In Memoriam: Dr. William Pelham

In Memoriam Written by Yo Jackson, SCCAP Past President

Dr. Pelham was one of the most distinguished and accomplished pioneers and leaders in the field of clinical child and adolescent psychology and his presence in the field will be dearly missed. His work made extraordinary contributions in the areas of clinical psychology, intervention science, evidence-based treatments, cognitive-behavioral practice, children’s mental health care, multimodal treatment strategies, treatment sequencing, and dissemination.

He was perhaps most widely renowned as the field’s foremost authority on the behavioral treatment of ADHD, especially his Summer Treatment Program – a program that had both a domestic and an international reputation as a model program for evidenced-based treatment. In the field, he played an instrumental role in meaningfully decelerating the role of medication-first treatment regimens with concerning side-effect profiles for child externalizing problems. He authored roughly 500 scientific publications in our field’s leading journals and secured over 100 grants, worth collectively more than $100 million, across his career.

He founded the Niagara Conference, which evolved into the Miami International Child and Adolescent Mental Health (MICAMH) that continues semi-annually to this day.  Along with Dr. Brooke Molina, Dr. Pelham conducted one of the largest long-term prospective studies of youth with ADHD—i.e., the Pittsburgh ADHD Longitudinal Study (PALS)—systematically following affected children and adolescents all the way into adulthood. This work has played a critical role in documenting the very unfavorable trajectory and burdens of poorly managed ADHD across time, including increased peer and family dysfunction and increased risky behavior, as well as reduced educational and occupational attainment, and tremendous costs to society. Dr. Pelham was also one of the original principal investigators of the landmark Multimodal Treatment of ADHD (MTA) study and his role on many of the follow-up evaluations of the MTA helped shape the field’s understanding of combination treatment strategies that varyingly incorporate medication and behavior therapy components in the management of ADHD symptoms.

His recent work—sequencing of multimodal treatment strategies—used an innovative SMART design and found not only that stimulant medication is most effective when it is used as a supplemental second-line treatment following an adequate course of quality low dose, behavior therapy, rather than as a first-line treatment but also that the behavioral-first treatment strategy was far less expensive for the healthcare system than starting treatment with medication.  This one study has the potential to revolutionize treatment for ADHD children in primary care where medication alone has been by far the most often used treatment with very poor long-term outcomes and high costs.

His dedication to excellence in his work serves as a standard for all professionals. He was a role model in how to serve the public with science. His SCCAP colleagues remember him as a “tireless, fearless clinical researcher, leader, and inspiration for the field.” Many recognized his mentorship as life-changing.  Dr. Pelham was the Ph.D. mentor of current SCCAP President, Andrea Chronis-Tuscano, who said, “He was larger-than-life, teaching us that nothing was impossible. Each day that interplay between clinical work and research came to life in the Pelham lab. At the end of the day, it wasn’t about the grants or the papers, it was sincerely about making the lives of children and families better. He helped me and all of his other students and STP staff find our passion!”

The significance of his work and the legacy of knowledge he leaves behind will serve the field for many, many years to come. Children and adolescents with ADHD and their families will continue to be served by Dr. Pelham’s legacy. The field of clinical child psychology is a better place because he was a part of it.