Dana L. Rofey, PhD

  • Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Pediatrics
  • Director, Behavioral Health, Gender, & Sexual Development Clinic at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

Dr. Rofey has conducted studies that focus on seriously overweight children, adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome, and cognitive behavioral treatment for children with diabetes. Dr. Rofey has been involved with NIH-funded grants and has completed research trials investigating mood disturbances across the lifespan, health promotion in adolescents, smoking cessation programs, collaborative care models in pediatric primary care, pediatric variants of bipolar disorder, and psychosocial implications of bariatric surgery. She is the author and co-author of numerous articles that have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. She is a reviewer for several journals and serves on boards for the Academy for Eating Disorders and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.

 

Education & Training

  • Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 1996-2000 BA Psychology
  • Universtiy of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 2000-2002 MA
  • Universtiy of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 2002-2005 PhD
  • VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 2004-2005
  • Western Psychiatric Institute & Cinic/Children's Hospital of Pittsubrgh, Pittsburgh, PA 2005-2006

Representative Publications

  1. Reiter-Purtill J, Ley S, Kidwell KM, Mikhail C, Austin H, Chaves E, Rofey DL, Jenkins TM, Inge TH, Zeller MH, 2019. Change, predictors, and corrleates of weight- and health-related quality of life in adolescents 2-years following bariatric surgery.International Journal of Obesity. EPub.
  2. Gunn HE, Strang, J.F., Janssen, A., Tishelman, A., Leibowitz, S.F., Kenworthy, L., McGuire, J.K., Edwards-Leeper, L., Rofey, D., Bascom, J. and Caplan, R., 2018. Revisiting the Link: Evidence of the Rates of Autism in Studies of Gender Diverse Individuals. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 57(11), pp.885-887.
  3. Rofey DL, El Nokali NE, Foster LJJ, Seiler E, McCauley HL, Miller E.Weight loss trajectories and adverse childhood experience among obese adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2018 Mar 8. pii: S1083-3188(18)30174-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jpag.2018.03.001.Davis PJ, Rofey DL, Goldstrohm SL. The pediatric elephant in the room. Anesthesia & Analgesia. 2018. Jan;126(1):21-22. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000002158
  4. Black JJ, Rofey DL. An overview of common psychiatric problems among adolescent and young adult females: Focus on mood and anxiety. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2018 Apr;48:165-173. doi: 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2017.08.007
  5. Hunsker SL Garland BH, Rofey D, Reiter-Purtill J, Mitchell J, Courcoulas A, Jenkins TM, Zeller MH. A multisite 2-year follow-up of psychopathology prevalence, predictors, and correlates among adolescents who did or did not undergo weight loss surgery. J Adolesc Health. 2018 Apr 30. pii: S1054-139X(18)30016-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.12.021.
  6. Mikhail C, Reiter-Purtill J, McCullough MB, Garland B, Austin H, Washington G, Baughcum A, Rofey D, Smith K; TeenView Study Group and in collaboration with the Teen-LABS Consortium. Family factors that characterize adolescents with severe obesity and their role in weight loss surgery outcomes. Obesity. 2017 Jan;24(12):2562-2569. doi: 10.1002/oby.21676.
  7. Reiter-Purtill J, Gowey MA, Austin H, Smith KC, Rofey DL, Jenkins TM, Garland BH, Zeller MH; TeenView Study Group and in cooperation with Teen-LABS Consortium. Peer victimization in adolescents with severe obesity: The roles of self-worth and social support in associations with psychosocial adjustment. J Pediatr Psychol. 2017 Apr 1;42(3):272-282. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsw078.
  8. Utzinger LM, Gowey MA, Zeller M, Jenkins TM, Engel SG, Rofey DL, Inge TH, Mitchell JE; Teen Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS) Consortium. Loss of control and eating disorders in adolescents before bariatric surgery.Int J Eat Disord. 2016 Oct;49(10):947-952. doi: 10.1002/eat.22546.
  9. Malas N, Rofey DL, Kuchera AM, Ortiz-Aguayo R, Gold, M. Development of Motivational Interviewing Training for Pediatric Residents. Clinical Teacher. 2016;Feb3. Doi:10.1111/tct.12503.

Research Interests

Cognitive Functioning in children Pre- and Post-Bariatric Surgery
Psychosocial Outcomes in Adolescents Receiving Bariatric Surgery
Collaborative Mental Health Services for Behavior Disorders in Primary Care
Impaired Sleep, Insulin Action, and Overweight in Youth

Research Grants

Autism Intervention Research on Physical Health (AIR-P) | Autism Treatment Network (ATN)

Ameliorate Childhood Obesity Risk from Newer Antipsychotics for Individuals with ASD          

 

Pittsburgh Health Data Alliance                                                                                                    

EHealth Mobile Technology Connecting Young Adults to Routine Engagement for Obesity-induced Asthma

 

Children’s Hospital Foundation, Department of Anesthesiology                                          

Optimizing the Perioperative Period: Motivational Principles for Weight Management Training

 

HRSA M01HP31291 (Site PI: Rofey)             

Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) Program

Training grant to expose doctoral students to community-based settings working with adolescents.

