Posted in: Press Releases

Topics: Addiction & Substance Misuse, Behavioral Issues

For immediate release

BOSTON, Mass. – The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) announced that Dr. Gene Beresin, executive director of The Clay Center, is becoming the senior advisor on child and adolescent psychiatry for Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and their national peer-to-peer driving study.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Dr. Beresin to our organization,” said Dawn Teixeira, SADD national president and CEO. “His passion for the community, coupled with his extensive knowledge of child psychiatry, makes him the ideal person for this role. Together, we will continue to work toward empowering teens and their families to make healthy decisions that will make the roads safer for all.”

SADD is the nation’s leading youth peer-to-peer education, prevention and activism organization dedicated to the health and safety of young people.

Founded in 1981 as Students Against Driving Drunk, today SADD has hundreds of thousands of student leaders actively participating in high school and middle school chapters across the country.  Since 1991, SADD has worked to promote and facilitate responsible behavior through open communication between teens and parents by conducting annual research and providing actionable information and resources.

“As senior advisor, I look forward to working with SADD and providing insight on their ongoing teen driving research,” stated Beresin. “The latest data they released in 2015 found that there is a disconnect between the guidance parents give their teens and the behavior they themselves engage in, including driving without a seat belt, texting, and driving after consuming alcohol. It is my aim to assist the organization’s ongoing research and to offer actionable advice and tools for parents and teens that will address issues such as these.”

In addition to being the executive director of The Clay Center, Beresin is a full professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and senior educator in child and adolescent psychiatry at MGH. He received a B.A. in music from Princeton University and an M.A. in philosophy, along with his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He has more than 30 years of experience, and has won a number of local and national teaching awards, including the Parker J. Palmer “Courage to Teach” Award in 2002, given annually by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education to 10 program directors from all medical specialties.

Beresin has consulted on a variety of television shows, including ER, Law and Order SVU and the Emmy Award-winning HBO children’s specials Goodnight Moon and Other Sleepytime Tales (2000), Through a Child’s Eyes: September 11, 2001 (2003), and Classical Baby (2005). He was also co-producer of a section of the Parent Resource Center for ABCNews.com. Beresin has published numerous papers and chapters on a variety of topics, including graduate medical education, mental health and media, eating disorders, personality disorders, and child and adolescent psychiatric treatments.

As senior advisor, Beresin will be leading a number of workshops on mental health and learning challenges at the 2016 SADD National Conference on Youth Health and Safety held this June in Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to the workshops, Beresin will also be providing high-level input on the development and refinement of SADD’s teen driving research, as well as promoting the study through articles and interviews.

For media interview requests, contact Liz Jarrell, director of communications at The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, at 617-643-1590 or ejarrell@partners.org.

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Editor’s Note: Use the link below to download a high resolution version of the photo.

Download the photo of Dr. Gene Beresin

Caption: Dr. Gene Beresin is executive director of The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital.

About The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds
Based at Massachusetts General Hospital and led by a team of Harvard Medical School faculty members, The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds is a Web-based resource that educates parents and other caregivers about the psychological development and emotional well-being of children, adolescents, and young adults who struggle with behavioral, emotional, and/or learning challenges. The Clay Center features the expertise of its nationally recognized doctors who create engaging and educational mental health content delivered in a wide variety of multimedia formats, including blogs, audio podcasts, online videos, interactive social media, and live online discussions. The content from The Clay Center encourages resilience in individuals and families while increasing the awareness of mental health disorders.

Media contact:
Liz Jarrell, Communications Director
The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds
Work: 617-643-1590
Email: ejarrell@partners.org