Leadership
Our education, research, and clinical care missions are helmed by leading experts in psychiatry and psychology.
Leadership
Our education, research, and clinical care missions are helmed by leading experts in psychiatry and psychology.
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Audrey Tyrka, MD, PhD
Department Chair, Mary Zucker Professor of Psychiatry and Human BehaviorDr. Tyrka received her MD and PhD in medicine and psychology through a combined program at the University of Pennsylvania. She completed psychiatry residency at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and further research training in clinical neuroscience at the Mood Disorders Research Program at Butler Hospital. A member of the Brown faculty since 2003, Dr. Tyrka most recently served as the Vice Chair of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown and Chief Scientific Officer at Care New England. She has led the Laboratory for Clinical and Translational Neuroscience since 2011 and was Director of Research at Butler Hospital from 2014-2021.
In addition to her role as Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Dr. Tyrka is Co-Director of the Center for Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR), which includes the STAR COBRE Center and a STAR Research Postdoctoral Fellowship T32 program. Dr. Tyrka is internationally known for her groundbreaking work on early adversity, including discoveries of neuroendocrine, epigenetic, and biological aging processes that are now widely understood to underlie stress-associated mental and physical health conditions. Dr. Tyrka has also contributed to pharmacologic, behavioral, and neuromodulation treatments trials for depression and is an attending psychiatrist in the Butler Hospital Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Clinic.
A dedicated mentor and leader in research training, Dr. Tyrka is the PI of our NIMH-funded R25 Research Training Program for physician scientists in psychiatry training. The Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior is committed to measurable policies and practices that foster diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and promote anti-racism within the department’s education, research, and clinical care settings and the community at large. A member of the Community Advisory Board of Sojourner House, Dr. Tyrka is also a painter and mixed-media artist, and she contributes the proceeds from her art toward their mission to support people affected by domestic and sexual violence.
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Larry Brown, MD
Vice Chair, Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Professor of Psychiatry and Human BehaviorDr. Brown is Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Vice Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. He has a particular interest in HIV and risk behaviors among adolescents and young adults. He also conducts clinical treatment trials to reduce substance use and depression for those living with HIV through AIDS Trials networks and is developing and testing an iPhone game to improve medical adherence for adolescents and young adults lving with HIV. In addition, his research promotes engagement and adherence to pre-exposure prophylaxis for MSM in the South. He is Associate Director of the Providence - Boston Center for AIDS Research and the Program Director of a NIMH T32 postdoctoral training program in HIV biobehavioral research.
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Tracey Guthrie, MD
Vice Chair for Clinical Academic Affairs, Assistant Dean for Diversity, Division of Biology and Medicine, General Psychiatry Residency Training Director, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Clinician EducatorTracey Guthrie, MD, is the Residency Training Director for the Brown University General Psychiatry Residency Program. She is Professor, Clinician Educator, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and Professor of Medical Science, Clinician Educator.
Dr. Guthrie graduated from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. She continued her training in the Brown Psychiatry Residency Training Program where she was Chief Resident. She joined the Brown faculty in 1999. Dr. Guthrie has been involved with medical student education at Brown since 2002 and psychiatry residency training since 2005. She has served in many leadership roles within the Department including Associate Clerkship Director and Clerkship Site Director in Psychiatry for Brown medical students; Assistant and Associate Residency Training Director in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and Director of the Residency Continuity Clinic. Dr. Guthrie has received several teaching awards, including: The Outstanding Teaching Award, both in Medical Education and in General Psychiatry; The Innovation in Medical Education Award from the Memorial Hospital Internal Medicine Training Program; The Psychiatry Resident Award to Talented and Learned Educators (PRATTLE award); The Triple Board Program Teaching and Advocacy Award; and the Dean’s Excellence in Teaching Award.
Dr. Guthrie serves as a Presidential Appointee to the Executive Council for the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training (2019-present).
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Jeffrey Hunt, MD
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program Director, Triple Board in Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Program Director, Professor of Psychiatry and Human BehaviorDr. Hunt is Program Director for the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship and the Combined Program in Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Brown University. He is Deputy Division Director for the DPHB Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Director of Inpatient and Intensive Services at Bradley Hospital. His areas of interest include pediatric mood disorders, suicidal behavior, and training and education. Dr. Hunt has been a co-investigator on a number of research grants including the NIMH funded Course and Outcome of Bipolar Youth study and currently the Predicting Adult Outcomes in Bipolar Youth (PROBY) study. He serves on several national committees including AACAP, ACGME, and the ABPN. He is also the Senior Editor of the Brown Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology Newsletter. Dr. Hunt graduated from the Medical College of Wisconsin after receiving a BA from Carroll College of Montana (Magna cum laude) and Masters of Science in Biology at Montana State University. He completed general and child and adolescent psychiatry residency training at the Medical College of Pennsylvania/Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute (Now Drexel University).
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Elizabeth McQuaid, PhD, ABPP
Vice Chair of Academic Affairs, Director of the Division of Clinical Psychology, Professor of Psychiatry and Human BehaviorDr. McQuaid is Vice Chair of Academic Affairs, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and Professor of Pediatrics. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology (honors) from Yale University, and her PhD in Child Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver. After her internship at the Children's National Medical Center, Dr. McQuaid completed a postdoctoral fellowship in child mental health research at Brown.
Dr. McQuaid conducts her research and clinical activities at Rhode Island Hospital/Hasbro Children's Hospital, where she is the Director of Child Psychology. Her work focuses on pediatric disease management and adherence to medical regimens in the context of health disparities. Dr. McQuaid has been continuously funded by the NIH since 1998.
Dr. McQuaid is Director of the Divison of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (DPHB) at Brown. In this role and as the Vice Chair of the DPHB, she is the academic leader of the psychologists in the department, and responsible for the oversight of Clinical Psychology training at Brown.