Spotlight on H. Patrick Driscoll, MD, MS
H. Patrick Driscoll, MD, MS, began his research training in 2001 in the molecular gerontology laboratory at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, Maryland. For 2 years, under the mentorship of Drs. Robert M. Brosh and Wilhelm Bohr, he worked on biochemically characterizing the Werner syndrome helicase and its role in aging. In 2003, he entered the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and pursued further research training in the inaugural class of the Clinical Scientist Training Program (CSTP) for Medical Students. During medical school, he continued working in the field of aging. Under the mentorship of Dr. Charles F. Reynolds, he worked with a geriatric psychiatry research group to find clinical predictors of treatment-response variability in depressed older adults and to explore the role of aripiprazole in late-life treatment-resistant depression.
After graduating from medical school and earning an MS in clinical research from the ICRE in 2008, Dr. Driscoll continued his clinical training as a psychiatry resident at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. He is currently a third-year resident and continues to pursue clinical specialization in child and adolescent psychiatry, with a research interest in personality disorders.
Through his work with the adult psychiatric population, Dr. Driscoll has seen the impact that various developmental factors have on the course of psychiatric illness in adults: "Aside from the role that development has in a given patient's presenting Axis I diagnosis, early developmental factors are at least equally important in their contribution to the more enduring traits that make up an individual's personality as an adult. By getting to know the adult patients I've seen, it has become so clear to me how many of their psychiatric issues began earlier in life, during childhood and adolescence."
Dr. Driscoll believes that the CSTP for Medical Students gave him the critical tools he needed to advance his interest in clinical research. "I feel very lucky to have had the CSTP training during medical school. It has given me a solid handle on the statistical and methodological tools that are required to translate clinical questions into testable hypotheses. It has made my residency training all the richer and my future prospects in research that much brighter." Moreover, he says, "the mentorship that I received through the CSTP was excellent."
Dr. Driscoll is currently applying for a 2-year fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry. "I love engaging young patients, whether they are 5 years old or teenagers." Discussing this field, he says that "although effective psychotherapy has been shown to change the brain in adults, little is known about its impact on the developing brain." Therefore, he hopes to use the next phase of his training to develop the skills necessary to "tease out the neuro-developmental impact of treatment on young patients."
