About

Elizabeth Burke Bryant, JD, is a Professor of the Practice of Health Services, Policy & Practice at Brown University School of Public Health, based at the Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute. She has over 30 years of experience as a child advocate, focusing on advancing equitable policies and programs to improve the well-being of children, youth, and families. Her work emphasizes closing disparities in maternal and child health, particularly starting with family mental health, through policy and systems change. Bryant served as the Executive Director of Rhode Island KIDS COUNT from its founding in 1994 until 2022, transforming it into the state's leading child advocacy organization with a national reputation. Under her leadership, the organization contributed to significant policy achievements such as a nationally recognized Pre-K program, full-day kindergarten, near-universal children’s health insurance coverage, reductions in childhood lead poisoning, and legal reforms related to juvenile justice. Her background includes roles as Director of Policy and Housing Court Prosecutor for Providence and Advisor to the Women’s Prison Mentoring Program. She holds a BA from the University of Vermont and a JD from George Washington University Law School. Bryant has served as a national policy advisor and co-chair of various child advocacy initiatives, and she was named USA TODAY’s 2023 Woman of the Year for Rhode Island.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Computer Science
• Medicine
• Simulation
• Audiology
• Internal medicine
• Clinical psychology
• Physical medicine and rehabilitation

Selected publications

• The complementary utility of cognitive testing and the medication management ability assessment in older adults.

  Neuropsychology · 2022 · 8 citations

  • Psychology
  • Clinical psychology
  • Psychiatry

  OBJECTIVE: Older adults are susceptible to cognitive declines that may limit independence. Though neuropsychologists opine about risk of functional decline, the degree to which cognitive testing and in-office simulations approximate everyday behavior is unclear. We assessed the complementary utility of cognitive testing and the face-valid Medication Management Ability Assessment (MMAA) to predict medication management among older adults. METHOD: groups. Logistic regression assessed which cognitive domains independently predicted group status. The incremental value of the MMAA was assessed, holding uniquely associated cognitive test scores constant. RESULTS: Those receiving assistance with medication management performed worse across all neurocognitive domains and the MMAA compared with independent counterparts. EF was the only unique cognitive predictor of medication management status. When modeled alone, EF and MMAA performance correctly classified 79.5% and 80.8% of cases, respectively. When modeled together, both were independently associated with medication management status and correctly classified 83.3% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: EF uniquely predicted medication management status beyond other cognitive domains. The MMAA provided complementary predictive utility. Concurrent interpretation of executive functioning and MMAA performance is advised when assessing older adults suspected of medication mismanagement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

  DOI

• Evaluation of Naturalistic Driving Behavior Using In-Vehicle Monitoring Technology in Preclinical and Early Alzheimer’s Disease

  Frontiers in Psychology · 2020 · 29 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Psychology
  • Physical medicine and rehabilitation

  Cognitive impairment is a significant risk factor for hazardous driving among older drivers with Alzheimer's dementia, but little is known about how the driving behavior of mildly symptomatic compares with those in the preclinical, asymptomatic phase of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study utilized two in-car technologies to characterize driving behavior in symptomatic and preclinical AD. The goals of this pilot study were to (1) describe unsafe driving behaviors in individuals with symptomatic early AD using G-force triggered video capture and (2) compare the driving habits of these symptomatic AD drivers to two groups of cognitively normal drivers, those with and those without evidence of cerebral amyloidosis (CN/A+ and CN/A-) using a global positioning system (GPS) datalogger. Thirty-three drivers (aged 60+ years) were studied over 3 months. G-force triggered video events captured instances of near-misses/collisions, traffic violations, risky driver conduct, and driving fundamentals. GPS data were sampled every 30 s and all instances of speeding, hard braking, and sudden acceleration were recorded. For the early AD participants, video capture identified driving unbelted, late response, driving too fast for conditions, traffic violations, poor judgment, and not scanning intersections as the most frequently occurring safety errors. When evaluating driving using the GPS datalogger, hard breaking events occurred most frequently on a per trip basis across all three groups. The CN/A+ group had the lowest event rate across all three event types with lower instances of speeding. Slower psychomotor speed (Trail Making Part A) was associated with fewer speeding events, more hard acceleration events, and more overall events. GPS tracked instances of speeding were correlated with total number of video-captured near-collisions/collisions and driving fundamentals. Results demonstrate the utility of electronic monitoring to identify potentially unsafe driving events in symptomatic and preclinical AD. Results suggest that drivers with preclinical AD may compensate for early, subtle cognitive changes by driving more slowly and cautiously than healthy older drivers or those with cognitive impairment. Self-regulatory changes in driving behavior appear to occur in the preclinical phase of AD, but safety concerns may not arise until symptoms of cognitive impairment emerge and the ability to self-monitor declines.

  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• Jennifer Davis

  Brown University

  23 shared

• Brian R. Ott

  Brown University

  20 shared

• George D. Papandonatos

  Brown University

  12 shared

• John Gunstad

  7 shared

• Seth A. Margolis

  Brown University

  7 shared

• Geoffrey Tremont

  Providence College

  7 shared

• Dana A Kelly

  6 shared

• Lori A. Daiello

  Brown University

  6 shared

Awards & honors

• USA TODAY Woman of the Year for Rhode Island (2023)
• RI General Assembly Senate and House of Representatives Reso…
• Rhode Island College Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degre…
• American Academy of Pediatrics, Rhode Island Chapter, Public…
• Congressman David Cicilline’s Women Leading the Way Award (2…

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