Managing Tourette Syndrome Parent WB

Douglas W. Woods, Ph.D. is Provost and Professor of Psychology at Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Woods is a recognized expert in the assessment and treatment of tic disorders and trichotillomania, and other obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. He has published more than 300 journal articles and book chapters on these and related topics. Dr. Woods is a member of the Tourette Association of America’s Advisory Board, and his research has been funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Tourette Association of America.

John C. Piacentini, PhD, ABPP, is Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and Director of the Child OCD, Anxiety, and Tic Disorders Program and Center for Child Anxiety, Resilience, Education and Support (CARES) in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Dr. Piacentini has led trainings on the treatment of tic disorder, OCD, and child anxiety across the United States and around the world, and has authored a number of treatment manuals in the Programs That WorkTM series, including Overcoming Childhood OCD: a Therapist’s Guide. He has received numerous research grants from NIH and other organizations to study the treatment of child and adolescent tic disorders, OCD, and anxiety and has authored close to 400 scientific papers and book chapters on child mental health. He is Co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Tourette Syndrome Association, Chair of the Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board of the Trichotillomania Learning Center, and holds board positions in several other mental health organizations.

Alan L. Peterson, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. In collaboration with Dr. Nathan Azrin, Dr. Peterson conducted several of the initial studies to develop and evaluate the treatment protocol for the use of habit reversal for the treatment ofTourette syndrome. He has more than 385 scientific publications to his credit. Dr. Peterson’s research has been funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and the Tourette Syndrome Association.

Lawrence D. Scahill, MSN, PhD, is Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine and Director of Clinical Trials at the Marcus Autism Center in Atlanta. Prior joining the faculty at Emory, he was professor at the Yale University School Nursing and the Yale Child Study Center. At Yale, Dr. Scahill was part of several NIH-funded multisite networks focused on developing and testing new treatments for children with autism and children with tic disorders. Dr. Scahill served on the Medical Advisory Board of the Tourette Association of America from 1994 to 2012. He remains actively involved in the Tourette Association Behavioral Sciences Consortium. This consortium developed and tested Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT). Dr.Scahill isthe author or co-author of 300 publications on Tourette syndrome, autism, ADHD, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

John T. Walkup, MD, is Chair of the Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Professor of Psychiatry at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Walkup’s work covers three main areas of innovation and investigation. His work with movement disorders, specifically Tourette syndrome, uniquely spans psychiatry, child psychiatry and neurology. His expertise in child and adolescent psychiatry clinical trials focuses on the development and evaluation of psychopharmacological and psychosocial treatments and lastly, he has been involved in developing and evaluating interventions to reduce the large mental health disparities facing Native American youth, specifically drug use and suicide prevention. He is currently involved in the Lurie Children’s and Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine Tourette Association of America Center of Excellence and also receives funding to support efforts to reduce mental health disparities among minoritized youth in Chicago.