Researcher | Research Overview
Dr. Walter's investigations have applied the principles of community-based participatory research to a broad range of multi-year interventions in schools and pediatric primary care. She first applied this paradigm to the development of a teacher-delivered intervention for inner city and suburban elementary school students targeted at the reduction of risk factors for adult coronary heart disease and cancer; namely, cigarette smoking, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, poor physical fitness, and obesity. This NIH-funded intervention won "exemplary" awards from SAMHSA and the Urban Institute and was disseminated nationally and internationally, and the favorable outcomes were widely published, including in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Her next focus was the development of a teacher-delivered intervention for inner city high school students targeted at risk factors for acquiring sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS; namely early sexual debut, multiple sexual partners, and lack of barrier protection. This NIH-funded intervention won "exemplary" awards from the CDC and the Sociometrics Archive and was disseminated city-wide, and the favorable outcomes were widely published, including in JAMA.
The next investigation was the development of a whole-school tiered approach to foster preventive social-emotional competencies and treat early manifestations of psychiatric disorders among inner city elementary school students. This hospital- and philanthropically-funded intervention was disseminated city-wide and the favorable outcomes were widely published, including in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Journal of School Health.
Dr. Walter's current study is the development of an intervention bringing behavioral health services to a statewide, community-based, independent pediatric primary care network. The intervention comprises behavioral health education and psychiatric consultation for pediatric primary care practitioners, and the integration of behavioral health clinicians into pediatric practices. The goal of this hospital- and philanthropically-funded intervention is to enable the management of mild to moderate presentations of common psychiatric disorders in the primary care setting; thereby conserving the specialty behavioral health workforce for severe, complex, and treatment-refractory presentations.
The educational component of this program has been disseminated nationally and internationally, and favorable outcomes of the multi-component intervention have been widely published, including in Pediatrics.
Researcher | Research Background
Dr. Walter was trained in preventive medicine and public health (epidemiology) at the University of California at Los Angeles, general psychiatry at New York University, and child and adolescent psychiatry at Columbia University. She has been Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Vice-Chair of Psychiatry at Boston Medical Center/Boston University and achieved the rank of Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University medical school, and Professor of Psychiatry at Northwestern and Harvard medical schools.
Dr. Walter has more than 175 peer-reviewed articles, reviews, chapters, and published peer-education materials, including clinical practice guidelines setting the standard of care for child and adolescent psychiatrists nationwide. Her work has been recognized with the Honored Alumna Award from Loma Linda University School of Medicine and the Simon Wile Leadership in Consultation and Catchers in the Rye awards from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, where she has been designated a Distinguished Life Fellow.