Dr. James Hamilton

Biography

James Hamilton is an Associate Professor Adjunct in the General Pediatrics section of the Department of Pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine. He is also an Associate Professor Emeritus in Clinical Health Psychology from the Department of Psychology at the University of Alabama, where he taught and conducted research for 28 years before retiring in 2022. Hamilton received his BA in Psychology from Clark University, his MA, and PhD in Clinical Social Psychology from Case Western Reserve University. His research interests focus on medical deception and fabricated medical problems, particularly in cases of medical child abuse, also known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy. He maintains a small consultancy that engages with legal matters related to medical child abuse and factitious disorder, utilizing his extensive knowledge in the field to inform various cases. His work includes survey research to study the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of medical child abuse cases and employing advanced analyses to identify such cases within large pediatric databases. He actively collaborates with other researchers and participates in professional organizations dedicated to the ethical treatment of vulnerable populations.

Research Interests

Experience