Frank W. Putnam, MD
Profession: Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist
Current Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Field of Expertise: Developmental psychopathology, trauma, dissociation, and child maltreatment
Professional Summary:
Dr. Putnam is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and an authority on the lifetime effects of childhood maltreatment. He is co-founder, with the late Dr. Penelope Trickett, of the Female Growth and Development Study (FGDS), an ongoing 35+ year, multigenerational study of the enduring biopsychosocial effects of childhood sexual abuse on female development. His latest book, Old Before Their Time (2025), offers the first full account of the FGDS, detailing its stunning biomedical findings in a narrative accessible to both professionals and the general public.
“The FGDS is at the heart of what I have tried to do–reveal, repair, and prevent those terrible things happening to children.”
Frank W. Putnam, MD
Education:
7/1986 – 6/1989: Fellowship in Child Psychiatry, Children’s Hospital National Medical Center, George Washington University, Washington, DC
1979-1982: Fellowship in Clinical Research, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD
1976-1979: Residency in Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
1971-1976: M.D. and Internship, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN
1969-1973: Master of Arts—Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
1965-1969: Bachelor of Arts in psychology and biology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
Positions:
7/2011 – Present: Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Dept of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC
6/2011 – 6/2015: Adjunct Professor, Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT
6/2011 – 6/2012 : Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics – Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
7/1999-6/2011: Director, Center for Safe and Healthy Children, Professor of Pediatrics & Professor of Child Psychiatry, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
7/1995-7/1999: Chief, Unit on Developmental Traumatology, Behavioral Endocrinology Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD
7/1985-6/1995: Senior Clinical Investigator, Laboratory of Developmental Psychology, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD
7/1982-6/1985: Staff Psychiatrist, Neuropsychiatry Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD
7/1979-6/1982: Clinical Associate, Section on Psychobiology, Biological Psychiatry Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD
Frank W. Putnam, MD
Profession: Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist
Current Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Field of Expertise: Developmental psychopathology, trauma, dissociation, and child maltreatment
Professional Summary:
Dr. Putnam is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and an authority on the lifetime effects of childhood maltreatment. He is co-founder, with the late Dr. Penelope Trickett, of the Female Growth and Development Study (FGDS), an ongoing 35+ year, multigenerational study of the enduring biopsychosocial effects of childhood sexual abuse on female development. His latest book, Old Before Their Time (2025), offers the first full account of the FGDS, detailing its stunning biomedical findings in a narrative accessible to both professionals and the general public.
“The FGDS is at the heart of what I have tried to do–reveal, repair, and prevent those terrible things happening to children.”
Frank W. Putnam, MD.
Education:
7/1986 – 6/1989: Fellowship in Child Psychiatry, Children’s Hospital National Medical Center, George Washington University, Washington, DC
1979-1982: Fellowship in Clinical Research, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD
1976-1979: Residency in Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
1971-1976: M.D. and Internship, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN
1969-1973: Master of Arts—Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
1965-1969: Bachelor of Arts in psychology and biology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
Positions:
7/2011 – Present: Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Dept of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC
6/2011 – 6/2015: Adjunct Professor, Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT
6/2011 – 6/2012 : Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics – Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
7/1999-6/2011: Director, Center for Safe and Healthy Children, Professor of Pediatrics & Professor of Child Psychiatry, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
7/1995-7/1999: Chief, Unit on Developmental Traumatology, Behavioral Endocrinology Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD
7/1985-6/1995: Senior Clinical Investigator, Laboratory of Developmental Psychology, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD
7/1982-6/1985: Staff Psychiatrist, Neuropsychiatry Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD
7/1979-6/1982: Clinical Associate, Section on Psychobiology, Biological Psychiatry Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD