Physician Profile

Robert B. Noll, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Psychology, is the Director of the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and Assistant Medical Director for Behavioral Health at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He came to Pittsburgh in 2004, bringing a rich background in research, clinical care, and teaching to the hospital, its patients and the university. Under his direction, the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics has been awarded a Jewish Healthcare Foundation award to focus on improving patient care. He has also facilitated the development of a Fragile X clinical program and is the Director of the CHP Fragile X Center. Additionally, under his leadership children's pediatric behavioral health program has grown from a consultation/liaison psychiatry service focusing primarily on mental health emergencies, to a program with five full-time faculty/staff; several staff are National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded clinical investigations.

Dr. Noll came from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, where he was a professor of pediatrics and was on the faculty of the graduate and undergraduate program in clinical psychology. Prior to his academic appointment in Cincinnati, he was an assistant/associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Human Development at Michigan State University from 1983 to 1989. He earned his doctoral degree in psychology from Michigan State University in 1983. He completed a psychology major at the University of California at Berkeley (1975) and has a degree in business administration from Ohio University (1969). Dr. Noll also served five years in the United States Navy as a naval aviator from 1969 to 1974.

At Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Dr. Noll leads several NIH-funded investigations focused on understanding the impact of chronic illness on children and their families. His areas of expertise include quality of life for children with chronic illness; clinical trials of cognitive behavioral therapy to reduce distress after the diagnosis of cancer in a child; and bioethical issues in pediatric oncology related to informed consent. The NIH has funded his work since 1987. His work also has received support from the National Arthritis Foundation, Department of Defense, American Cancer Society, and the Ohio branch of the American Cancer Society.

Dr. Noll is a licensed clinical psychologist with a specialization in pediatric psychology. He has been on the National Register of Health Providers in Psychology since 1992. He is a fellow in the American Psychological Society and a member of American Society of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, International Neuropsychological Society, and the Society for Research in Child Development. He is an ad hoc reviewer for Pediatrics and the Journal of the American Medical Association. He also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology.