Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurosciences

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* (MCOM Psychiatry Faculty Profile)

Brian E. Bunnell

Brian E. Bunnell, PhD

Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Morsani College of Medicine

Contact Info

Education

  • PhD, Clinical Psychology, University of Central Florida, 2015
  • MS, Clinical Psychology, University of Central Florida, 2013
  • BA, Psychology, Arizona State University, 2010

Research Interests

  • My research integrates implementation science and biomedical informatics approaches to improve the assessment and treatment of anxiety, depression, PTSD, stress, and sleep across the developmental spectrum, with a particular focus on developing and evaluating health technology solutions to improve access and quality of care (e.g., telemedicine, mHealth, virtual reality).
  • Much of my current work has focused on developing Adhere.ly (https://www.adhere.ly/), a free, HIPAA compliant, web-based platform to help therapists engage clients in therapeutic skill building exercises.
  • More information about my work is available on my lab webpage: https://health.usf.edu/imhlab

Awards/Honors

  • Excellence in Innovation Award (University of South Florida Research & Innovation - 2022)
  • Excellence in Research Award (University of South Florida - 2023)

Memberships

  • Full Member (Sigma Xi, The National Scientific Research Society, 2021 - Present)
  • Member (American Medical Informatics Association, 2018 - Present)
  • Member (Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, 2011 - Present)
  • Member (American Psychological Association, 2009 - Present)

