Harolyn M.E.

Belcher

,

MD, MHS

Education

Dr. Belcher received her Bachelor's of Science degree in zoology and medical degree from Howard University as a BS-MD Honors Program scholar. She received a Master's of Health Science focusing on mental health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Belcher was a fellow in developmental pediatrics at Kennedy Krieger Institute. She served on the faculty of George Washington University, Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC (currently an adjunct Professor) and University of South Florida, as the Director of the Developmental Evaluation and Intervention Program, Division of Child Development, Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Belcher was the Assistant Medical Director, Division of Early Intervention Services/Exceptional Family Member Program, Department of Pediatrics at the National Naval Medical Center. She was awarded the Distinguished Civilian Service Award for her work at the National Navy Medical Center.

Dr. Belcher was the director of research at the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress (CCFTS) at Kennedy Krieger Institute from 2003 to 2015. In 2015, Dr. Belcher became the Director of the Center for Diversity in Public Health Leadership Training (Center for Diversity), now Center for Excellence in Public Health Leadership, and Associate Director of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program. As the Director of the Center for Excellence in Public Health Leadership, Dr. Belcher and its faculty and administrative team created a national consortium of universities and institutions that provided clinical, research, and community engagement and advocacy public health experiences for over 1,000 diverse undergraduate and graduate scholars through funding from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 

Dr. Belcher serves on the National Academies of Sciences Board on Children Youth and Families and the Forum for Child Well-Being. She is also a member of the Baltimore City Task Force on the Social Determinants of Health.

Research

The Effects of Drug and Traumatic Exposures during Childhood:

In the United States, infants born to mothers who use illicit drugs and/or alcohol during pregnancy may have adverse developmental, emotional, and behavioral health outcomes. Exposure to drugs, tobacco, and alcohol are associated with preventable cognitive and behavioral disorders. Importantly, parental alcohol and drug use may place children at risk for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). ACEs include child maltreatment (childhood trauma) such as physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, neglect, caregiver risk factors such as parental drug use, incarceration, untreated mental health disorders, domestic violence, and/or environmental conditions such as poverty. Over 600,000 children in the United States have a history of child maltreatment and over 20% of children live in poverty. These preventable ACEs negatively impact child brain development and may lead to physical, emotional, developmental and behavioral disorders or death during childhood and adulthood.

Dr. Belcher was the director of research at the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress (CCFTS) at Kennedy Krieger Institute from 2003 to 2015. In 2015, Dr. Belcher became the Director of the Center for Excellence in Public Health Leadership, and Associate Director of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program. As the Director of the Center for Excellence in Public Health Leadership, Dr. Belcher and the faculty and administrative team created a national consortium of universities and institutions that provided clinical, research, and community engagement and advocacy public health experiences for over 1,000 diverse undergraduate and graduate scholars through funding from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health.

Dr. Belcher serves on the National Academies of Sciences Board on Children Youth and Families and the Forum for Child Well-Being. She is also a member of the Baltimore City Task Force on the Social Determinants of Health.

Education and Training

Beginning in 2005, Dr. Belcher received funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to promote public health workforce development through experiential public health leadership programs. Currently, there are two funded CDC programs, the Maternal and Child Health Careers/ Research Initiatives for Student Enhancement-Undergraduate Program (MCHC/RISE-UP) and the Dr. James A. Ferguson Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Initiatives for Student Enhancement.  The MCHC/RISE-UP created a national consortium of institutions and universities (including the Kennedy Krieger Institute (lead), Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Nursing, and Bloomberg School of Public Health, University of South Dakota, partnering with Tribal Serving Institutions, University of Southern California- Davis, and the Aaniiih Nakoda College in Ft. Belknap, MT). The MCHC/RISE-UP program collaborates with the LEND and Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities programs and provides three public health leadership tracks, namely (1) clinical, (2) research, and (3) community engagement and advocacy.

The James A. Ferguson Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Initiatives for Student Enhancement (Ferguson RISE) Fellowship provides graduate and post-graduate summer and 12 month public health, clinical, and laboratory research training in  emerging infectious diseases, advanced molecular detection, wastewater surveillance, health disparities, mental health, and developmental disabilities at City University of New York School of Public Health and Health Policy, Howard University Graduate School, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Kennedy Krieger Institute (lead institution),  Morehouse School of Medicine, Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University,  and multiple public health departments, and universities nationwide.

Related Links

Elsevier Fingerprint Engine Profile for Harolyn Belcher

Google Scholar Profile

Research Publications

Belcher HME, Piggott D, Sanders R, Trent M. Research Accountability Groups and Mentoring Minutes: The M3 Approach to Promote Public Health Infectious Diseases Research for Diverse Graduate Students. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 2019; 89:390-399.

