Dr. Brian D’Onofrio is Professor and Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University. His research, rooted in the field of developmental psychopathology, explores the etiology and treatment of psychological problems using advanced statistical and epidemiological methods. In particular, he studies the processes that underlie the association between putative risk/protective factors and psychological problems using (1) large datasets; (2) family-based or quasi-experimental designs; and (3) longitudinal analyses.
If you would like to arrange a meeting with Professor D'Onofrio during his visit, please email Ami Eidels at Ami.Eidels@newcastle.edu.au.
Details of the seminar are as follows:
TITLE: How Can Translational Epidemiology Inform Clinical Psychology?
WHEN: Thursday 30th June 12-1pm.
WHERE: Keats Reading Room, AVLG17.
ABSTRACT: Recent reviews stress how little we know about the true causes of psychopathology because research is stuck in the “risk factor” stage. Numerous risk factors are known to predict psychological problems, but the underlying causal mechanisms through which these factors influence individuals are not known. Specifically, it is unclear whether putative risk factors have a causal influence or whether part—or most—of the associations with these risks are due to alternative explanations, including confounding from genetic and environmental factors. This talk will illustrate how rigorous translational epidemiological approaches can help specify the processes underlying the associations between risk factors and psychological problems by testing competing, theory-driven hypotheses. In particular, the talk will provide examples of research on early risk factors (e.g., maternal smoking during pregnancy) and the treatment of ADHD (e.g., psychotropic medications).
Link to Dr. D'Onofrio's lab: http://www.iub.edu/~devpsych/