Recent Publications

  • Bunnell BE, Joseph DL, Beidel DC. Measurement invariance of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory. Journal of anxiety disorders. 27(1) : 84-91, 2013.
  • De Los Reyes A, Bunnell BE, Beidel DC. Informant discrepancies in adult social anxiety disorder assessments: links with contextual variations in observed behavior. Journal of abnormal psychology. 122(2) : 376-386, 2013.
  • Young BJ, Bunnell BE, Beidel DC. Evaluation of children with selective mutism and social phobia: a comparison of psychological and psychophysiological arousal. Behavior modification. 36(4) : 525-44, 2012.
  • Soni H, Morrison H, Vasilev D, Ong T, Wilczewski H, Allen C, Hughes-Halbert C, Ritchie JB, Narma A, Schiffman JD, Bunnell BE, Welch BM User experience of a family health history chatbot: A quantitative analysis Health Informatics J. 30(2) : 14604582241262251, 2024.
  • Cummins MR, Shishupal S, Wong B, Wan N, Han J, Johnny JD, Mhatre-Owens A, Gouripeddi R, Ivanova J, Ong T, Soni H, Barrera J, Wilczewski H, Welch BM, Bunnell BE Travel distance between participants in us telemedicine sessions with estimates of emissions savings: Observational Study J Med Internet Res. 26: e53437, 2024.
  • Carris NW, Wallace S, DuCoin CG, Mhaskar R, Stern M, Bunnell BE Discontinuing Semaglutide after weight loss: strategy for weight maintenance and a possible new side effect Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 102(3) : 391-395, 2024.
  • Ong T, Wilczewski H, Soni H, Ivanova J, Barrera J, Cummins M, Welch B, Bunnell BE Therapist perspectives on telehealth-based virtual reality exposure therapy Virtual Reality. 28(73) : 1-16, 2024.
  • Cummins MR, Ivanova J, Ong T, Soni H, Barrera JF, Wilczewski H, Welch BM, Bunnell BE Will the United States pass on telemedicine progress? JAMIA Open. 7(1) : ooae016, 2024.
  • Cummins MR, Soni H, Ivanova J, Ong T, Barrera J, Wilczewski H, Welch BM, Bunnell BE Narrative review of telemedicine applications in decentralized research J Clin Transl Sci. 8(1) : e30, 2024.
  • Obeid JS, Tsalatsanis A, Chaphalkar C, Robinson S, Klein S, Cool S, Szwast E, Bunnell BE A reproducible model based on clinical text for predicting suicidal behavior Stud Health Technol Inform. 310: 1486-1487, 2024.
  • Wilczewski H, Ong T, Ivanova J, Soni H, Barrera JF, Cummins MR, Welch BM, Bunnell BE Telemedicine from home or the office: Perceptions of mental health providers Telemed J E Health. 30(2) : 422-429, 2024.
  • Cummins MR, Burr J, Young L, Yeatts SD, Ecklund DJ, Bunnell BE, Dwyer JP, VanBuren JM Decentralized research technology use in multicenter clinical research studies based at US academic research centers Journal of Clinical and Translational Science. 7(1) : e250, 2023.
  • Carris NW, Bunnell BE, Mhaskar R, DuCoin CG, Stern M A systematic approach to treating early metabolic disease and prediabetes Diabetes Ther. 14(10) : 1595-1607, 2023.
  • Paige SR, Bylund CL, Wilczewski H, Ong T, Barrera JF, Welch BM, Bunnell BE Communicating about online health information with patients: Exploring determinants among telemental health providers PEC Innov. 2: 100176, 2023.
  • Wilczewski H, Paige SR, Ong T, Barrera JF, Soni H, Welch BM, Bunnell BE. Perceptions of Telemental Health Care Delivery During COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study With Providers, February-March 2021. Frontiers in psychiatry. 13: 855138, 2022.
  • Bunnell BE, Callan JA, Kazantzis N. Editorial: Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Health Technology Solutions to Improve Access and Delivery of Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Frontiers in psychology. 13: 901399, 2022.
  • Paige SR, Ong T, Wilczewski H, Barrera JF, Welch BM, Bunnell BE. Clinical and Information Services Needed by Telemental Health Providers. Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association. , 2022.
  • Paige SR, Bunnell BE, Bylund CL. Disparities in Patient-Centered Communication via Telemedicine. Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association. 28(2) : 212-218, 2022.
  • Vogt EL, Welch BM, Bunnell BE, Barrera JF, Paige SR, Owens M, Coffey P, Diazgranados N, Goldman D. Quantifying the Impact of COVID-19 on Telemedicine Utilization: Retrospective Observational Study. Interactive journal of medical research. 11(1) : e29880, 2022.
