W Curt LaFrance Jr, MD, MPH, is Director of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurology at Rhode Island Hospital (RIH) and Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology at Alpert Medical School, Brown University. He is Staff Physician at the Providence VAMC, and Clinical Lead for the VA National Telemental Health Center Tele-Seizures clinic. He studied at Wake Forest University (BA in psychology), Medical College of Georgia (MD) and Brown University (MPH). He trained in Brown’s combined neurology/psychiatry residency and is double boarded.
He served on the EF Professional Advisory Board and chaired AES and ILAE Task Forces.
He has received grants from the EF, AES, Siravo Foundation, the VA and DoD, and an NINDS K23 Award. He directed the combined residency at Brown from 2012-2019 and has served as research advisor or mentor to psychiatry, neurology and neuropsychiatry residents and faculty and to Brown undergraduates in neurobiology and psychology. He trains clinicians around the country using distance supervision in treatment delivery for seizures and somatoform disorders. His research interests focus on developing new biomarkers and treatments for neuropsychiatric aspects of epilepsy, conversion disorders and TBI. His studies are published in neurology and psychiatry journals. He serves on journal editorial boards and is co-editor of the 4th edition of Nonepileptic Seizures and co-author of Taking Control of Your Seizures: Workbook and Therapist Guide. A goal of his work at Brown, nationally and internationally has been to bridge neurology and psychiatry clinical practice and scientific research and to dissolve arbitrary boundaries between the two fields.