Study Nodes

TTHSC-Lubbock’s Department of Psychiatry serves as the leading provider of child and adolescent psychiatry services in the West Texas region. TTUHSC-Lubbock is an active member of the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium and provides tertiary child mental health services to 558 primary care physicians across 100 clinics in West Texas through the Child Psychiatry Access Network (CPAN) program and is attending to mental health needs of more than 159,000 children located in 91 school districts in West Texas through the Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) program. TTUHSC also started an ACGME-accredited Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry recently in 2021.

Through the Clinical Research Institute of TTUHSC, the Department has access to the service of multiple clinical research coordinators trained specifically to manage data collection in studies on mental health. Dr. Regina Baronia, Research Director of the TTUHSC Department of Psychiatry serves as Node Lead. Dr. Sarah Mallard Wakefield, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and the Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Services at TTUHSC serves as the Clinical Lead for the entire TX-YDSRN network, Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Services for TTHSC-Lubbock and also plays a leadership role in the Measurement-based Care Committee of TX-YDSRN.

The University of North Texas Health Science Center and the John Peter Smith (JPS) Health Network (UNTHSC/JPS) utilize JPS Health Network sites as primary clinical sites for this study. The JPS healthcare system’s Behavioral Health Research Division has been recognized for excellence in performance on several past and current clinical trials.

Dr. David Farmer, Assistant Professor of Medical Education and Director of Interprofessional Education and Practice at UNTHSC will serve as the Node Lead. Dr. Cindy Claassen, Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern & UNTHSC and Director of the JPS Behavioral Health Service Psychology, Research and Education Divisions, serves as the Co-Node Lead for UNTHSC/JPS

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine. The UTRGV Department of Psychiatry was established in 2019 and graduated the first resident class in June 2021. Since establishing patient services, our UTRGV psychiatrists and residents have served approximately 500 children, adolescents and adults per month.

In addition to clinical services, UTRGV School of Medicine currently has a number clinical research grants, including: National Institute of Health grant to research the genetics of depression, dementia and bipolar disorder, Hogg Foundation grant to teach recovery-oriented psychiatry, and a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to health professionals mental health treatment in integrated primary care settings. Through research, patient services, and building relationships with community agencies, the UTRGV School of Medicine Psychiatry Department is committed to improving the lives and well-being of our Rio Grande Valley community. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Department of Psychiatry has an experienced team of child and adolescent mental professionals who are supported by Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers and Community Health Workers. Dr. Cynthia Garza serves as the UTRGV Node Lead with Dr. Diana Chapa, Node Co-Lead, for the TCMHCC Youth Depression and Suicide Research Network.

UTHSCSA’s Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, has initiated or participated in child and adolescent psychiatric research funded by NIMH and other organizations. Dr. Joseph Blader will serve as Node Lead for the San Antonio area.

UTMB’s Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences’ research team is highly trained in research implementation. The Node Lead, Dr. Melissa DeFilippis, will work closely with Dr. Kimberly Gushanas, Node Co-Lead. The University of Texas Medical Branch is the oldest medical school in the state of Texas and has been providing medical care for Texans for over a century. The department of psychiatry provides care to children and adolescents across the region with a variety of mental health concerns and is active in the training and education of medical students, psychiatry residents, and child and adolescent psychiatry fellows. The department led or participated in many of the psychopharmacology studies for mood disorders in youth (depression, bipolar disorder).

These studies contributed to the current evidence-based treatments available for children and adolescents with depression and bipolar disorder. The chair of our department, Dr. Karen D. Wagner, served as president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry from 2017-2019. Her presidential initiative was on Depression Awareness and Screening in youth. She has done extensive research on mood disorders in youth, including depression and suicidality, and has contributed much to our understanding of these disorders. UTMB’s department of psychiatry is dedicated to improving access to quality mental health care for children in Texas and believes their participation in the Youth Depression and Suicide Research Network (YDSRN) is an important step toward reaching this goal.

The University of Texas at Tyler Health Science Center is the only academic medical center in Northeast Texas and serves a region of 23 rural counties. The region is characterized by 1) low income and below state average education level, 2) older average age, 3) high rates of chronic illness, 4) high rates of mental health problems, and 5) underutilization/limited access to mental health resources. The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine serves the community not only by providing quality, affordable mental health care, but also by training the next generation of providers in culturally competent services.

UTHSC Tyler's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine is a newer facility, with two accredited training programs, the Psychiatry Residency Program and the Psychology Internship Program, as well as a Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship. Additionally, the new Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship will host its inaugural class in July 2022. Comprehensive mental health services are provided through an outpatient program staffed by an interdisciplinary team of mental health professional of psychiatrists and psychologists, as well as specialists and nurses.

The Youth Depression and Suicide Research Network is the first behavioral health research program implemented at UTHSC Tyler. Dr. Jamon Blood will serve as the Node Lead, in collaboration with Dr. Kiley Schneider, Node Co-Lead, for this Node representing Northeast Texas. Through the research network, we have been able to partner with community mental health providers to better address the ever-changing needs of the youth in our community.

