Expert Team in Pediatric Medical Psychology

Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Rick Ostrander, Ed.D.

Dr. Ostrander is currently the Director of Pediatric Medical Psychology and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore Maryland.   Dr. Ostrander has also directed the psychological assessment services within the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Minnesota Hospital and was also Chief of Child Psychology at Georgetown University Medical Center.  He has also served as a Congressional Science Fellow and worked on federal legislation involving special education reform and mental health parity. His research interests include ADHD and how it relates to other childhood disorders, including depression and anxiety.

Courtney Pierce Keeton, Ph.D.

Dr. Keeton is an Assistant Professor and full-time faculty member at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and completed an APA-approved Clinical Psychology Internship at the Duke University Medical Center, Division of Medical Psychology. After completing a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Johns Hopkins, she joined the faculty in Child Psychiatry. Dr. Keeton was fortunate to receive training from many leaders in the field, and is committed to providing high quality, evidence-based care to children and their families. Previously, she was a clinician in the largest comparative treatment trial of pediatric anxiety completed to date. Now, Dr. Keeton specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of child and adolescent anxiety disorders including selective mutism. Her treatment approach involves cognitive and behavioral strategies, including consultation with schools. When not working directly with patients, Dr. Keeton spends her time teaching about psychosocial interventions for child and adolescent mental health, and conducting interventions research. 

Jessica Hankinson, Ph.D.

Dr. Hankinson is a faculty member in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Hankinson specializes in pediatric psychology and the treatment and assessment of children with chronic medical conditions and associated emotional and behavioral difficulties. Dr. Hankinson serves as the primary behavioral consultant within the Divisions of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition and Pediatric Urology and is part of multi-disciplinary teams to evaluate and treat children with chronic constipation and voiding dysfunction. She also has extensive experience providing behavioral management training and cognitive behavioral therapy with children with complex medical conditions (e.g. bladder exstrophy, inflammatory bowel disease, cystic fibrosis, Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and functional pain disorders) and their families. Her clinical research interests include behavioral interventions for improving children’s compliance with medical regimens and procedures. Dr. Hankinson received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of South Florida. She completed her predoctoral internship and two year pediatric psychology postdoctoral fellowship at The Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.   

Carisa Perry-Parrish, Ph.D.

Dr. Perry-Parrish is a faculty member at Johns Hopkins in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; she is also Training Director of the postdoctoral psychology fellowship program. Dr. Perry-Parrish specializes in improving emotion regulation in children and adolescents. Her clinical interests emphasize practicing and promoting evidence-based care, including parent management training for noncompliant children, cognitive-behavioral therapy for youth anxiety/depression, and acceptance and mindfulness-based interventions to improve self-regulation. Dr. Perry-Parrish has assisted with providing mental and behavioral health treatment in the primary care setting of the Harriet Lane Clinic, training clinic for pediatrics residents and adolescent medicine fellows at Hopkins. She also has interest and expertise in promoting coping and adjustment among youth and their families affected by dermatological conditions, and works closely with Dr. Bernard Cohen and Dr. Kate Puttgen as the primary behavioral consultant in the Division of Pediatric Dermatology. Dr. Perry-Parrish’s research program, which has been supported by NIH, focuses on investigating the development of emotion regulation among youth, and how emotion and coping processes are related to psychosocial functioning. Dr. Perry-Parrish received her doctorate in Developmental and Clinical Psychology from the University of Maine. She completed her predoctoral internship training at the Children’s Hospital at Stanford & Children’s Health Council in Palo Alto, CA.  She completed a postdoctoral clinical fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University Division of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 

Elizabeth Reynolds, Ph.D.

Dr. Reynolds is a faculty member at Johns Hopkins in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She serves as the primary behavioral consultant within the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatient and Day Hospital services. She conducts psychological evaluations and provides behavioral and cognitive-behavioral treatments. Broadly, her research and clinical interests focus on the development and maintenance of health risk behavior among children and adolescents. This interest has manifested in two lines of work.  The first is focused on the social-contextual (e.g., peer influence) and self-regulatory (e.g., impulsivity, distress tolerance, emotional dysregulation) factors associated with the development and maintenance of these health risk behaviors and involves more basic processes/experimental research. The second area of interest centers more broadly on the evaluation of mental health services; particularly the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based psychological treatments and assessment.  Dr. Reynolds received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from University of Maryland, College Park. She completed her predoctoral internship training at Alpert Medical School of Brown University Clinical Psychology Training Consortium.    

Matt W. Specht, Ph.D.

