Neuromodulation Education and Training Program 

Comprehensive Training in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

The Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics offers comprehensive training in repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Psychiatry and Neurology clinical and research fellows, Psychiatry and Neurology residents, and interested medical students rotating in Psychiatry and Neurology. Our goal is to train the next generation of neuropsychiatrists who will have a good understanding of the neurocircuitry underlying various disorders, develop individual circuit-based clinical formulations, and understand where and how the various neurotherapeutic modalities could intervene. The educational experience is individually tailored to the interests of the trainee and range from observations of TMS evaluations and treatments to being able to independently evaluate patients, administer TMS treatments, and manipulate the various treatment and machine parameters.

During the initial clinical evaluation, we obtain a complete psychiatric and neurological history, do standardized rating scales for each positive symptom, screen for any risk factors for adverse events or relative contraindications for TMS, discuss various interventional treatment modalities that are available (TMS, ECT, ketamine/esketamine, VNS, DBS, etc.) and why a particular option may be best next step. Treatments are conducted daily (Monday through Friday) under the supervision of a qualified TMS technician and a TMS physician, and last 3 to 37 minutes. We conduct weekly motor threshold reassessments and repeat standardized rating scales to monitor symptom improvement and make treatment modifications, as necessary. These are discussed at weekly clinical rounds attended by trainees and all TMS technicians and physicians. An outpatient follow-up visit is conducted after completion of the treatment course. Standardized rating scales are once again repeated during this visit to quantify improvement.

The trainees are invited to attend the weekly clinical rounds, journal club, didactics as well as the new Brain Circuit Therapeutics Training Program described below. Opportunities for research in TMS and DBS are available as well. The educational experience can include advanced training in robotic TMS, and a full training curriculum and TMS certification pathway is also available. Additionally, we are developing an Interventional Neuropsychiatry & Neuromodulation Fellowship in collaboration with MGH. Interested trainees can reach out to Dr. Stanley Lyndon, Director of Education of TMS, for more information. The details of the fellowship training at MGH can be found by clicking here.

Brain Circuit Therapeutics Training Program

The Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics has launched a new weekly program to help trainees learn how to think like a brain circuit therapeutics expert. The program is free and is designed to be of interest to attendees at any level of training/experience. In its first month, the program attracted as many as 80 students from within Harvard and around the world. The curriculum is focused on a different topic every month. Every week, we cover that topic from four different perspectives - a journal club (in which the students learn to appraise/critique an important publication in the field), a guest lecture from a world-leading expert who authored the previous week's journal club article, a workshop in which one student volunteers to have a project critiqued by everybody else, and an activity/tutorial relevant to the topic of the month. For more information, click here.

Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP)

The Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP), originally founded by legendary scientist Stuart T. Hauser, MD, Ph.D., has been in operation for 39 years. It is distinguished by its commitment to multi-disciplinary training, including that of outstanding students drawn from a spectrum of sciences relevant to clinical psychiatry research. Student fields range from basic biological brain research, to family studies, to longitudinal developmental studies of psychopathology and resilience.

For more information, click here.

Image-guidance, Precision Diagnosis and Therapy Research Fellowship

This novel clinical research training program is designed to provide dedicated training for MDs and PhDs in the technical knowledge, practical clinical application and experience in Image Guided Therapy (IGT). Imaging is integral to patient care, both in and out of the hospital today. It provides a precise, personalized diagnostic “road-map” for interventions such as biopsies, ablations, surgery and radiation oncology. IGT involves image guidance with image processing, analysis, and precision diagnosis through multi-source data integration for therapies- procedures/surgeries involving multiple disciplines of procedural medicine, radiation oncology and surgery.

For more information, click here.

Interested in working with our center?

The Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics is always looking for talented candidates to join us in our scientific endeavors.

If you are interested in learning about our opportunities for Research Assistants, please send your CV and letter of interest to bwhcbctassistants@partners.org

If you are interested in learning about our opportunities for Fellowships or Post-Doctoral research, please send your CV and letter of interest to bwhcbctfellows@partners.org