Woods-Jaeger B, Briggs EC, Vivrette RL, Lee RC, Belcher HME. The Association between caregiver substance abuse and mental health problems and outcomes for trauma-exposed youth. Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma 2019; 12:447-456. doi: 10.1007/s40653-019-00251-7 [OR]

Gross, D., Belcher, H. M., Budhathoki, C., Ofonedu, M., Kurtz, M. Does parent training format affect treatment engagement? A randomized study of families at social risk. Journal of Child and Family Studies 2018; 27:1579-1593. doi: 10.1007/s10826-017-0984-1

Belcher HM, Stone JD, McFadden JA, Hemmingson TA, Kreutzer C, Harris LG, Wheeler BY, Van Osdel J, Avila M, Yorker B, Hoffman BR, Turner-Musa JO (2015). Evaluating Maternal and Child Health and Leadership Competencies of Emerging MCH Leaders: The MCHC/RISE-UP Experience. Matern Child Health J. 19(12), 2560-7. 

Belcher HM, McFadden J (2015). RISE: Promoting Diversity Among Public Health Professionals. J Public Health Manag Pract. 21(4), 384-91. 

Greeson JK, Briggs EC, Layne CM, Belcher HM, Ostrowski SA, Kim S, Lee RC, Vivrette RL, Pynoos RS, Fairbank JA (2014). Traumatic childhood experiences in the 21st century: broadening and building on the ACE studies with data from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. J Interpers Violence. 29(3), 536-56.

Hart SL, Hodgkinson SC, Belcher HM, Hyman C, Cooley-Strickland M (2013). Somatic symptoms, peer and school stress, and family and community violence exposure among urban elementary school children. J Behav Med. 36(5), 454-65.

Onigu-Otite EC, Belcher HM (2012). Maternal drug abuse history, maltreatment, and functioning in a clinical sample of urban children. Child Abuse Negl. 36(6), 491-7.

Suarez LM, Belcher HM, Briggs EC, Titus JC (2012). Supporting the need for an integrated system of care for youth with co-occurring traumatic stress and substance abuse problems. Am J Community Psychol. 49(3-4), 430-40.

Hunt KL, Martens PM, Belcher HM (2011). Risky business: trauma exposure and rate of posttraumatic stress disorder in African American children and adolescents. J Trauma Stress. 24(3), 365-9.

Hodgkinson SC, Colantuoni E, Roberts D, Berg-Cross L, Belcher HM (2010). Depressive symptoms and birth outcomes among pregnant teenagers. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 23(1), 16-22.

Allen D, Belcher HM, Young A, Gibson LW, Colantuoni E, Trent M (2000). BMI, Body Image, Emotional Well-Being and Weight-Control Behaviors in Urban African American Adolescents. Int J Child Health Nutr. 5(3), 55-104.

Other Publications

Wyatt GE and Belcher HME. Establishing the Foundation: Culturally Congruent Mentoring for Research Scholars and Faculty from Underrepresented Populations. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 2019; 89: 313-316. doi: 10.1037/ort0000417

Wyatt GE, Chin D, Milburn N, Hamilton A, Lopez S, Kim A, Stone JD, Belcher HME. Mentoring the Mentors of Students from Diverse Backgrounds for Research. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 2019; 89: 321-328. dx.doi.org/10.1037/ort0000414

Beltran M., Brown-Elhillali A., Held A., Ryce P., Ofonedu M., Hoover D., Ensor K., Belcher H.M.E. Using Yoga-Based Psychotherapy groups for boys exposed to trauma in urban settings. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 2015; 22:39-46. PMID: 26773320 [OR]

Offerman BJ, Johnson E, Johnson-Brooks ST, Belcher HM. (2014). Get SMART: Effective Treatment for Sexually Abused Children with Problematic Sexual behavior. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 1(3), 179-191. doi: 10.1080/19361520802313445.

Lyn A, Turner-Musa J, Morgan I, Belcher HM. (2014). Maternal characteristics associated with child behavior reports in Head Start. Journal of Community Psychology, 42(5), 571-582. doi: 10.1002/jcop.21638.

Ofonedu ME, Percy WH, Harris-Britt A, Belcher HM. (2013). Depression in Inner City African American Youth: A Phenomenological Study. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 22(1), 96-106. doi: 10.1007/s10826-012-9583-3.

Briggs EC, Fairbank JA, Greeson JK, Layne CM, Steinberg AM, Amaya-Jackson LM, Ostrowski SA, Gerrity ET, Elmore DL, Belcher HM, Pynoos RS. (2013). Links Between Child and Adolescent Trauma Exposure and Service Use Histories in a National Clinic-Referred Sample. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 5(2), 101-109. doi: 10.1037/a0027312.

Jamora MS, Brylske PD, Martens P, Braxton D, Colantuoni E, Belcher HM. (2009). Children in Foster Care: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Psychiatric Diagnoses. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 2(3), 198-208. doi: 10.1080/19361520903120491