About the Division of Adolescent Medicine

The Division of Adolescent Medicine has several unique and innovative programs that showcase the strength of its clinician-investigators. Its Adolescent Initiative program, which treats adolescents and young adults with behaviorally acquired HIV, has existed for more than 30 years and is a unit of the NIH-funded Adolescent Medicine Trials Network.

The Center for Parent & Teen Communication, launched in 2017, is dedicated to the dissemination of high-yield strategies to build healthy, resilient adolescents and to develop a body of research aimed at enhancing the role providers and parents have in assuring effective parent-teen communication and adolescent well-being.

In addition, the Division of Adolescent Medicine includes the nationally respected Eating Disorder Assessment and Treatment Program, one of the largest of its kind in the country, with cutting-edge research integrated into each aspect of assessment, treatment, and follow-up. The Division also features the Gender and Sexuality Development Clinic, one of the largest of its kind that includes conducting innovative research to inform the clinical care of gender non-conforming youth.

Additional research programs in the Division focus on adolescent reproductive health, parent-teen communication about sexual health and alcohol use, and youth involvement in medical decision making (e.g., research enrollment decisions; chronic illness management and treatment decision making) and its impact on health behaviors and outcomes.