Director
Brent P. Forester, MD, MSc, is the Chief of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at McLean Hospital, Medical Director for Behavioral Health and Evaluation & Research at Partners Population Health and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Forester is an expert in geriatric psychiatry, specializing in the treatment of older adults with depression, bipolar disorder, and behavioral complications of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. He is currently President-Elect of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and has previously served on the Board of Directors and Chair of the Medical-Scientific Committee of the Alzheimer’s Association of Massachusetts/New Hampshire.
Dr. Forester graduated from Dartmouth Medical School in 1992 as a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. He completed an internship in Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital and a Residency in Psychiatry at McLean Hospital. Following this, he completed a fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. He returned to McLean Hospital in 2002 as the Medical Director of the Cognitive Neuropsychiatry Unit.
At McLean Hospital, Dr. Forester currently leads two NIA-funded R01 multi-center clinical trial R01 grants to study novel treatment approaches, including dronabinol and electroconvulsive therapy, to manage behavioral complications of dementia, such as agitation and aggression. He also uses brain imaging techniques and careful clinical assessment to better understand the causes of depression and bipolar disorder in later life and to identify promising new targets for effective treatments.
In his role as Medical Director for Behavioral Health at Partners Population Health, Dr. Forester works with multidisciplinary teams of healthcare professionals to integrate psychiatric assessment and treatment into primary care settings, with a focus on depression, anxiety and substance use disorders. He is currently leading a healthcare system-wide Memory Care Initiative at Partners Health Care to bring a collaborative care model for dementia assessment and treatment into the primary care setting.
Dr. Forester has published numerous articles and book chapters on topics including Geriatric Bipolar Disorder, the Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia, and Late Life Depression. He also served a co-editor of the textbook, Bipolar Disorder in Older Age Patients, published by Springer in 2017.
Dr. Forester graduated from Dartmouth Medical School in 1992 as a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. He completed an internship in Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital and a Residency in Psychiatry at McLean Hospital. Following this, he completed a fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. He returned to McLean Hospital in 2002 as the Medical Director of the Cognitive Neuropsychiatry Unit.
At McLean Hospital, Dr. Forester currently leads two NIA-funded R01 multi-center clinical trial R01 grants to study novel treatment approaches, including dronabinol and electroconvulsive therapy, to manage behavioral complications of dementia, such as agitation and aggression. He also uses brain imaging techniques and careful clinical assessment to better understand the causes of depression and bipolar disorder in later life and to identify promising new targets for effective treatments.
In his role as Medical Director for Behavioral Health at Partners Population Health, Dr. Forester works with multidisciplinary teams of healthcare professionals to integrate psychiatric assessment and treatment into primary care settings, with a focus on depression, anxiety and substance use disorders. He is currently leading a healthcare system-wide Memory Care Initiative at Partners Health Care to bring a collaborative care model for dementia assessment and treatment into the primary care setting.
Dr. Forester has published numerous articles and book chapters on topics including Geriatric Bipolar Disorder, the Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia, and Late Life Depression. He also served a co-editor of the textbook, Bipolar Disorder in Older Age Patients, published by Springer in 2017.
Associate Director
David G. Harper, Ph.D. is the Associate Director of Research in the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry. He serves as an Associate Psychologist at McLean Hospital and is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Harper earned his Ph.D. in experimental psychology and neuroscience at Tufts University in 2000.
Dr. Harper’s chief research interests are in the development of disease modifying therapies to be used in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, understanding the behavioral and psychological symptoms seen in Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative dementias, and understanding cognitive disturbances in late life mood disorders. Dr. Harper uses a variety of tools in these studies, including resting state fMRI to quantify brain connectivity, analyzing cerebral blood flow in various psychiatric and neurological conditions and phosphorus spectroscopy to examine bioenergetics and cell membrane metabolism.
Dr. Harper has published widely in journals including Archives of General Psychiatry (now JAMA Psychiatry), Neurobiology of Aging, Brain, Neuropsychopharmacology and The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. He has written numerous book chapters on subjects ranging from sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances in Alzheimer’s disease to phosphorus spectroscopy in psychiatric illness.
Dr. Harper’s chief research interests are in the development of disease modifying therapies to be used in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, understanding the behavioral and psychological symptoms seen in Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative dementias, and understanding cognitive disturbances in late life mood disorders. Dr. Harper uses a variety of tools in these studies, including resting state fMRI to quantify brain connectivity, analyzing cerebral blood flow in various psychiatric and neurological conditions and phosphorus spectroscopy to examine bioenergetics and cell membrane metabolism.
Dr. Harper has published widely in journals including Archives of General Psychiatry (now JAMA Psychiatry), Neurobiology of Aging, Brain, Neuropsychopharmacology and The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. He has written numerous book chapters on subjects ranging from sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances in Alzheimer’s disease to phosphorus spectroscopy in psychiatric illness.
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McLean Hospital • South Belknap • 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478 • (617) 855-3257