Dr. Leslie Brick

Biography

Leslie Ann D. Brick is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University. Her research focuses on the genetic and contextual factors contributing to the risk of substance use behaviors and the stress-sensitive sequelae such as PTSD and depression. She is particularly interested in longitudinal models of behavior change surrounding periods of risk transition, exploring the environmental and social context, emotion regulation, and biological influences. Currently, she is conducting a study (R01DA054116) that examines the interplay between cannabis use and traumatic stress symptoms following acute trauma exposure in a sample of young adults recruited from hospital emergency departments. This study seeks to characterize alterations in fear responses and physiological measures through laboratory tasks while integrating ambulatory sampling via smartwatch technologies to assess the momentary ecological impact on substance use symptoms. Additionally, Professor Brick serves as the Associate Director of the Quantitative Sciences Program at Brown, providing consultation on research design and analysis while offering training and expertise to faculty and trainees in her department. She received her Ph.D. in Behavioral Science from the University of Rhode Island, concentrating on methodology and statistics, and completed her T32 postdoctoral training at Brown University focusing on genetically informed research integrated with naturalistic in vivo measurement of behavior.

Research Interests