Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Clinical Psychology Training Consortium
Postdoctoral Fellowship Description: RESEARCH FOCUS
Title:
Postdoctoral Fellowship in Noninvasive Brain Stimulation in Pediatric Neuropsychiatric
Disorders
Site:
Bradley Hospital
Supervisor(s):
Lindsay M. Oberman, Ph.D., Primary Supervisor
Description of Site
The fellowship is based at the Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital, the nation's first psychiatric hospital devoted
exclusively to children and adolescents. A Lifespan partner and a teaching hospital of the Warren Alpert Medical
School of Brown University, Bradley Hospital has established itself as a national center for training and research in
child and adolescent psychiatry. Each year, Bradley Hospital has over 1,000 inpatient child and adolescent
psychiatric admissions and over 10,000 outpatient appointments.
Dr. Oberman’s Neuroplasticity and Autism Spectrum Disorder Program currently is focused on identifying brain
mechanisms underlying Autism and related disorders using neurophysiological measures. The Neuroplasticity and Autism
Spectrum Disorder program is housed in 5100 sq ft of newly renovated research-dedicated space at Bradley Hospital,
including interview/assessment rooms, conference space, office space, and secure data space--all contiguous with the
inpatient and outpatient child/adolescent psychiatry facilities.
Neurostimulation equipment is housed both at Bradley Hospital and the TMS facility in the Lifespan CRC which is
housed in the Coro Building, along with other Lifespan outpatient clinical and research centers. The fellow has use of a
Neuronetics XPLOR TMS system with a customizable pulse programmer and a Biopac System for neurophysiological
monitoring as well as a Neuroelectrics Starstim transcranial electrical stimulation and Enobio EEG system for
simultaneous EEG recording and electrical current stimulation.
Fellowship Aims
 To provide training in noninvasive brain stimulation protocols.
 To provide exposure to pediatric neuropsychiatric patients and novel treatment strategies.
 To provide training in neurophysiological recording and analysis techniques.
 To provide training in clinical research study design methodology.
 To provide support and guidance in development as an independent investigator through grant and
manuscript writing skills.
Fellowship Timeline
The duration of the fellowship is 2 years, contingent upon satisfactory progress. Anticipated start date of October, 2015
– December 2015.
Research Activity Plan (90%)
Ninety (90%) of the fellow’s time will be devoted to research. The fellow will be exposed to various aspects of
noninvasive brain stimulation research via participation in the following activities.
 Study Coordination: The fellow will collaborate with the PI (Oberman) to coordinate a pilot study recently
funded by the Brown Institute for Brain Science and a transcranial direct current stimulation study funded
through the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation. 20%
 Review of relevant literature: The fellow will be provided with a series o f readings in the areas autism and
noninvasive brain stimulation. 10%
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Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Clinical Psychology Training Consortium
Postdoctoral Fellowship Description: RESEARCH FOCUS
 Study participation: The fellow will participate in the development of experimental computer tasks, data
collection, and data analysis. 35%
 Manuscript, Conference Abstracts, and Grant preparation and submission: The fellow will be encouraged to
submit independent grant applications, and collaborate on manuscript preparation, and abstract submissions
and attendance at national conferences. Individually tailored goals will be established in this area. 20%
 The fellow will be required to participate in weekly research meetings. 5%
Clinical Activity Plan (0%)
Opportunities for additional clinical experience will not be provided as part of the position.
Path toward licensure: YES_____ NO__X___
Didactics (10%)
Ten percent (10%) of the fellow’s time will be devoted to academic/didactic seminars.
 Postdoctoral Seminars: The fellow will participate in the following post-doctoral seminars through the Brown
Postdoctoral Training Program (10% time).
o Mandatory Didactics:
 Core Seminars (1 per month)
 DPHB Academic Grand Rounds (1 per month)
 Child Psychiatry Grand Rounds (1 per month)
 Academic Friday – Grantsmanship seminars, Special Topics in Statistics and Alcohol Center
seminars.
Supervision and Evaluation
Supervision will be provided in the form of one-hour weekly individual research supervision by Dr. Oberman and
ongoing exposure through research team meetings. The Fellow and supervisor will develop individualized training
goals and training objectives at the beginning of the fellowship year.
At the conclusion and midpoint of the fellowship, the fellow and the supervisors will provide formal evaluations,
and evaluations of the program relative to the goals and learning objectives of the fellowship.
Resource Requirements
Fellow will be provided with the following resources:

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Access to space to complete research responsibilities
A computer and project specific software
Internet access
Telephone
Reporting and approval
This fellowship will be part of the Child track. The position has been discussed and approved by the Child track faculty in
their monthly meeting of xx/xx/xx.
_____________________________________
Postdoctoral Fellowship Track Coordinator
____________________________________
Associate Director for Investigator Funded Fellowship Positions/NIH Funded Fellowship Positions
______________________________________
Director, Brown Clinical Psychology Training Consortium
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