. Joshua Roffman to explore their interests so he can provide guidance on meeting researchers based at MGH. Additionally, residents are expected to participate in an academic project ongoing on the Blake 11 unit while on rotation. While on the McLean Inpatient Addictions rotation, residents will meet with Dr. Dost Ongur who will provide guidance in meeting researchers at McLean.
During PGY-2, all residents have a two week block of time protected for research, reading, and academic work. Dr. Naomi Simon oversees the individual resident’s plan for those two weeks to further optimize the opportunity to meet and find the right group to pursue an academic project.
By the beginning of PGY-3, each resident will establish a research mentor for their academic project that can be accomplished by graduation. Up to 10 hours per week (or one full day) during the eight months of PGY-3 when the resident is not on the Psychosomatic Medicine Consultation Service can be used to pursue academic interests. While on the C-L service, each resident creates two academic talks for the weekly Psychosomatic Conference. This includes an extensive literature review of a topic, presentation of the information and the use of a guest discussant to elaborate on the topic. Many residents have used these talks to start a career in academic psychiatry.
All residents have a flexible PGY-4 curriculum in which up to 35 hours per week are available for their individual design around interests and experience they want to complete prior to graduation.
Research Concentration Option
Our residency program does not have a research track. All residents experience the same core clinical training that establishes them as future leaders in clinical psychiatry. However, in order to foster the career development of the physician/scientist, our program has developed an opportunity to protect additional time throughout the clinical training years in order to pursue research activities prior to the flexible fourth year.
During PGY-1
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The resident will meet informally with John Denninger MD PhD to support their ability to meet research mentors and choose a research setting that best complements and advances their interests.
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By the end of PGY-1, the resident will establish a research mentor to work with during the residency.
During PGY-2
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There is a three month research rotation.
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During this time, the resident continues with Wednesday Didactics, Outpatient Clinics in general, urgent care and cognitive behavioral training, and call duties.
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This frees up 3.5 days per week for full-time research activity with their chosen mentor and research group.
During PGY-3
During PGY-4
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Up to 35 hours per week is available to spend in research activity.
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Funding opportunities for PGY-5 and beyond are readily available within and beyond the Harvard Psychiatry Research Grants Programs and will be pursued under the guidance of the research mentor.
Resident Research Interests
Roscoe Brady, PGY4
bipolar disorder, resting-state BOLD imaging
Roscoe's research background is in drosophila genetics and neuroanatomy with side ventures into behavioral assays and bioinformatics. His current research interests include investigating psychotic disorders at the systems neuroscience level, primarily through brain imaging. He is currently examining 'resting' brain activity in bipolar patients in both the manic and euthymic stages of the disease under co-mentorship of Dr. Dost Ongur at McLean Hospital and Professor Randy Buckner at MGH.
Brian Clinton, PGY-4
bioethics, mood and psychotic disorders, body dysmorphic disorder
Brian’s research background is in Neuroscience, where he studied cortical neurogenesis as a doctoral student. Currently, his interest is to improve clinical care for mood and psychotic disorders and is involved in a clinical trials on body dysmorphic disorder and bipolar disorder. He has been mentored by Roy Perlis at the MGH Bipolar Clinic and Research Program and by Skip Pope at McLean Hospital clinical trial for body dysmorphic disorder. Additionally, he collaborates with Benjy Silverman and David Brendel at McLean on bioethics-related topics.
Cristina Cusin, PGY-4
treatment-resistant depression, psychiatric biomarkers, spectroscopy, neurotherapeutics
Cristina’s major area of interest is in treatment-resistant Mood Disorders. She has a strong background in epidemiology, genetics and psychopharmacology of Mood Disorders, and is currently involved in Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) research inclulding biomarker and imaging development, and in a clinical trial of ECT in collaboration with Dr. Charlie Welch. She is also involved in clinical trials of Deep Brain Stimulation and Vagal Nerve Stimulation with the MGH Neurotherapeutic group led by Dr. Darin Dougherty.
Benjy Silverman, PGY-4
bioethics, technology-psychiatry interface
Benjy’s research background is in ethics and history. Currently, he focuses on the ethics of applying newly emerging technologies to clinical practice. He collaborates with Brian Clinton and David Brendel at McLean, as well as the Division of Medical Ethics at HMS. They are currently working on a case report for a clinical ethics journal involving the imposition of social networking on a psychotherapy case.
Ilse Wiechers, PGY-4
public policy, quality control, mental health services
Ilse’s research background includes health policy research with special focus on health care market analysis and intellectual property. Currently she is in the final phases of a major quality improvement project in the MGH Outpatient Resident Clinic, working with Dr. Anthony Weiss and Dr. Oliver Freudenreich on creating improvement intervention to enhance rates of metabolic syndrome screening in patient taking antipsychotic medication. Ilse’s future interests lie in the realm of health policy and mental health services research.