UTHSC Tyler is rapidly growing and officially aligned with The University of Texas at Tyler in December 2020. The Health Science Center at UT Tyler now stronger than ever. Together as one university system, these entities have been unified to serve Northeast Texas and beyond through innovative medical research, medical education and excellent patient care. The new Department Chair, Dr. Beverly Bryant MD, is excited and dedicated to build up this research program as well as many other child and adolescent mental health services.

UTHSC Houston’s Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders is part of the Louis A. Faillace, MD Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. The Center’s research team has several ongoing clinical trials that focus on Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder.

As an ongoing effort, the team has also established the Greater Area Houston Pediatric Bipolar registry, which aims to contribute to the investigation of neurobiological mechanisms underlying Bipolar Disorder in children and adolescents. The Center’s Director, Dr. Jair C. Soares, will serve as the Node Lead for the Houston area, with Dr. Cesar Soutullo and Dr. Giovana Zunta-Soares as Co-Leads.

The UT Southwestern/Children’s Health node is led by Drs. Betsy Kennard (Node Lead), Graham Emslie (Node Co-Lead) and Laura Stone (Node Co-Investigator), who all have expertise and extensive clinical and research experience focused on child and adolescent depression and suicidality. They have conducted numerous clinical research studies for youth with depression and suicidality, many of which are pivotal NIMH-funded trials, including but not limited to the Treatment of Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS), Treatment of Resistant Depression in Adolescents (TORDIA) Study, and Treatment of Adolescent Suicide Attempters (TASA) Study.

These trials, as well as other studies they have conducted, involved collaboration with several other sites in the US to develop treatments specifically tailored to treat depression and suicidality in adolescents. They have also conducted studies demonstrating that implementing measurement-based care for depressed youth in primary and specialty care settings improves clinical outcomes. In addition to developing treatments, conducting research, and disseminating their findings, they developed the Parents’ Medication Guide for Depression published by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

The University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Children’s Medical Center (UT Austin DCMC) Dr. Jeffrey Shahidullah, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Texas Dell Medical School, serves as Node Lead for UT Austin DCMC. Dr. Jacquelyn LaGrone as Node Co-Lead.

We have expanded our MHU to a census of 18 and anticipate expanding to 24 in the next 2-4 months We have launched a new PHP that is DBT based that allows us to offer a full continuum of care from inpatient to PHP to IOP to outpatient We have embedded psychiatry in Adolescent Medicine, Comprehensive Care Clinic (CCC), Endocrinology, and Children's Blood and Cancer Center (CBCC) We have embedded psychology (with psychiatric consultation available through TCSC) in CBCC, Cardiology, ENT (The Hearing Center), Cystic Fibrosis, Rheumatology, Neurology (specific to the Concussion/ Headache program and the PNEE program), GI, Nephrology (including our developing transplant service), and Endocrinology. We are also creating a psychosocial team to support the newly opened Comprehensive Fetal Care Center, Special Delivery Unit, and NICU.

All of this growth is just in the past 2.5 years.

TTHSC-El Paso Paul L. Foster School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry is extremely experienced in successfully implementing multiple federal- and state-funded projects serving individuals with anxiety, depression, serious mental illness, and developmental disabilities.

The TTHSC Node collaborates with many community clinics for both clinical and research purposes, as well its own outpatient clinic, the county children’s hospital, and two local psychiatric hospitals. Dr. Sarah Martin serves as the Node Lead alongside Dr. Alejandro Fornelli, Node Co-Lead, to support the project and provide representation from the El Paso area.

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, Department of Psychiatry has an experienced team of child and adolescent mental professionals who are supported by behavioral health consultants and Community health workers. The research team consists of faculty, physicians, research scientists and biostatistician to screen and conduct research on the mental health adolescent population. The team also have clinical research coordinators who have experience in managing multi-site studies at academic institutions, who will work closely with participants in the [Paso Del Norte Region of West Texas] for the Youth Depression Suicide Research Network (YDRSN) Research Project.

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is committed to provide state of the art, evidence-based psychiatric and psychological care, education, and research for the Brazos Valley and the central Texas including collaboration with FQHC agencies and work on Telemedicine platform.

The Department’s mental health clinicians and trainees provide exceptional mental health care and conduct cutting edge research to discover and treat the underlying biological, psychological and social/environmental causes of mental illness and brain diseases.

They provide leadership in psychiatric treatment, education, research, and training to serve the needs of the community including children and adolescents. Node Lead Dr. Israel Liberzon works alongside Dr Jack Hettema, Node Co-Lead.

BCM’s Lee and Joe Jamail Specialty Care Center is the primary node site for research and clinical activities. The BCM team is extremely experienced in successfully implementing projects serving persons with mental illness, including multiple federal- and state-funded projects serving individuals with anxiety, depression, serious mental illness, and developmental disabilities.

Dr. Eric Storch serving as Node Lead and Dr. Caitlin Pinciotti as Node Co-Lead, have a successful track record of working with and conducting research with children with mental illness in coordination with local community partners. Baylor College of Medicine has a long track record of research, including over hundreds of publications and numerous NIH and other federal grants.

Currently, BCM has a robust grant portfolio examining genetics of obsessive-compulsive disorder, deep and innovative phenotyping approaches, neuroethics in pediatric psychiatry, and behavioral treatment of anxiety/OCD among youth with autism spectrum disorder.