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Brendan Rich

Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychology

email: richb@cua.edu

 

My interests focus on mood disorders in childhood and adolescence, in particular pediatric bipolar disorder and anxiety disorders.  My current research explores two domains: 1) the neural mechanisms of childhood mood disorders, and; 2) the efficacy of a group therapy program for children.

 

1) The first domain of my research uses various forms of neuroimaging, including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG), to identify the neural correlates of core deficits of pediatric bipolar disorder.  My research seeks to develop tasks that can assess the primary symptoms of this disorder and use neuroimaging to elucidate the neural aspects of these impairments.  My work is currently funded by an NIMH grant titled “Neural Mechanisms of Pediatric Bipolar Disorder: The Impact of Comorbid Anxiety”.  This study uses fMRI to explore how neural perturbations may contribute to the misinterpretation of emotional facial expressions, and specifically, how anxiety may impact neural functioning in bipolar youth.  I am also currently using MEG to explore the neural correlates of irritability, frustration, and behavioral disinhibition in bipolar youth.  Related studies examine how emotion impacts attention performance, the accuracy of standard rating scales for diagnosing pediatric bipolar disorder, and the functional deficits in families with a bipolar child. 

 

2) The second domain of my research seeks to determine the efficacy of a group therapy program for children with deficits in social skills and self-regulation.  In collaboration with Mary Alvord, PhD, this project investigates the effectiveness of a resilience-based group therapy program in improving social competence and emotional and behavioral self-regulation in children.  Most of these youth have diagnosed anxiety disorders or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).  This study explores the efficacy of this group therapy based on parent, teacher, and child report using measures of internalizing and externalizing symptomatology, emotional arousal and control, and family functioning.  In addition, therapeutic outcome is assessed using measures of cognitive and psychophysiological functioning.

Education & Training

 

Postdoctoral Fellowship: Mood and Anxiety Program, NIMH, Bethesda, MD (2008)

Internship: Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC (2003)

Ph.D., Clinical Child Psychology: University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (2003)

M.S., Clinical Psychology: University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (2000)

B.A.: Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY (1993)

 

 

Recent Honors, Award, & Grants

 

NIMH K22 Grant: Neural Mechanisms of Pediatric Bipolar Disorder: The Impact of Comorbid Anxiety (2007)

NIMH Pediatric Bipolar Disorder Conference: Excellence in Research Award (2007)

NIMH Kety Memorial Fellowship Training Award for Excellence in Clinical Research (2005)

Society of Biological Psychiatry: Eli Lilly Fellowship Award (2005)

Anxiety Disorders Association of America: Career Development Award (2005)        

American College of Neuropsychopharmacology: Career Development Award (2005)        

NIH: Fellows Award for Research Excellence (2004)                  

American Psychological Association: Scientific Directorate Dissertation Research Award (2002)

American Association for Higher Education: Cross Future Leaders Award (2001)

University of Florida: Harrower Memorial Award for Excellence in Psychodiagnostic Assessment   (2001)

University of Florida: Shafer Memorial Award for Excellence in Psychotherapeutic Counseling (2001)

  

SELECTED RECENT PUBLICATIONS

 

Rich, B.A., Grimley, M.B., Schmajuk, M., Blair, K., Pine, D.S., Blair, R.J.R., Leibenluft, E. (2008).  Face emotion labeling deficits in children with bipolar disorder and severe mood dysregulation. Development and Psychopathology, 20 (2), 529-546.

Rich, B.A., Fromm, S.J., Berghorst, L.H., Dickstein, D.P., Brotman, M.A.,  Pine, D.S., Leibenluft, E. (2008).  Neural connectivity in children with bipolar disorder: Impairment in the face emotion processing circuit.  Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49(1), 88-96.

Leibenluft, E., and Rich, B.A. (2008).  Pediatric Bipolar Disorder.  In S. Nolen-Hoeksema (Ed.),  Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, Vol. 4., pp. 163-188.  Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association Press.

 

Rich, B.A., Schmajuk, M., Perez-Edgar, K., Pine, D.S., Fox, N.A., Leibenluft, E. (2007).  Different psychophysiological and behavioral responses elicited by  frustration in pediatric bipolar disorder and severe mood dysregulation.  American Journal of Psychiatry, 164 (2), 309-317.

Leibenluft, E., Rich, B.A., Vinton, D., Nelson, E., Fromm, S., Schachar, R., Dickstein, D., McClure, E., Pine, D. (2007).  Neural circuitry mediating successful and unsuccessful motor inhibition in pediatric bipolar disorder vs. controls. American Journal of Psychiatry, 164 (1), 52-60.

Dickstein, D.P., Rich, B.A., Roberson-Nay, R., Berghorst, L., Vinton, D., Pine, D., &  Leibenluft, E. (2007).  Neural activation during encoding of emotional faces in pediatric bipolar disorder.  Bipolar Disorders, 9(7), 679-692.

Brotman, M.A.,  Rich, B.A., Schmajuk, M., Reising, M., Monk, C.S., Dickstein, D.P., Mogg, K., Bradley, B.P., Pine, D.S., Leibenluft, E. (2007).  Attention bias to threat in children with bipolar disorder and comorbid anxiety disorders.  Biological Psychiatry, 61, 819-821.

Rich, B.A., Vinton, D., Roberson-Nay, R., Hommer, R., Berghorst, L., McClure, E., Fromm, S., Pine, D., Leibenluft, E. (2006).  Limbic hyperactivation during processing of neutral facial expressions in children with bipolar disorder.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 103(23), 8900-8905.

 

Rich, B.A., & Leibenluft, E. (2006).  Irritability in pediatric mania.  Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 3 (3), 205-218.

 

Rich, B.A., Vinton, D., Grillon, C., Bhangoo, R.K., & Leibenluft, E. (2005).  An investigation of prepulse inhibition in pediatric bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disorders, 7 (2), 198-203.

 

Rich, B.A., Bhangoo, R., Vinton, D., Berghorst, L., Dickstein, D., Grillon, C., Davidson, R., & Leibenluft, E. (2005).  Using affect-modulated startle to study phenotypes of pediatric bipolar disorder.  Bipolar Disorders, 7, 536-545.

 

Rich, B.A., Schmajuk, M., Perez-Edgar, K., Pine, D.S., Fox, N.A., & Leibenluft, E. (2005).  The impact of reward, punishment, and frustration on attention in pediatric bipolar disorder.  Biological Psychiatry, 58, 532-539.

 

Rich, B.A., McClure, E., Vinton, D., Roberson-Nay, R., Pine, D., Leibenluft, E. (2005).  Preliminary investigation of misinterpretation of facial expressions in childhood anxiety, bipolar disorder, and their comorbidity. Depression and Anxiety, 22(4), 226-227.

 

Dickstein, D.P., Rich, B.A., Binstock, A.B., Towbin, K.E., Pine, D.S., &  Leibenluft, E. (2005).  Comorbid anxiety in phenotypes of pediatric bipolar disorder. The Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 15, 534-548.



Last Revised 22-Jul-09 11:20 AM.