Dr. Schweitzer has a lengthy history of attempting to understand the nature and treatment of attentional, reward-related processing and executive function deficits in disorders associated with impairment in these areas. She earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Southern California and Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in Psychology, where she completed a fellowship in developmental disabilities sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. Subsequently she completed a clinical psychology internship at the University of Minnesota and postdoctoral training at Emory University, specializing in Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and pediatric psychology (i.e., psychological issues in children with medical problems).

Her first faculty appointment was at Emory University where she began her work in brain imaging and also established a clinic for adults with (ADHD), one of few university-based adult ADHD clinics at the time. At Emory she was also part of a team studying the neural correlates of cocaine and nicotine drug addiction and continues to study substance abuse disorders today in adolescents who were exposed prenatally to substances of abuse. In 1999 Dr. Schweitzer relocated to the University of Maryland School of Medicine and continued her work in neuroimaging and ADHD, while also collaborating on research in schizophrenia.

Dr. Schweitzer relocated to the University of California, Davis School of Medicine in 2007 where she is a faculty member at the M.I.N.D. Institute, an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Director of the ADHD Program. In the ADHD program she works with a team of collaborators and laboratory members studying the long-term consequences of ADHD,its relationship to substance use disorders, the underlying physiological correlates of ADHD, enhanced methods for detecting and preventing the devastating consequences of the disorder and novel ways to treat the disorder and reach and educate the community about the disorder and treatment options. She is currently directing a series of studies on the effects of computerized working memory training on symptoms associated with ADHD. Other active research protocols are investigating the determination of self-control (delay discounting) and the consequences of poor self-control on a range of functioning in adolescents and young adults.

In addition, Dr. Schweitzer is the Associate Director of the Mentored Clinical Research Training Program of UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center where the goal is to create a cadre of multidisciplinary clinical and translational researchers through effective research education, training and career development.

Associate Professor
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute
2825 50th St.
Sacramento, CA 95817
Office phone: (916) 703-0450
E-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Schweitzer's interests include the identification and treatment of attention-deficit/ hyperactivity (ADHD) and related disorders in children and adults using behavioral/neuropsychological and functional neuroimaging methods. Other interests include the use of reinforcement and learning paradigms in imaging as applied to psychopathology. Dr. Schweitzer's goal is to apply translational research methods using a variety of basic behavioral and physiological techniques to develop novel treatment and preventative approaches to addressing attentional disorders. Additional funded collaborative work includes projects testing the effects of:

• Prenatal drug exposure on adolescent brain function and behavior development and
• Schizophrenia on reinforcement and learning impairments via fMRI and behavior

Education

Publications
 

Miller, M., Hanford, R.B., Fassbender, C., Duke, M., Schweitzer, J.B. (2011). Affect Recognition in Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Journal of Attention Disorders. 15 (6) pp. 452 - 460. PMID: 20555036; DOI 10.1177/1087054710368636.  2010 Aug 18. PMID: 20720534.

Waltz, JA, Schweitzer, JB, Ross, TJ, Kurup, PK, Salmeron, BJ, Rose, EJ, Gold, JM, Stein, EA. (2010). Abnormal responses to monetary outcomes in cortex, but not in the basal ganglia, in schizophrenia. Neuropsychopharmacology.

Breslau, J., Miller, E., Chung, W-J J., Schweitzer, J.B. (2010). Childhood and adolescent onset psychiatric disorders, substance use, and failure to graduate high school on time. J Psychiatr Res. 2010 Jul 15. PMID: 20638079.

Lit, L., Schweitzer, J.B., Oberbauer, A. (2010) Characterization of human-dog social interaction using owner report. Behavioural Processes, 84:721-725.

Lit, L., Boehm, D., Marzke, S., Schweitzer, J.B. Oberbuaer, A. (2010). Certification testing as an acute naturalistic stressor for disaster dog handlers. Stress, 13(5):392-401. PMID: 20666644.

Lit, L., Schweitzer, J., Oberbauer, A. (2010). Owner report of attention, activity, and impulsivity in dogs: A replication study. Behav Brain Funct. 2010, Jan 4;6(1):1. PMID: 20047681.

Breslau, J., Miller, E., Breslau, N., Bohnert, K., Lucia, V., Schweitzer, J. (2009). The Impact of Early Behavior Disturbances on Academic Achievement in High School. Pediatrics, 123;1472-1476.

Fassbender, C., Zhang, H., Buzy, W.M., Cortes, C., Mizuiri, D., Beckett, L. and Schweitzer, J.B. (2009). A lack of default network suppression is linked to increased distractibility in ADHD. Brain Research. June, 1273:114-128.

Waltz, J.A., Schweitzer, J.B., Gold, J.M., Kurup, P.K., Ross, T.J., Salmeron, B.J., Rose, E.J., McClure, S.M., Stein, E.A. (2009). Patients with schizophrenia show a reduced BOLD response to predictable and unpredictable rewards. Neuropsychopharmacology.;34(6):1567-77. Epub 2008 Dec 3. PMID: 19052540.

Buzy, W.M., Medoff, D.R., Schweitzer, J.B. (2009). Intra-individual Variability in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder on A Working Memory Task. Child Neuropsychology. 2:1-19; DOI:  10.1080/09297040802646991.

Schweitzer, J.B., Hanford, R.B., Medoff, D.R. (2006) Working memory deficits in adults with ADHD: Is there evidence for subtype differences? Behavioural and Brain Functions. Dec 15;2:43.

Fassbender, C. & Schweitzer, J.B. (2006). Is there evidence for neural compensation in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder? A review of the functional neuroimaging literature. Clinical Psychology Review. 26, 445-465.

Schweitzer, J.B. (2006). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder from a neurosciences and behavioral approach: An introduction. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 377-378.

Schweitzer, J.B. (Guest Editor) Introduction (pp. 377-378) and guest editor. Advances in neuroscience research and ADHD. Clinical Psychology Review (August, 2006). Volume 26, Issue Number 4.

Fassbender, C., Schweitzer, J. B. (2006). Is there evidence for neural compensation in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Suggestions from the functional neuroimaging literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 445-485.

Cortes, C.R., Schweitzer, J.B. (2003). Review of Assessing Attention- Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder by Arthur D. Anastopoulos and Terry L. Shelton. Clinical Psychology Review .

Schweitzer, J.B. (2003). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In W. E. Craighead & C.B. Nemeroff (Eds.) The Concise Corsini Concise Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science, 3rd Edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Schweitzer, J.B. (2003). Neuroimaging. In W. E. Craighead & C.B. Nemeroff (Eds.) The Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science, 3rd Edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons.