Research Activities

Founding Director, Hathaway Children’s Clinical Research Institute, 1999-2004

Research Projects

Current:

Child Adversity and Trauma Screen (CATS): Currently mentoring medical students in research methods while field testing this instrument developed with Julian Ford, PhD, to provide rapid screening of all forms of child psychological trauma and adversity.

Past:

Justina: A Virtual Adolescent Trauma Patient: Worked with a team to develop this tool for training mental health students and professionals about PTSD and the significance of therapeutic alliance.

Developed a comprehensive database documenting trauma histories, symptoms, and functioning in multiple domains for a longitudinal outcomes project focusing on consequences of severe interpersonal trauma in a population of ethnically diverse youth in residential treatment.

Examined Best Practices across the spectrum of services provided by Hathaway’s major sites including two community-based outpatient clinics, all residential, foster care, family preservation and substance abuse services (total agency budget: $18 Million).

Initiated Collaborative projects to explore improved treatment models for chronically traumatized children in residential treatment as well as examining alternatives to residential treatment.

Grants

The Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI) 2014- 15 Pilot Funding Program “Bio Markers of Early Childhood Trauma and Changes through Intervention” Co-investigator advising on child trauma issues,

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 2006-2011
PI for the USC Subcontract in this Level III Network Grant to provide trauma assessment and services to children and their families, and to develop a child trauma psychiatry training program for the USC Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

The BC McCabe Foundation. $750,000, 2001-2004.
This grant funded the Hathaway Children’s Clinical Research Institute. It paid for the development of Institute infrastructure and the first three years of data collection.

Renewal of the BC McCabe Foundation Grant. $ 650,000, 2004
This renewal grant focused on Best Practice evaluation across the agency. This led to a plan for Continuous Quality Improvement. These grants resulted in the development of a comprehensive database on over 100 traumatized youth.