Dr. Mary Margaret Gleason

Psychiatry and Psychology

American Board of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Medical School: Columbia University College

Residency: Rhode Island Hospital-Lifespan

Fellowship: Tulane University School of Medicine

Dr. Gleason is thrilled to be a part of the growing interdisciplinary child mental health team at CHKD. She is trained as a triple-board physician in pediatrics, general psychiatry, and child and adolescent psychiatry, and has specialty training in infant and early childhood mental health. Her main clinical interests are bringing quality mental health care to children wherever they are including pediatric and early intervention settings. 

She sees patients with child mental health needs of all ages, with a special interest in working with children under 6 and their families as well as children with chronic medical conditions.

Before coming to CHKD, Dr. Gleason was on the faculty at Tulane University School of Medicine and at Brown University, where she led training programs for residents in pediatrics, child psychiatry, and triple board as well as medical students. She worked closely with the state of Louisiana to develop programs that expand child mental health services across the state, especially in rural areas, and to support pediatricians, obstetricians, and other health care professionals in addressing children and families' mental health needs. 

Dr. Gleason is proud to have contributed to published guidelines focused on the mental health treatment of young children for the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She is a regular speaker at national and international meetings.

She is honored to sit on the boards of Zero to Three, the National Association of Child Psychiatry Access Programs, and the Council of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Dr. Gleason has completed a fellowship in infant and early childhood psychiatry at Tulane University and a triple-board residency at Hasbro Children's Hospital and Brown University.

Most importantly, she is grateful for the privilege to work with families and their children and learn from them. She believes that mental health care is a partnership between clinicians and families and is excited to work with the families of Hampton Roads to build the CHKD program as well as provide direct treatment to families.

Dr. Gleason loves working with any families in pediatric primary care as well as specialty child psychiatry settings. She has specialized training in working with families with children under 6, especially those under stress or who have experienced traumatic or stressful life events. In this age group especially, she  primarily uses therapy approaches, although she will work with all ages, especially in the pediatric primary care setting.

Dr. Gleason's focus is on studying programs that help ensure that children at risk for mental health concerns are identified early and have access to quality interventions. The majority of her research efforts have focused on developing and studying screening tools and clinical programs to support non-mental health clinicians as well as understanding the risks and roles of medication for young children's treatment. In addition, she has contributed to the Bucharest Early Intervention Program, the only randomized controlled trial of an intervention (quality family-based care) for children with early institutional experiences.

• Coastal Virginia Magazine "Top Doc" (2021, 2022)
• Irving Phillips Award for Prevention (2020)
• Katherine Knight Award for Advocacy in Health Care, Tulane University Department of Pediatrics (2018)
• Child Psychiatry Educator of the Year, Tulane University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (2018, 2015, 2010)
• Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2017)
• Catcher in the Rye Committee Award for Humanitarian Efforts (as member of Task Force on the Relationship between AACAP and the Biomedical Industry), AACAP (2014)
• Norbert and Charlotte Rieger Award for Scientific Achievement (best paper published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry during the year), AACAP (2011)
• Best Doctors in America, Louisiana Best Doctors (2010-Present)
• Leaders for the 21st Century, Zero to Three (2007-2009)
• Henrietta L. Leonard Award for Excellence in Teaching, Brown University Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (2008)
• Outstanding Contribution to Triple Board, AACAP (2006)
• Future Leaders in Psychiatry, Emory University (2005)
• Pilot Research Award, AACAP (2004)
• Presidential Scholar Award, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) (2002)

• American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• American Academy of Directors of Psychiatry Residency Training Programs
• National Association of Pediatric, Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Training Programs
• Zero to Three

"CHKD has made a true commitment to developing a state-of-the-art mental health program for the children of Hampton Roads and I'm thrilled to join the amazing team working to create clinical programs that serve children and their families as well as training and research programs to grow the team of highly qualified clinicians." 

• Dr. Gleason's published research can be viewed at PubMed

• Gleason, Mary Margaret, MD, FAAP; Trigg, Allison Boothe, PhD, Managing Behavioral Issues in Child Care and Schools. A Quick Reference Guide. AAP, 2020