Dr. Specht  is an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.  He, along with Dr. Marco Grados, is Co-Director of the Pediatric OCD and Tourette's Specialty Clinic (POTSC) within the Pediatric Medical Psychology Program.  The POTSC was developed to deliver evidence-based pharmacological and non-pharmacological (i.e., cognitive-behavioral treatments) for Tourette’s Disorder (TD) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) as well as common co-occurring psychiatric conditions.  Dr. Specht’s current research focuses on examining the means through which behavioral treatments result in sustained reductions in tic symptoms.  Dr. Specht received his Doctoral degree from Idaho State University.  He completed internship at the VA Maryland and University of Maryland and a research fellowship at the VA Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, before joining Johns Hopkins (2006). 

Anna George, Psy.D.

Dr. George is a staff psychologist within the Pediatric Medical Psychology Program. Dr. George specializes in the assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, and young adults with chronic and acute medical conditions. Dr. George serves as the primary behavioral consultant within the Division of Pediatric Oncology. She is part of a multi-disciplinary team to evaluate and treat child and adolescent cancer patients and childhood cancer survivors. Dr. George is skilled in providing cognitive and behavioral interventions for children with various complex medical conditions (e.g. sickle cell disease, brain and spinal cord injury, chronic pain, and sleep disturbance). She is experienced in providing evidence-based interventions for distress and anxiety related to medical procedures, barriers to medical adherence, and behavioral/emotional difficulties impacting overall functioning. Dr. George also treats children suffering traumatic stress due to medical trauma, abuse, or loss. Dr. George received her Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. She completed her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric psychology at The Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

Laura Goldstein, Psy.D.

Dr. Goldstein is a staff psychologist within the Pediatric Medical Psychology Program. Dr. Goldstein's clinic interests include the assessment and treatment of young children with emotional and behavioral issues using parent management techniques and individual cognitive-behavioral therapy.  She also conducts neuropsychological assessments on children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD), learning disabilities, and emotional/behavioral disorders. Additionally, she provides behaviorally-oriented treatments to address the psychological needs of children with medical conditions. Dr. Goldstein received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from The George Washington University. She completed her pre-doctoral internship training at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida.

Renee DeBoard-Lucas,  Ph.D.

Dr. DeBoard-Lucas is a postdoctoral fellow in the Pediatric Medical Psychology Program.  Dr. DeBoard-Lucas’ clinical interests include treatment of school-age children and adolescents who have experienced traumatic events; she provides Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to these children to promote adaptive coping and adjustment.  Other clinical interests include the treatment of depression and anxiety as well as family therapy.  Currently, Dr. DeBoard-Lucas serves as a behavioral consultant to the Pediatric Burn Clinic.  There she is part of a multi-disciplinary team that evaluates and treats children who have experienced varying degrees of burns.  She also provides Exposure and Response Prevention and Habit Reversal Training in the Pediatric OCD and Tic Disorders Specialty Clinic.  Dr. DeBoard-Lucas received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Marquette University.  She completed her predoctoral internship training at the University of Rochester Medical Center.  Dr. DeBoard-Lucas’ research interests include children’s perceptions of intimate partner violence and family conflict, as well as resilience in the context of these stressors.

Sarah Spencer, Ph.D.

Dr. Spencer is a postdoctoral fellow in the Pediatric Medical Psychology Program. She completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. Dr. Spencer completed her predoctoral internship in child and adolescent psychology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Her research focuses on the interplay between social and emotional competence during early adolescence. Her dissertation examined the functions of emotional disclosures to close friends during middle school. Clinically, Dr. Spencer has specialized in the treatment of disruptive behavior disorders. She also has a strong interest in treating childhood anxiety disorders.

Celeste Malone, Ph.D.

Dr. Malone is a postdoctoral fellow in the Pediatric Medical Psychology Program. She completed her PhD in School Psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. Prior to her doctoral studies, she received her MS in Counseling from Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Malone completed her predoctoral internship at the Baltimore Lab School: a division of the Lab School of Washington. Her research focuses on multicultural competence in the training and practice of professional psychology. Her dissertation examined the personal and professional characteristics related to the development of multicultural competence in school psychology trainees. In addition to her work in multicultural and diversity issues, Dr. Malone also has a strong interest in the identification of specific learning disabilities and social skills training for children and adolescents.

Sangeeta Parikshak, Ph.D.

Dr. Parikshak is a postdoctoral fellow in  the Pediatric Medical Psychology Program at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.  She completed her PhD in Clinical Child Psychology at the University of Kansas and predoctoral internship at Children’s Hospital Boston. Dr. Parikshak’s research interests include trauma and resilience, parenting across cultures, and the impact of community programs on children and families. Specifically, her dissertation examined how after-school programs impact low-income urban youth’s motivation for academic success. Dr. Parikshak has a strong interest in children’s mental health policy and completed an internship at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, DC as part of her doctoral training and in conjunction with the APA Minority Fellowship Program.   She is active within the American Psychological Association including serving as a student representative for the Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice (Division 37) as well as the Committee on Children Youth and Families which serves to identify and disseminate information concerning the psychological status of children to other professionals, policy makers and the public.