Professional Bio
Dr. Davidson is the Director (and Division Chief) of the Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities (SCDD); a federally-funded center for interdisciplinary training, demonstration services, research and technical assistance in developmental disabilities. Each year about 70 graduate and post-graduate trainees spend from 8 to over 500 hours in preclinical didactic, and clinical and research practica in developmental disabilities. Trainees represent eleven clinical disciplines including: Medicine, Gerontology, Psychology, Social Work, Special Education, Speech Pathology, Nursing, Pedodontics, Nutrition, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Psychiatry. Some trainees are drawn from departments and schools of the University of Rochester and others from SCDD's affiliated institutions of higher learning or from the community. Extramurally funded degree and certificate programs have been developed with the Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development. Funded fellowship programs have been established in Pediatrics, Psychology, and Physical Therapy. A funded program on aging and developmental disabilities was established by SCDD and the Center on Aging.
Dr. Davidson has served as the major supervisor for 19 postdoctoral fellows in pediatric psychology and predoctoral fellows in clinical psychology and three research fellows. He periodically serves as a member of PhD dissertation committees in the Department of Clinical and Social Psychology, and MA thesis committees in the School of Nursing. He has directed psychology master's theses at SUNY Brockport and at SUNY Geneseo.
Research Bio
Dr. Davidson's major research interests include: Aging and Developmental Disabilities; Behavior Disorders; and Neurotoxicants and Development.
Philip W. Davidson, PhD is working with Gary Myers, MD, to study the effects of transplacentally transmitted methylmercury (MeHg) on child development. Ocean and lake fish ingest methylated Hg++ and store it in fatty tissue. Humans ingesting fish through dietary intake, therefore, are exposed to MeHg, known to be a CNS toxin and a teratogen. Eating only a few meals of fish per month may raise MeHg to levels that exceed the WHO standard. Recent studies have indicated that low-dose exposure may present a toxic stimulus in utero and affect the development of those offspring of mothers who eat fish during pregnancy. The study is focused on developmental outcomes in older cohort of children and young adults prenatally exposed to MeHg in the Republic of Seychelles.
Dr. Davidson is also studying the characteristics of persons with developmental disabilities. Little is known about the health outcomes as persons with developmental disabilities age. Dr. Davidson is working with an international team with investigators on a project to ascertain health status amoung cohorts of older adults and elderly adults. Between 10%-30% of persons with developmental disabilities are believed to have psychiatric disorders. Among the most contentious of these so-called dual diagnoses is the coincidence of mental retardation and aggressive or assaultive behavior. This cohort of individuals is rarely able to live in community settings and often must live and work in overly restrictive environments.
2007 Mar
Wang KY, Hsieh K, Heller T, Davidson PW, Janicki MP. "Carer reports of health status among adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities in Taiwan living at home and in institutions." Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR. 2007 Mar 0; 51(Pt 3):173-83. |
2007 Feb 17
Myers GJ, Davidson PW. "Maternal fish consumption benefits children's development." Lancet. 2007 Feb 17; 369(9561):537-8. |
2007
Morad M, Nelson NP, Merrick J, Davidson PW, Carmeli E. "Prevalence and risk factors of constipation in adults with intellectual disability in residential care centers in Israel." Research in developmental disabilities. 2007 28(6):580-6. Epub 2007 Mar 02. |
2006 Oct
Fisher CB, Cea CD, Davidson PW, Fried AL. "Capacity of persons with mental retardation to consent to participate in randomized clinical trials." The American journal of psychiatry. 2006 Oct 0; 163(10):1813-20. |
2006 Sep
van Wijngaarden E, Beck C, Shamlaye CF, Cernichiari E, Davidson PW, Myers GJ, Clarkson TW. "Benchmark concentrations for methyl mercury obtained from the 9-year follow-up of the Seychelles Child Development Study." Neurotoxicology. 2006 Sep 0; 27(5):702-9. Epub 2006 Jun 02. |
