Research Track

The primary goal of our Research Track is to support the career development of physician-scientists devoted to treating patients with mental illness and advancing mental health-related knowledge through basic, translational, clinical, implementation and health-systems research. The research track resident positions are fully financially supported by the institution. To support academic development, each resident who matches to our research track receives department funding for attendance at 1 academic meeting per year in their area of study.

The program director for the research track is Wilder Doucette, MD, PhD who is a former Research Track resident. Dr. Doucette will work in conjunction with the Research Track Committee to develop an individualized longitudinal mentored research training plan for each resident. The Research Track Committee is composed of senior department leadership and principal investigators representing research nodes of excellence. Each resident will join one of the research nodes based on their research interests. Each resident’s progress will be carefully monitored by Dr. Doucette and the Research Track Committee to ensure that their training plan and mentored research experience is proceeding as anticipated. The longitudinal training plan will also include an individualized research-focused curriculum consisting of seminars and courses (e.g., research methodology, statistics, ethics and grant writing) that are sponsored by various Departments and Institutes at Dartmouth.

The research nodes of excellence are research groups at Dartmouth engaged in mental health-related research capable of supporting the development and transition of research track residents into junior faculty with a track record of supporting transitions from pilot funding to career development awards to independent funding (R01 or equivalent).

Selected residents will receive substantial protected research time over the 4 years of psychiatry residency. Protected research time generally includes 2 weeks in PGY-1 and 6 or more weeks in PGY-2 plus a ½ day per week longitudinally throughout the year. There is 50% time devoted to research in the PGY-3 and PGY-4 years. This schedule allows residents to be eligible for the Loan Repayment Program sponsored by the NIH during residency training. Departmental funding for post-residency research in a post-doctoral or junior faculty capacity is also available. There are also several post-residency specialty fellowships available in which one could continue their research program. These include geriatric psychiatry, sleep medicine, addiction psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry and outcomes-oriented public sector psychiatry. The White River Junction VA Medical Center, an important training site for the residency and the location of the National Center for PTSD, offers additional post-residency training and funding opportunities.

Node: Child psychiatry and child health: neuroimmunity, neuroinflammation and the gut brain axis.

Contact: Juliette Madan, MD

Node Description: Clinical Research Director of the Dartmouth Children’s Center and Director of the Neuroimmune Psychiatry Disorders Program at Dartmouth. Dr. Madan’s microbiome research program investigates the relationship between early microbiome development and health outcomes, including neurodevelopmental and neuropsychological outcomes (the gut-brain axis). Her team in Epidemiology, Pediatrics and Child Psychiatry at Dartmouth leads the large-scale molecular epidemiological birth cohort study (the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study of 3,000 mother/infant dyads) which is embedded in the NIH led ECHO study (Environmental Children’s Health Outcomes Study) of 50,000 children and their families investigating exposures and health outcomes in neurodevelopment and neuropsychiatry. Clinical research in her Psychiatry Immunology and Neurology Group clinic program include RCTS, epidemiological investigations and microbiome studies (clinical and murine models).

For more information, visit these websites:

Node: The Center for Technology and Behavioral Health (CTBH)

Contact: Nicholas Jacobson, PhD

Node Description: The Center for Technology and Behavioral Health (CTBH) is a P30 “Center of Excellence” funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Comprised of an interdisciplinary team of leaders in behavioral science and technology, CTBH aims to draw on the dynamic synergy between innovation, rigorous evaluation, and strategic dissemination to lead transformations in delivery of evidence-based behavioral health care using technology.

For additional information, visit the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health website.

Node: Translational Neuroscience Research Group

Contact: Paul Holtzheimer, MD

Node Description: The Translational Neuroscience Research Group comprises experts in neuroimmunology, physiology, pharmacology, neuromodulation, neuroimaging, clinical trials, and rodent models of neurotrauma and psychiatric deficits, including addiction and fear. Our pre-clinical research seeks to improve functional recovery from psychiatric illness, independently, and as can occur after neurotrauma. Funded fellowship opportunities at our Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center laboratory include rodent models of addiction and fear. We also have an active laboratory at the White River Junction VA Medical Center. This work seeks to understand how targeted interventions can be used to improve psychiatric impairment following blast traumatic brain injury, as commonly experienced by combat military personnel. Funded research opportunities include projects that evaluate neuromodulation tools (deep brain stimulation and vagus nerve stimulation) and targeted immunotherapies to promote recovery. Clinical research opportunities include novel treatment development for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and other neuropsychiatric conditions. This includes work with treatments such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation, and stellate ganglion block, as well as identification of predictive biomarkers using electroencephalography and magnetic resonance imaging.

For additional information visit The Doucette Lab website.