Research

Consistent with the Agency’s mission, North Suffolk supports and participates in research, and collaborates with other institutions with the goal of improving the quality of care we provide to the people we serve. North Suffolk staff strive to implement best practices and evidence-informed services whenever possible.

Research at North Suffolk includes sponsored projects, clinical trials, graduate-level inquiry, action research, and participation in evidence-based practice projects. We regularly partner with academic research institutions such as Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Dartmouth Medical School to study the impact of various intervention models on symptoms of mental illness.

North Suffolk reviews research proposals to assure consistency with highest standards for ethical conduct and the protection of research participants. Currently there are several projects being conducted by staff who have applied for and received local and federal funding, including a clinical trial being conducted by Paolo Cassano, M.D., Ph.D, at the Chelsea Counseling Center.

Sponsored Projects at the Freedom Trail Clinic

Throughout its history North Suffolk has maintained a close relationship with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The Freedom Trail Clinic houses the MGH Schizophrenia Clinical and Research Program (SCRP), co-directed by Oliver Freudenreich, MD and Daphne Holt, MD, PhD. Fellow researchers at the Freedom Trail Clinic include Eden Evins, MD, Cori Cather, PhD, Benjamin Brent, MD, Joshua Roffman, MD, Kelly Irwin, MD, MPH, and others.  Recent clinical research has included trials of novel therapeutics, smoking cessation in people with severe mental illness, proactive cancer care for people with severe mental illness, imaging of social and non-social cognition, and identification and initial validation of quantitative biomarkers of cognition and negative symptoms.  In addition to the research, the Freedom Trail Clinic serves as a training site for the MGH-McLean Adult Psychiatry Residency Program and the MGH Fellowship in Public and Community Psychiatry.

For more information about the partnership between MGH and North Suffolk or about current research projects, please contact the research team at 617-912-7864 or visit http://www.massgeneral.org/schizophrenia/ to learn more.

For more information about the Clozapine Program, please call Freedom Trail Clinic 617-912-7800 and ask to speak with Sarah MacLaurin or visit MGH SCRP Clozapine Program to learn more.

If you are interested in the Second-Opinion Consultation Services, please contact Leah Namey at 617-912-7837 or visit MGH SCRP Second-Opinion Consultation Services to learn more.