  • Wilkerson AK, Wardle-Pinkston S, Dietch JR, Pruiksma KE, Simmons RO, Bunnell BE, Taylor DJ. Web-based provider training of cognitive behavioral therapy of insomnia: engagement rates, knowledge acquisition, and provider acceptability. Cognitive behaviour therapy. 51(4) : 343-352, 2022.
  • Gober L, Brown A, Bunnell AP, Bunnell BE, Ruddy JM. Elevated Cardiopulmonary Complications after Revascularization in Patients with Severe Mental Health Disorders. Cardiology & vascular research (Wilmington, Del.). 5(5) : 1-6, 2021.
  • Taylor DJ, Dietch JR, Pruiksma K, Calhoun CD, Milanak ME, Wardle-Pinkston S, Rheingold AA, Ruggiero KJ, Bunnell BE, Wilkerson AK. Developing and Testing a Web-Based Provider Training for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy of Insomnia. Military medicine. 186(Suppl 1) : 230-238, 2021.
  • Slone H, Gutierrez A, Lutzky C, Zhu D, Hedriana H, Barrera JF, Paige SR, Bunnell BE. Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on mental health providers in the southeastern United States. Psychiatry research. 302: 114055, 2021.
  • Shani R, Tal S, Derakshan N, Cohen N, Enock PM, McNally RJ, Mor N, Daches S, Williams AD, Yiend J, Carlbring P, Kuckertz JM, Yang W, Reinecke A, Beevers CG, Bunnell BE, Koster EHW, Zilcha-Mano S, Okon-Singer H. Personalized cognitive training: Protocol for individual-level meta-analysis implementing machine learning methods. Journal of psychiatric research. 138: 342-348, 2021.
  • Bunnell BE, Nemeth LS, Lenert LA, Kazantzis N, Deblinger E, Higgins KA, Ruggiero KJ. Barriers Associated with the Implementation of Homework in Youth Mental Health Treatment and Potential Mobile Health Solutions. Cognitive therapy and research. 45(2) : 272-286, 2021.
  • Paige SR, Wilczewski H, Casale TB, Bunnell BE. Using a computer-tailored COPD screening assessment to promote advice-seeking behaviors. The World Allergy Organization journal. 14(11) : 100603, 2021.
  • Ong T, Wilczewski H, Paige SR, Soni H, Welch BM, Bunnell BE. Extended Reality for Enhanced Telehealth During and Beyond COVID-19: Viewpoint. JMIR serious games. 9(3) : e26520, 2021.
  • Zhu D, Paige SR, Slone H, Gutierrez A, Lutzky C, Hedriana H, Barrera JF, Ong T, Bunnell BE. Exploring telemental health practice before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of telemedicine and telecare. 30(1) : 72-78, 2024.
  • Bunnell BE, Kazantzis N, Paige SR, Barrera J, Thakkar RN, Turner D, Welch BM. Provision of Care by "Real World" Telemental Health Providers. Frontiers in psychology. 12: 653652, 2021.
  • Bunnell BE, Barrera JF, Paige SR, Turner D, Welch BM. Acceptability of Telemedicine Features to Promote Its Uptake in Practice: A Survey of Community Telemental Health Providers. International journal of environmental research and public health. 17(22) , 2020.
  • Obeid JS, Dahne J, Christensen S, Howard S, Crawford T, Frey LJ, Stecker T, Bunnell BE. Identifying and Predicting Intentional Self-Harm in Electronic Health Record Clinical Notes: Deep Learning Approach. JMIR medical informatics. 8(7) : e17784, 2020.
  • Bunnell BE, Sprague G, Qanungo S, Nichols M, Magruder K, Lauzon S, Obeid JS, Lenert LA, Welch BM. An Exploration of Useful Telemedicine-Based Resources for Clinical Research. Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association. 26(1) : 51-65, 2020.
  • Hamblen JL, Grubaugh AL, Davidson TM, Borkman AL, Bunnell BE, Ruggiero KJ. An Online Peer Educational Campaign to Reduce Stigma and Improve Help Seeking in Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association. 25(1) : 41-47, 2019.
  • Bunnell BE, Davidson TM, Winkelmann JR, Maples-Keller JL, Ridings LE, Dahne J, Fakhry SM, Ruggiero KJ. Implementation and Utility of an Automated Text Messaging System to Facilitate Symptom Self-Monitoring and Identify Risk for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Depression in Trauma Center Patients. Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association. 25(12) : 1198-1206, 2019.
  • Davidson TM, Bunnell BE, Saunders BE, Hanson RF, Danielson CK, Cook D, Chu BC, Dorsey S, Adams ZW, Andrews AR, Walker JH, Soltis KE, Cohen JA, Deblinger E, Ruggiero KJ. Pilot Evaluation of a Tablet-Based Application to Improve Quality of Care in Child Mental Health Treatment. Behavior therapy. 50(2) : 367-379, 2019.
