Newswise — (COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Nationwide Children's Hospital has created a new Institute for Mental and Behavioral Health Research, significantly expanding opportunities to seek a better understanding of mental and behavioral health in children and to develop better diagnostics, treatment and preventative strategies.
Leading this new institute will be Eric Youngstrom, PhD, a nationally renowned psychologist specializing in the relationship of mood and psychopathology, and the clinical assessment of children and families. He currently is a professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is also the acting director of the Center for Excellence in Research and Treatment of Bipolar Disorder.
Dr. Youngstrom will join Nationwide Children's as the inaugural director of the Institute for Mental and Behavioral Health Research on February 1, 2024. He also will be the first recipient of The DiMarco Family Endowed Chair in Mental and Behavioral Health Research at Nationwide Children's.
“Establishing this research institute with Dr. Youngstrom at the helm is a significant advancement in our already robust mental and behavioral health research program,” said Dennis Durbin, MD, MSCE, president, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's. “His research focuses on improving clinical assessment instruments for differential diagnoses, and on predicting a child’s treatment progress – especially for bipolar disorder. These areas of study will greatly complement our current research conducted in the Center for Biobehavioral Health, Center for Suicide Prevention and Research and through our Behavioral Health Services.”
Since 2002, Dr. Youngstrom has received research funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Ohio Department of Mental Health, and multiple foundations. He has been Vice President of Education for the International Society of Bipolar Disorders, twice elected President of the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, and President of the Society of Quantitative and Qualitative Methods. He consulted on the 5th revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) and chaired the Work Group on Child Diagnosis for the International Society for Bipolar Disorders.
“Following an extensive national search, Dr. Youngstrom was recognized as an ideal leader to join Nationwide Children's,” said David Axelson, MD, chief, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Nationwide Children's Hospital. “He is a sought-after expert who has spoken nationally and internationally about pediatric bipolar disorder and mental health assessment in youth and has authored more than 450 peer-reviewed publications. We look forward to the contributions he will make toward advancing mental and behavioral health research, which will have a positive impact for children and teens in Central Ohio and around the world.”
Dr. Youngstrom earned his PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Delaware and completed his predoctoral internship training at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic before joining the faculty at Case Western Reserve University Department of Psychology for 8 years and then University of North Carolina Department of Psychology and Neuroscience for 17 years.
He is the first recipient of the Early Career Award from the Society of Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology, and an elected full member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (Divisions 5, 12, and 53), as well as the Association for Psychological Science and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.
Dr. Youngstrom is also the co-founder of Helping Give Away Psychological Science (HGAPS), a 501c3 charitable service organization dedicated to helping bring the best psychology information to the people who would benefit most. He received the Beckman Award from the American Psychological Association and Wells Fargo in 2020 for this work.
The Institute for Mental and Behavioral Health Research at Nationwide Children's Hospital will be housed in the state-of-the-art Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion on the hospital’s main campus in Columbus, Ohio. The mission of the institute’s faculty is to conduct innovative translational, clinical and epidemiological research focused on the causes, prevention, and treatment of mental, emotional and behavioral disorders in children and teens. With 25,000 square feet of current research space and additional research space to be developed, the institute has flexibility for growth well into the future.
About The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital Named to the Top 10 Honor Roll on U.S. News & World Report’s 2023-24 list of “Best Children’s Hospitals,” Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of America’s largest not-for-profit free-standing pediatric health care systems providing unique expertise in pediatric population health, behavioral health, genomics and health equity as the next frontiers in pediatric medicine, leading to best outcomes for the health of the whole child. Integrated clinical and research programs are part of what allows Nationwide Children’s to advance its unique model of care. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children’s faculty train the next generation of pediatricians, scientists and pediatric specialists. The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the Top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded free-standing pediatric research facilities in the U.S., supporting basic, clinical, translational, behavioral and population health research. The AWRI is comprised of multidisciplinary Centers of Emphasis paired with advanced infrastructure supporting capabilities such as technology commercialization for discoveries; gene- and cell-based therapies; and genome sequencing and analysis. More information is available at NationwideChildrens.org/Research.
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