 

NIH UGOD02334 (PI: O’Connor; Simhan)             

Pre- and postnatal exposure periods for child health: Common risks and shared mechanisms

The role in this project is twofold: to assist in measuring the infants’ developmental trajectories and to begin to investigate eating patterns and measures of future BMI.

 

NIH R21HD016161 (PI: Danford)                             11/01/17-10/31/19                                     0.6 Calendar Months

Self-Regulating Lifestyle Behaviors to Decrease Obesity Risk with Parent-Preschool child dyads Using Event History Calendars

The role in this project is serving as the pediatric obesity intervention expert. Additional focus is on assisting the PI in teaching motivational interviewing and selecting outcomes.

 

R41 HD 090813 (PI: Rofey & Shaaban)           3/1/17 – 2/28/18                                               

EHealth Mobile Technology Connecting Young Adults to Routine Engagement (eMCare)

eMCare aims to connect adolescents presenting to the emergency room with routine primary care to reduce emergent services and accompanying costs.

 

NIH R56HL128317 (PI: Rofey)                         1/17/17-12/31/18                                               

Impact of cognitive function on weight management outcomes in adolescents (I-CAN)

I-CAN investigates how brain health (cognitive, functional, and structural) affects adolescents’ response to evidence-based weight management practices.

 

NIH R21HD089457 (PI: Chappell)                  9/1/16-8/31/18                                              

A phase I pharmacokinetic trial of ledipasvir/sofosbuvir fixed dose combination in pregnant women with hepatitis

The role in this project focuses on assessing developmental trajectories in infants whose mothers had hepatitis.

 

UPP Academic Grant (PI: Rofey)                     6/1/16 – 6/30/17                                         

Reward circuitry in youth at-risk for obesity 

Intervention efforts for youth who are already obese are futile. Prevention efforts that focus on sustainable processes, especially as they relate to reward processing, may shed more light on obesogenic decision making. This pilot grant will allow an interdisciplinary team to investigate at-risk youth (i.e., first-degree obese relative) and compare to controls.

 

Staunton Foundation (PI: Rofey)                   12/1/16-12/31/17                                               

Gender Connections: Helping gender expansive children and their families navigate in the early years

This project will develop paperwork and manualized treatment to guide very young children (8-12)

 

NIH R21HD089457

(PI: Chappell; Role: Co-I)                                 9/1/16-8/31/18                                                  

A phase I pharmacokinetic trial of ledipasvir/sofosbuvir fixed dose combination in pregnant women with hepatitis

The role in this project focuses on assessing developmental trajectories in infants whose mothers had hepatitis.

 

R01 NIAAA                                                    7/1/14 – 6/31/18                                           

NIH (PI: Miller; Role: Co-I)

College Health Center-based Alcohol and Sexual Violence Intervention
This is a stakeholder-engaged longitudinal study to test, via a 2-armed cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT), a brief harm reduction intervention to reduce risk for alcohol-related sexual violence among youth ages 18-24 receiving care from college student health services.

 

1R01DK095172                                               7/15/2012 - 6/30/2017                                

NIH (PI: Erickson; Role: Co-I)                                                                                                                           

Influence of Physical Activity and Weight Loss on Brain Plasticity

This project adds a neuroimaging arm to an NIH funded 12-month diet and physical activity intervention (PI: Jakicic) in which the primary aim is to compare changes in left ventricular mass using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

 

R01HD079419 (PI: Akers; Role: Co-I)          9/1/2014 - 8/31/2018                                           

NICHD                                                                                  

Role of Romantic Relationships in the Sexual Behavior of Obese and Non-Obese Girls

To determine whether obese adolescent girls experience a delay in the development of peer and intimate relationship skills compared to non-obese adolescent girls    

 

Yaeger Foundation                                         10/01/2014 – 10/01/2016                              

Foundation (PI: Becker; Role: Co-I)

Transitional Care for Young Adults with T1DM

This project will develop an evidence-based behavioral intervention for adolescents/young adults transitioning from pediatric to adult care for Type I Diabetes Mellitus.

 

Novavax Inc. (PI: Bogen; Role: Co-I) 07/01/2015-06/31/2016                                              

A phase II randomized observer-blind, placebo-controlled, study to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a RSV vaccine in health third-trimester pregnant women to assess the impact of maternal immunization on infant safety over one year of life.

This project assesses cognitive function in infants to examine the safety of a RSV vaccine given to pregnant women during the third trimester.