Information

Related Research Units

Pediatrics Research
Psychiatry Research
Psychology Research

Research Overview

Dr. Sarah Brand McCarthy is a pediatric psychologist and health services researcher whose work focuses on improving psychosocial care for families navigating serious pediatric illness, trauma, and grief. As Director of Psychology for the Robert’s Program on Sudden Unexpected Death in Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, she leads clinical and research efforts to design, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive, grief-informed model of care for families whose child has died suddenly and unexpectedly. Her research addresses the emotional and relational needs of bereaved families, the integration of mental health screening into pediatric care, and the development of scalable, family-centered interventions.

Current Research

  • Grief-Informed Care for SUDP: Dr. Brand-McCarthy leads the development of a multi-tiered, trauma-sensitive model of bereavement care for families following sudden unexpected death in infancy and childhood. This initiative integrates longitudinal, individualized psychosocial support with broader systems engagement, including peer support, school outreach, and interdisciplinary provider education. The model is being implemented clinically at Boston Children’s Hospital and evaluated for broader dissemination and impact.
  • Hearts in Motion: A pilot study to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of combining ecological momentary assessment and wearable physiological monitoring (Garmin) to capture dynamic grief experiences in bereaved parents participating in a community-based movement program.
  • ARISE (Achieving RoutIne Screening for Emotional Health): An evidence-based psychosocial screening protocol developed and implemented under Dr. Brand-McCarthy’s leadership. ARISE integrates validated measures of distress into routine pediatric subspecialty visits to identify unmet psychosocial needs and connect families to timely support.
  • Peer Support Training for Bereaved Parents: As Course Director, Dr. Brand McCarthy is developing a standardized, evidence-informed training curriculum to strengthen the skills and confidence of bereaved parent peer supporters. This program, originally piloted at an international SUID/SIDS conference, is now being adapted into an accessible online format.
  • Her work is grounded in participatory research, implementation science, and a commitment to trauma- and grief-informed systems of care. She brings a dual perspective as both a clinician and a bereaved parent to her efforts to advance equity, compassion, and connection in pediatric healthcare.

Research Background

Dr. Sarah Brand McCarthy is Director of Psychology for the Robert’s Program on Sudden Unexpected Death in Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard Medical School. She is a nationally recognized clinician-scientist whose work bridges clinical innovation, systems-level change, and rigorous research to support families facing the sudden death of a child or the challenges of serious pediatric illness.

Dr. Brand McCarthy earned her BA from Connecticut College and her MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology from Emory University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Pediatric Psychosocial Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and earned an MPH in Clinical Effectiveness from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Prior to returning to Boston, she spent seven years at Mayo Clinic, where she served as Director of the Pediatric Psychology Consultation-Liaison Service and led multiple institution-wide initiatives to improve psychosocial care delivery.

She has received numerous awards, including the Diane Willis Award from the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, the Clinician of the Year Award from the Mayo Clinic Department of Pediatrics, and selection as a Public Voices Fellow by AcademyHealth. Her work has been funded by AHRQ and PCORI, and published in Pediatrics, JAMA Pediatrics, and The New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. BrandMcCarthy is committed to amplifying family voices in research and care delivery, mentoring future leaders in pediatric mental health, and transforming grief support through scalable, evidence-informed models.

