Belinda Borrelli
Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior (Research):
Psychiatry & Human Behavior
Phone: +1 401 793 8040
Phone 2: +1 401 793 8093
Belinda_Borrelli@Brown.EDU
Belinda Borrelli is a Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Program in Nicotine and Tobacco Research. She develops and tests treatments to motivate change in a variety of health behaviors (smoking cessation, medication adherence, oral health, sleep apnea, asthma) in many populations (disabled, latinos, urban teens, older adults, native americans). She is interested in 1) increasing risk perception through health feedback and 2) working with culturally diverse and special populations.
Biography
Belinda Borrelli, PhD is Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Program in Nicotine and Tobacco at Brown Medical School & The Miriam Hospital. She is a Clinical Psychologist with over 70 peer-reviewed publications. She is the Principal Investigator or Co-investigator of numerous grants on motivating behavior change across diverse areas including smoking cessation, medication adherence, asthma, oral health, sleep apnea, diet, exercise, and obesity. Dr. Borrelli has given over 60 invited talks and keynotes on her research. Dr. Borrelli was the previous Associate Editor of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology and is currently Associate Editor of Health Psychology. She is a former member of a scientific grant review committee at the National Institutes of Health (RPHB-2), and recently appointed to the American College of Reviewers. Dr. Borrelli has trained hundreds of health care practitioners in motivational interviewing for health behavior change, both nationally and internationally.
Interests
My research program involves developing theory-based health behavior interventions to proactively reach those who would not spontaneously seek, or have access to treatment. I believe that population-based health behavior change can occur by targeting 4 areas: 1) developing new channels to proactively reach those who are most at risk; 2) developing new methods of intervention; particularly tailored to those who are not motivated to change, 3) attention to both treatment outcomes and theoretical mechanisms of change, and 4) institutionalization of effective interventions.
My research also involves cultural adaptation of evidenced based interventions. I have developed a model that outlines the criteria and methods for developing and testing interventions with special populations. This is published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2010.
One of my primary areas of research is to motivate smoking cessation among medical populations through Motivational Enhancement methods (e.g., Motivational Interviewing) and augmentation of risk perception through biomarker feedback. I have conducted a series of studies involving motivating smoking cessation and second hand smoke reduction among caregivers of children with asthma. These interventions captilize on a teachable moment (e.g., recent visit to the emergency room) using biomarker feedback to increase perception of risk. This series of interventions was culturally adapted for Latino smokers, and shown to have efficacy in this population.
My most recent research involves using Behavioral Activation to motivate smoking cessation in smokers with mobility impairments. The first phase of this project involves using both qualitative and quantitative methods, as well as community based participatory research, to develop a series of theory-based videos to motivate smoking cessation and increase empowerment. The second phase of this research involved testing these videos in a randomized controlled trial to determine whether or not they are effective in promoting smoking cessation in this population.
I have extrapolated my treatment models to health domains outside of smoking, including colon cancer screening, oral health, asthma, medication adherence, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) adherence, depression, obesity, diet, exercise, and diabetes. I have also applied motivational interviewing and health behavior change methods to diverse populations (Disabled, Native Americans, Latinos, Inner city, older adults, pediatrics, adolescents).
A separate line of study involves developing and publishing guidelines on treatment fidelity of health behavior change studies. I co-chaired on NIH committee on treatment fidelity in order to develop these guidelines. These guidelines are viewed as supplementary to CONSORT for behavioral health interventions and are published in Health Psychology and the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, the latter includes an assessment tool for researchers on treatment fidelity. These guidelines have been updated in an invited article (B. Borrelli, 2011, American Journal of Preventive Dentistry).
Degrees
PHD, MA
Awards
2012 Fellow, The American Psychological Association
2010 Honorary Editorial Board, Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation
2010 Invited expert testimony to HRSA on Evidenced Based Interventions
2010 Invited Editor, Special Issue on Smoking Cessation, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
2010-pre. Associate Editor, Health Psychology
2008- pres. Assistant Editor, Addiction, An International Journal
2008-pres Invited Member, Honorary Editorial Board, Psychology Research and Behaviour Management
2007 Received "Most Read Article of 2006" on Medscape, and Editor's Top Pick (Psychiatry).
Editorial Board, Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 2005- present.
