by Kelly Field, Public Relations

Like many new MUSC employees, Ron Brown came to this university with a dual agenda: to conduct research and to treat patients.

He’d never imagined a whole new facility would come with the contract.

Yet Brown, professor in the Department of Pediatrics and director of Program Development and Research, is delighted with departmental plans to open a new Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Center later this summer.

An emblem of the growth that is occurring campuswide, the center will be a resource for Charleston residents, as well as a training ground for physicians and psychologists. It will also serve as a site for research by Brown and his colleagues.

“We will conduct some clinical trials there evaluating the efficacy of various medications for ADHD,” said Brown, who is currently undertaking studies on neuropsychological and psychosocial factors in cancer and sickle cell anemia. “We will also take parent ratings of satisfaction with treatments.”

Brown, whose other ongoing research involves pediatric burn victims and a computer program for chronically ill children (“Starbright,” designed by Stephen Speilberg), comes to MUSC from Emory University, where he received his degree in psychology and later served as a professor of pediatrics, psychology, psychiatry and public health for 13 years. Previously, he was employed in a similar position by the University of Illinois, where he completed a post-doctoral fellowship. MUSC, in fact, is the first school Brown has worked at that he hadn’t previously attended (his Ph.D. was from Georgia State).

Still, Brown said he feels right at home at the university. “The people here are very friendly and things are very well run,” said the specialist in pediatric psychology, chronic illnesses and ADHD. “The academic mission is very clear, and everything is very integrated.” He mentioned the celebrated local restaurants as another perk of the Charleston locale.

Brown is president-elect of the Society of Pediatric Psychology, and is on the editorial board of eight national journals. He has written three books on child psychology.