Publications

  1. Achieving RoutIne Screening for Emotional health (ARISE) in pediatric subspecialty clinics. J Pediatr Psychol. 2025 Jan 01; 50(1):141-149. View Abstract
  2. Partnering With Parents to Dismantle "Good-Death" Narratives. JAMA Pediatr. 2024 May 01; 178(5):431-432. View Abstract
  3. Family characteristics and childcare patterns associated with early social functioning in cancer-bereaved parents. Cancer. 2024 Aug 15; 130(16):2822-2833. View Abstract
  4. One-year Results of Minimally Invasive Sutured Fixation of the Slipped Ribs in the Pediatric Population. J Pediatr Surg. 2024 Sep; 59(9):1703-1707. View Abstract
  5. Psychologists as Pivotal Members of the Pediatric Palliative Care Team. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2024 Jun; 67(6):e907-e913. View Abstract
  6. How caring for my child with cancer changed my approach to clinical care and research. BMJ Evid Based Med. 2023 11 22; 28(6):424-425. View Abstract
  7. Love in the PICU: The Hidden Language of Nurses. Am J Nurs. 2023 11 01; 123(11):64. View Abstract
  8. Consultation patterns before and after embedding pediatric palliative care into a pediatric hematology/oncology clinic. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2023 Dec; 70(12):e30663. View Abstract
  9. Competencies for Psychology Practice in Pediatric Palliative Care. J Pediatr Psychol. 2023 07 20; 48(7):614-622. View Abstract
  10. Documentation of Psychosocial Distress and Its Antecedents in Children with Rare or Life-Limiting Chronic Conditions. Children (Basel). 2022 May 05; 9(5). View Abstract
  11. Shared Decision Making in Cardiac Electrophysiology Procedures and Arrhythmia Management. Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol. 2021 12; 14(12):e007958. View Abstract
  12. Shared decision making process measures and patient problems. Patient Educ Couns. 2022 07; 105(7):2457-2465. View Abstract
  13. Masks, Empathy, and a Pediatric Cancer Diagnosis During COVID-19. Pediatrics. 2021 11; 148(5). View Abstract
  14. Patients' Perspective About the Cost of Diabetes Management: An Analysis of Online Health Communities. Mayo Clin Proc Innov Qual Outcomes. 2021 Oct; 5(5):898-906. View Abstract
  15. Feasibility and acceptability of the "Day 100 Talk": An interdisciplinary communication intervention during the first six months of childhood cancer treatment. Cancer. 2021 04 01; 127(7):1134-1145. View Abstract
  16. Epstein-Barr virus peptides derived from latent cycle proteins alter NKG2A?+?NK cell effector function. Sci Rep. 2020 11 17; 10(1):19973. View Abstract
  17. Pediatric Palliative Care in Oncology. J Clin Oncol. 2020 03 20; 38(9):954-962. View Abstract
  18. Development of the "Day 100 Talk": Addressing existing communication gaps during the early cancer treatment period in childhood cancer. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2018 06; 65(6):e26972. View Abstract
  19. How a Child With Cancer Moved From Vulnerability to Resilience. J Clin Oncol. 2017 09 20; 35(27):3169-3171. View Abstract
  20. The Impact of Cancer and its Treatment on the Growth and Development of the Pediatric Patient. Curr Pediatr Rev. 2017; 13(1):24-33. View Abstract
  21. Communication preferences of pediatric cancer patients: talking about prognosis and their future life. Support Care Cancer. 2017 03; 25(3):769-774. View Abstract
  22. A social program for adolescent and young adult survivors of pediatric brain tumors: The power of a shared medical experience. J Psychosoc Oncol. 2016 Nov-Dec; 34(6):493-511. View Abstract
  23. What Adult Cancer Care Can Learn From Pediatrics. J Oncol Pract. 2016 09; 12(9):765-7. View Abstract
  24. Screening for fatigue in adolescent and young adult pediatric brain tumor survivors: accuracy of a single-item screening measure. Support Care Cancer. 2016 08; 24(8):3581-7. View Abstract
  25. Communication Skills Training in Pediatric Oncology: Moving Beyond Role Modeling. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2016 Jun; 63(6):966-72. View Abstract
  26. Health and well-being in adolescent survivors of early childhood cancer: a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. Psychooncology. 2014 Mar; 23(3):266-75. View Abstract
  27. Assessment of family psychosocial functioning in survivors of pediatric cancer using the PAT2.0. Psychooncology. 2013 Sep; 22(9):2133-9. View Abstract
  28. Do adolescent offspring of women with PTSD experience higher levels of chronic and episodic stress? J Trauma Stress. 2011 Aug; 24(4):399-404. View Abstract
  29. Sleep in children with cancer: case review of 70 children evaluated in a comprehensive pediatric sleep center. Support Care Cancer. 2011 Jul; 19(7):985-94. View Abstract
  30. The impact of maternal childhood abuse on maternal and infant HPA axis function in the postpartum period. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2010 Jun; 35(5):686-93. View Abstract
  31. Impact of antenatal and postpartum maternal mental illness: how are the children? Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2009 Sep; 52(3):441-55. View Abstract
  32. Longitudinal assessment of cognitive performance in Holocaust survivors with and without PTSD. Biol Psychiatry. 2006 Oct 01; 60(7):714-21. View Abstract
  33. Clinical correlates of DHEA associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2006 Sep; 114(3):187-93. View Abstract
  34. The relationship between hippocampal volume and declarative memory in a population of combat veterans with and without PTSD. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2006 Jul; 1071:405-9. View Abstract
  35. The effect of maternal PTSD following in utero trauma exposure on behavior and temperament in the 9-month-old infant. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2006 Jul; 1071:454-8. View Abstract
  36. Are adult offspring reliable informants about parental PTSD? A validation study. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2006 Jul; 1071:484-7. View Abstract
  37. Plasma neuropeptide Y concentrations in combat exposed veterans: relationship to trauma exposure, recovery from PTSD, and coping. Biol Psychiatry. 2006 Apr 01; 59(7):660-3. View Abstract
  38. Transgenerational effects of posttraumatic stress disorder in babies of mothers exposed to the World Trade Center attacks during pregnancy. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005 Jul; 90(7):4115-8. View Abstract

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