Dr. 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.

Dr. Brown oversees teaching activities in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, as well as the relationship of child and adolescent services with campus-based schools and institutes. He is also 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.

Dr. Brown 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 living with HIV. In addition, his research promotes engagement and adherence to pre-exposure prophylaxis for MSM in the South. 

Dr. McQuaid is the academic leader of the psychologists in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and responsible for the oversight of Clinical Psychology training at Brown. She is also the Director of Child Psychology at Hasbro Children's Hospital.

Dr. McQuaid 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. 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.