Justin Baker, PGY-3
cognitive neuroscience, genetics, neuroimaging
Justin's background is in functional and structural neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and cognitive neuroscience. Working with Dr. Lawrence Snyder and Maurizio Corbetta at Washington University in St. Louis, he studied the frontal and parietal networks underlying spatial attention and eye movements in macaque monkeys. Working with Randy Buckner at the Harvard Dept of Psychology and Dost Ongur at McLean Hospital, he is currently studying patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia to identify neurobiological and physiological markers that are intermediate between genetic vulnerabilities and clinical presentations.
Kate Nyquist, PGY-3
child and adolescent psychiatry, body dysmorphic disorder
Kate is interested in child and adolescent psychiatry and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). She currently has ongoing clinical research project with Dr. Sabine Wilhelm on BDD in adolescence.
Marlynn Wei, PGY-3
bioethics, psychiatry and the law
Marlynn’s research focuses on the regulation of ethical behavior of physicians at legal, institutional, and self-regulatory levels, focusing on financial and professional conflict of interests. She is interested in studying external and internal regulatory processes regarding the professional ethics of health care professionals and how law is and can be used to influence individual and institutional behavior. Her past work has focused on the resistance of the professional community to laws and policies that attempt to influence behaviors of physicians, particularly in light of the long-standing tradition of self-regulation of the medical community. Her current research also includes psychiatry and human rights issues, including the need for psychiatrists to be more aware of issues of dual loyalty and patient rights at both a physician-patient, hospital, and systems level.
Brad Ruzicka, PGY-2
epigenetics, GABAergic interneurons, schizophrenia
Brad's background is in biochemistry and molecular genetics. Working with Dr. Alessandro Guidotti at the University of Illinois, he investigated the role of epigenetic mechanisms in the dysregulation of gene expression in GABAergic interneurons of the superficial layers of the human prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia. During residency he will continue to investigate the involvement of epigenetic mechanisms in the pathogenesis of psychosis.
Justin Chen, PGY-1
mind-body medicine, philosophy of medicine, mental health advocacy
Justin’s interests are in the area of mind-body medicine, philosophy of medicine and mental health advocacy. As a medical student, he was involved in a clinical trial examining the efficacy of mindfulness training in substance use disorders. Since coming to MGH, he has been working with Dr. David Mischoulon at the MGH Depression Clinical and Research Program on a study of the placebo effect. Justin’s future plans include working with researchers at the Benson Henry Mind-Body Institute, which was one of the features that initially drew him to the MGH/McLean residency program.
Michael Halassa, PGY-1
thalamocortical oscillations, synaptic physiology, genetic manipulation of neuronal circuits
Michael's background is in electrophysiology, confocal/two-photon imaging, and mouse genetics. Working with Dr. Phil Haydon at the University of Pennsylvania, he studied the role of astrocytes in the regulation of synaptic transmission, synaptic plasticity, sleep behavior and cortical slow-oscillations. He is currently working at the department of Brain and Cognitive Science at MIT, where he uses cell type-specific optogenetic and chemical genetic manipulation combined with multielectrode recordings for functional dissection of neuronal circuitry in awake behaving animals.
Benjamin Herbstman, PGY-1
Psychiatry and public health, adolescent psychiatry
Benjamin is interested in the connection between psychiatry and public health with a particular interest in at-risk adolescents. He had presviously worked in Washington, DC on a hearing looking at adolescents who were placed in juvenile detention centers as opposed to treatment facilities due to lack of resources. He also recently published on current mental health indicators being collected in the United States.
Elizabeth Levey, PGY-1
child psychiatry, global mental health, psychodynamic therapy
Elizabet’s interests include child psychiatry, global mental health and psychodynamic therapy. As a medical student she worked on multiple research topics including pediatric rheumatology- health literacy and quality of life outcomes, Infectious disease- the effect of malaria in pregnancy on mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Neuroendocrinology- the role of neurosteroids and GABA in the behavioral effects of alcohol.
Chris Keary, PGY-1
neurodevelopmental disorders, functional neuroimaging
Chris is interested in a multi-level understanding of developmental disorders. On one level, he is interested in the larger principles that unify the neuroimaging findings in these disorders and how are they informed by what is known about the structural organization of cortex and how it develops. On another, complementary level he is interested in the clinical characterization of autism, development of diagnostic techniques and support for families and caregivers of people with autism. On a sociological level, Chris is interested in the life course of individuals with developmental disorders and their place in societies.
Jonathan Moran, PGY-1
psychosomatic medicine, geriatric psychiatry
Jon is interested in psychosomatic medicine and geriatric psychiatry. He is currently working with Dr. Theodore Stern on understanding the psychiatric underpinnings of patients with certain behavioral problems in the context of the general hospital.
Oriana Vesga-Lopez, PGY-1
epidemiology, women's mental health, global mental health
Oriana’s research background is in epidemiology and women’s mental health. Previously, she had worked on the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), focusing on mood and anxiety disorders in women. That work resulted in important characterization of mental disorders in pregnant and post-partum women (Vesga-Lopez et al., Arch. Gen. Psych., 2008). To pursue these interests, Oriana plans to get involved with the MGH Center for Women's Mental Health and the Harvard Program on Refugee Trauma.
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