Professor of Psychiatry; Psychology Faculty Associate
brianhic@umich.edu
Office Information:
Psychiatry 4250 Plymouth Road
phone: 734.323.0231
Clinical Science;
Psychology;
Clinical Affiliate
Education/Degree:
Ph.D. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus
About
I have broad interests in the genetic, environmental, and developmental influences that contribute to substance use disorders (SUDs), antisocial behavior, and personality. Most of my research uses longitudinal twin and adoption studies conducted at the Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research. I am currently working on developing models that incorporate specific risk genes into developmentally informative models of gene-environment interplay for SUDs. The major lines of my research include:
- Co-occurrence (i.e., comorbidity) among SUDs, antisocial behavior, and disinhibited personality traits focusing on the highly heritable (80%) externalizing liability.
- Developmental course of SUDs focusing on the correlates and effects of an adolescent onset and persistent course and the factors that contribute to desistence.
- Developing new measures that index pre-morbid risk for SUDs, that is, behaviors and traits present prior to the initiation of substance use that predict later SUDs, and using these measures to delineate gene-environment interplay for SUDs in adolescence.
- Normative personality development, in particular the impact of life events (e.g., puberty, initiation of sexual intercourse, leaving home, marriage, parenthood) and substance use have on personality change.
- Psychopathy (psychopathic personality disorder) and borderline personality disorder including measurement, subtypes, heritability, developmental change, and environmental correlates.
For a list of publications, visit the Faculty Homepage.
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