2004-2010 Associate Editor, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
Honorary Master of Arts (Ad Eundem, Brown University)
Young Investigator Award, Brown Medical School.
1998 Nominated, Brown University School of Medicine Teaching Award
Affiliations
2000-present American Psychological Association (APA)
1997-present Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco
1990 - present American Psychological Association
1992 - present Society of Behavioral Medicine
2000-present Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers
2010-present Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco-Europe
Teaching
Dr. Borrelli has trained hundreds of physicians, nurses, medical residents, medical students, and psychology interns in motivational interviewing techniques for health behavior change, including smoking cessation, medication adherence, asthma, adherence to diabetic regimens, and physical activity. She also widely lecture at national medical conferences on technique of motivating health behavior change for a wide variety of medical disciplines (e.g., stroke, cardiovascular, asthma & allergy). She has trained all nurses at both The Miriam Hospital and RI Hospital to implement best practice guidelines for smoking cessation counseling. She developed a pocket guide and educational curriculum for nurses. She provides ongoing teaching and mentorship to psychology interns, post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty on research methods, manuscript writing, and grant writing. She was recently invited by the Texas Board of Higher Education to review a proposed Psychology PhD program at the University of Texas, San Antonio.
Funded Research
GRANTS/ACTIVE
1. 2005-2012, Principal Investigator. Sustaining Cessation in Smokers with Kids with Asthma. Funding agency: NIH-NHBLI, R01 HL062165-06 (competing continuation) Direct costs $2,408,862
2. 2009-2014. Principal Investigator. Motivating Smoking Cessation among Smokers with Mobility Impairments. Funding Agency: NIH-NCI R01 CA137616-01. Total costs: $2,900,000
3. 2004-2011, Co-Investigator. Sustained Cessation among Pregnant Smokers.(T.Lasater, PI, Brown University). Funding Agency: NIH-NHLBI, R01 HL77608 Amount of Subcontract: $1,000,000 direct costs.
4. 2005-2011, Co-Investigator. Motivating Asthma Adherence in Urban Pre & Early Teens. (C. Rand, PI, John Hopkins School of Medicine). Funding Agency: NIH-NHLBI, R01 HL079301 Amount of Subcontract: $214,312 direct costs.
5 . 2006-2010, Co-Investigator. School-based asthma therapy: Stage 2 Effectiveness Study-Revised. Funding Agency: NIH-NHLBI, R01HL079954 (J.Halterman, PI, University of Rochester Medical School). Amount of Subcontract $146,087 direct costs.
6. 2007-2012, Co-Investigator. Motivating Adherence to CPAP in Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Funding Agency: NIH-NHLBI R01 HL067209 (Aloia, PI, National Jewish, Denver, CO) Amount of Subcontract : $268,176 direct costs.
7. 2008-2013, Co-Investigator. Motivating Improved Self-Management among Older Teens & Adults with CF. Funding Agency: NIH_NHLBI R01 HL087997 (K. Rieckert, PI, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine). Amount of Subcontract: $282,465 direct costs.
8. 2008-2014, Co-Principal Investigator. Prevention of Dental Caries among children in low income housing in Boston. Funding Agency: NIH-NIDCR, R01, M. Henshaw, PI). Amount of Subcontract: $930,278 direct costs.
9. 2009-2013. Co-Investigator (Funding Agency: NIH-NCI, RO1 D. Brooks, PI, Boston University). Motivating smoking cessation in a low-income public housing population. Total direct costs: $268,852.
10. 2011-2016, Mentor, B. Borrelli, (A. Busch, PI , Miriam Hospital). Integrated Smoking Cessation and Mood Management for Cardiac Patients. Total direct costs: $640,824 (NIH-NHLBI, K23).
11. 2012-2017, Co-Investigator, B. Borrelli (B.Bock, PI) System-based Tracking and Treatment for Emergency Patients who Smoke: STTEPS Total year 1: $632,942 (NCI R01).