  • Zhu VJ, Lenert LA, Bunnell BE, Obeid JS, Jefferson M, Halbert CH. Correction to: Automatically identifying social isolation from clinical narratives for patients with prostate Cancer. BMC medical informatics and decision making. 19(1) : 89, 2019.
  • Zhu VJ, Lenert LA, Bunnell BE, Obeid JS, Jefferson M, Halbert CH. Automatically identifying social isolation from clinical narratives for patients with prostate Cancer. BMC medical informatics and decision making. 19(1) : 43, 2019.
  • Brown WJ, Wilkerson AK, Boyd SJ, Dewey D, Mesa F, Bunnell BE. A review of sleep disturbance in children and adolescents with anxiety. Journal of sleep research. 27(3) : e12635, 2018.
  • Bunnell BE, Davidson TM, Anton MT, Crookes BA, Ruggiero KJ. Peritraumatic distress predicts depression in traumatically injured patients admitted to a Level I trauma center. General hospital psychiatry. 54: 57-59, 2018.
  • Bunnell BE, Mesa F, Beidel DC. A Two-Session Hierarchy for Shaping Successive Approximations of Speech in Selective Mutism: Pilot Study of Mobile Apps and Mechanisms of Behavior Change. Behavior therapy. 49(6) : 966-980, 2018.
  • Bunnell BE, Davidson TM, Ruggiero KJ. The Peritraumatic Distress Inventory: Factor structure and predictive validity in traumatically injured patients admitted through a Level I trauma center. Journal of anxiety disorders. 55: 8-13, 2018.
  • Brown WJ, Dewey D, Bunnell BE, Boyd SJ, Wilkerson AK, Mitchell MA, Bruce SE. A Critical Review of Negative Affect and the Application of CBT for PTSD. Trauma, violence & abuse. 19(2) : 176-194, 2018.
  • Bunnell BE, Davidson TM, Hamblen JL, Cook DL, Grubaugh AL, Lozano BE, Tuerk PW, Ruggiero KJ. Protocol for the evaluation of a digital storytelling approach to address stigma and improve readiness to seek services among veterans. Pilot and feasibility studies. 3: 7, 2017.
  • Bunnell BE, Escobar JF, Bair KL, Sutton MD, Crane JK. Zinc blocks SOS-induced antibiotic resistance via inhibition of RecA in Escherichia coli. PloS one. 12(5) : e0178303, 2017.
  • Maples-Keller JL, Bunnell BE, Kim SJ, Rothbaum BO. The Use of Virtual Reality Technology in the Treatment of Anxiety and Other Psychiatric Disorders. Harvard review of psychiatry. 25(3) : 103-113, 2017.
  • Bunnell BE, Davidson TM, Dewey D, Price M, Ruggiero KJ. Rural and Urban/Suburban Families'' Use of a Web-Based Mental Health Intervention. Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association. 23(5) : 390-396, 2017.
  • Davidson TM, Bunnell BE, Ruggiero KJ. An Automated Text-Messaging System to Monitor Emotional Recovery After Pediatric Injury: Pilot Feasibility Study. Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.). 68(8) : 859-860, 2017.
  • Alfano CA, Lau S, Balderas J, Bunnell BE, Beidel DC. The impact of military deployment on children: Placing developmental risk in context. Clinical psychology review. 43: 17-29, 2016.
  • Cohen JR, Adams ZW, Menon SV, Youngstrom EA, Bunnell BE, Acierno R, Ruggiero KJ, Danielson CK. How should we screen for depression following a natural disaster? An ROC approach to post-disaster screening in adolescents and adults. Journal of affective disorders. 202: 102-9, 2016.
  • Ruggiero KJ, Bunnell BE, Andrews Iii AR, Davidson TM, Hanson RF, Danielson CK, Saunders BE, Soltis K, Yarian C, Chu B, Adams ZW. Development and Pilot Evaluation of a Tablet-Based Application to Improve Quality of Care in Child Mental Health Treatment. JMIR research protocols. 4(4) : e143, 2015.
  • Bunnell BE, Beidel DC, Liu L, Joseph DL, Higa-McMillan C. The SPAIC-11 and SPAICP-11: Two brief child- and parent-rated measures of social anxiety. Journal of anxiety disorders. 36: 103-9, 2015.
  • Dewey D, McDonald MK, Brown WJ, Boyd SJ, Bunnell BE, Schuldberg D. The impact of ecological momentary assessment on posttraumatic stress symptom trajectory. Psychiatry research. 230(2) : 300-3, 2015.
  • Mesa F, Beidel DC, Bunnell BE. An examination of psychopathology and daily impairment in adolescents with social anxiety disorder. PloS one. 9(4) : e93668, 2014.
  • Bunnell BE, Beidel DC, Mesa F. A randomized trial of attention training for generalized social phobia: does attention training change social behavior? Behavior therapy. 44(4) : 662-73, 2013.