Since the fall, Assumption’s Psychology Department and the Psychiatry Department at UMASS Medical School have been collaborating on several research projects to expand opportunities for students, both graduate and undergraduate, to get involved with research placements and activities with researchers at the medical school. Professor of psychology Dr. Leonard Doerfler guided the research partnership.
“My role in this new initiative is to encourage other faculty at UMass and Assumption to begin working together on research where they have common interests,” said Doerfler. “I helped arrange a meeting between Provost Lazarus and Dr. Jean King, the Vice Chair for Research in the Psychiatry Department. This set things in motion.”
Doerfler has been at Assumption for 24 years and throughout this time has also been a faculty member at the UMass Medical School Psychiatry Department.
“In the past year, other faculty in the Psychology Department have begun to work with researchers in Psychiatry. For example, Dr. Paula Fitzpatrick has begun to work with Dr. Jean Frazier on a new project focused on autism,” said Doerfler. “Dr. Sarah Cavanagh has also begun to work with Dr. Carl Fulwiler on a project to study mindfulness stress reduction.”
This new collaboration has opened up several opportunities for students to partake in research studies and research programs.
“This semester, six undergraduate students from the College have been linked up with different research teams in the Psychiatry Department,” said Doerfler.
Although there has been a partnership between Assumption and UMass, in the past it has been limited to Doerfler’s work.
“I have been a faculty member in the Psychiatry Department for 24 years, and during that time I have worked with researchers in the Departments of Psychiatry, Medicine, and Pediatrics on several research projects,” said Doerfler.
Another research study the medical school is currently working on with students from Assumption is related to young adults, age 18-25 with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Researchers from the medical school are interested in recruiting Assumption students with ADHD to take part in the study.
“The ADHD study is conducted by a research team that is trying to understand brain processes that may be important,” said Doerfler. “Individuals who volunteer to participate in the study will complete some questionnaires and also will have an MRI that will allow the researchers to get a better understanding of how different parts of the brain may be involved with the challenges like impulsiveness and other characteristics of this disorder.”
Students interested in learning more about the research or wishing to volunteer should contact Dr. Doerfler.