I'm an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University and Director of the HOPE Lab. I develop validated assessments and trauma-informed treatments for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), a population the mental health field largely overlooked.
How it started
During the clinical portion of my PhD at VCU, I worked at a residential center serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I noticed something that changed the course of my career: almost none of the validated mental health assessments or treatments that existed for other populations had been built for this one. The screening tools, the outcome measures, the intervention protocols. They simply weren't there.
After completing my doctorate in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, I joined the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics (VIPBG) as a postdoctoral researcher under Ananda Amstadter, PhD, where I focused on trauma, PTSD, and genetic methodologies. I'm now an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and direct the HOPE Lab.
"It is one thing to say with the prophet Amos, 'Let justice roll down like mighty waters,' and quite another to work out the irrigation system."
My work is the irrigation system. I build evidence-based assessments (including epigenetic biomarkers), caregiver-reported instruments, and trauma-informed care protocols for people with IDD. I also teach at VCU and UCLA, and was profiled by the Council for Exceptional Children for my contributions to the field.
Active studies
01
Life Experiences and Feelings. We're measuring how anxiety and depression actually present in adults with IDD, because the field still doesn't have good prevalence data for this population.
02
A trauma-informed care program for adults with IDD. Includes a facilitator toolkit designed for use where people already live and receive services.
03 NICHD funded
Down Syndrome COVID-19 Family Adjustment Study. Funded by NICHD, looking at how the pandemic affected the mental health of people with Down syndrome and their families.
04
A multi-site study developing the first caregiver-reported rating scale for Down Syndrome Regression Disorder, so families and clinicians have a shared tool for what they observe.
Virginia Commonwealth University
Healthy Outcomes through Psychosocial Equity. We conduct research to improve awareness of mental health symptoms in people with IDD, build better measurement tools, and improve service delivery so that people with IDD can experience healthy outcomes and community inclusion.
Faculty
Richard Chapman, PhD
Research coordinator
Lauren Hinton
Community outreach
Kathryn Mary Costanzo
Research assistants
Kayla Van
Ester Jo
I work with researchers, clinicians, disability advocates, and families. If your work involves the mental health of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, I'd like to hear from you.
Visit the VCU HOPE Lab to learn more.