Mullins reflects on a lifetime of advancements in pediatric psychology

Mullins reflects on a lifetime of advancements in pediatric psychology

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

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After decades of researching solutions for families of children with chronic illnesses, Dr. Larry Mullins is now entering the unknown: retirement.

A career psychologist, Mullins has led the Oklahoma State University Center for Pediatric Psychology since its inception in 2018.

Growing up, Mullins always knew he would become a psychologist. His father, J. Dale Mullins, was the dean of the College of Education at the University of Central Oklahoma, allowing Mullins to meet and learn from many psychologists at a young age.

A native Oklahoman, Mullins earned his Bachelor of Arts from OSU in 1977 before moving to Columbia, Missouri, where he began to work toward his combined master's and doctorate degrees in clinical psychology. Once he got to the University of Missouri, he began work quickly and found a mentor in the field he had long aspired to.

"I wanted to work with somebody who worked with kids and families. My first advisor, Larry Siegel, was one of the original pediatric psychologists in the country," Mullins said. "At the time, there were probably less than two dozen folks who had a training background in clinical psychology, with their focus on working with kids with chronic health conditions. He was the one that first introduced me to this sub-specialization called pediatric psychology."

Mullins would wake up on cold winter mornings in Columbia before the sunrise and drive to the hospital to help kids prepare for outpatient surgeries and teach them strategies they could use to cope.

After thinking he would never return to Oklahoma, Mullins learned about an internship opportunity with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He accepted this opportunity, and ultimately his passion took off.

"I did everything from work with children on the burn unit, helping kids cope with pain, and I worked with kids who had traumatic injuries. I also worked with kids who had newly diagnosed diseases, such as cancer and cystic fibrosis, helping them and their families learn how to cope. I was immersed in that world," Mullins said.

After working as a pediatric psychologist doing consultation and liaison work with OUHSC, Mullins made his way back to OSU in 1995, where he joined his colleague, John Chaney.

"John Chaney is a nationally known expert in pediatric psychology. He's also known for his work with Native American populations and directing the American Indians in the Psychology program," Mullins said. "John was an old and cherished friend, and we partnered up. We became very close collaborators, working and collecting data at the Children's Hospital in Oklahoma City and also starting to work with college students with chronic health conditions."

One thing that drove Mullins and Chaney in their work was knowing they were giving back to the state known as the birthplace of pediatric psychology. Logan Wright, a clinical psychologist and native Oklahoman, joined the staff at the OUHSC in 1966, where he coined the term "pediatric psychology" and put the field of study on the map.

The two felt it appropriate and necessary to be involved in the training side of the field to help further the pediatric psychology mission. They aimed to recruit highly talented undergraduate students to their graduate program and create a pediatric psychology specialization track in their clinical psychology program.

"All of a sudden, we realized we were creating a pipeline, and our graduate students were getting some of the very best internships in the country for their training. It has been the proverbial icing on the cake," Mullins said.

OSU's Center for Pediatric Psychology has graduated some of the best pediatric psychologists in the country. Alumni work at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, one of the country's top children's hospitals, with another alum an endowed chair at the Massey Cancer Center at Virginia Commonwealth. Yet another was recently announced as the director of research at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio. The list goes on and on to the Medical University of South Carolina, Catholic University, the University of Kansas Medical Center, Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, and Nemours Children's Hospital, among others.

Around 20 years into his career, Mullins noticed some of his colleagues in the industry earning National Institute of Health grants that were funding groundbreaking research. Taking a chance on hard work and a passion to grow the field, Mullins began to apply for grants, managing to secure funding to specifically develop psychosocial interventions for parents of kids who are newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and later pediatric cancer.

Recently, OSU's Center for Pediatric Psychology completed an 11-year NIH-funded study, earning $2.9 million in the last five years studying families of children born with rare conditions called Disorders/Differences of Sex Development.

In his almost 40-year career in pediatric psychology, Mullins has seen the field grow tremendously. After helping build the Center for Pediatric Psychology, he hopes to see more pediatric psychologists join the OSU faculty as the profession grows.

With the final weeks of his career approaching, Mullins reflected on what his time at OSU meant to him and his work.

"OSU gave me the opportunity to help build a program with John Chaney, colleagues around the country and our graduate students. They created that opportunity and gave me the resources to forge a new path with the understanding that we wanted it to be something that really demonstrated excellence," Mullins said. "OSU gave me that opportunity, and it was a very special opportunity that I'll never repay completely.

"Working with such incredible graduate students has been the best part of my career. I've been really fortunate and lucky. I have a lot of gratitude for having had that opportunity. It's going to be the part of my job that I miss
the most."

Mullins officially retired at the end of July and Dr. Christina Duncan took over as the director of the OSU Center for Pediatric Psychology. Duncan comes from the University of West Virginia, where she was a professor and director of the Quin Curtis Center for Psychological Services. She is a nationally renowned pediatric psychologist, is deeply involved in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and is the editor of the Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology journal.

"She's a force of nature, and she will continue the legacy that we have created," Mullins said.

Mullins and Duncan have been colleagues and friends for many years, often collaborating on various conference presentations. The two greatly admire each other's research and have an even greater respect for each other's passion for their field of study.

"Dr. Mullins is a well-respected scholar in the field of pediatric psychology. His research seeks to understand and improve the well-being of children with chronic health conditions and their families," Duncan said. "I have particularly admired his devotion to supporting and guiding his students - while in graduate school and beyond in their careers."

Duncan joined the Center for Pediatric Psychology in January this year and has been working closely with students on a grant that works on researching uses of pictorial asthma action plans to promote self-management and health in rural youth with asthma.

"Without a doubt, having the opportunity to work with Dr. Mullins was a key factor in my decision to leave West Virginia University after 21 years and become an OSU Cowboy this past January," Duncan said. "I have very, very big shoes to fill as the director of the Center for Pediatric Psychology; however, I find some comfort in knowing that Dr. Mullins will continue to mentor me in this role."

Photo By: Gary Lawson and Ellie Piper

Story By: Page Mindedahl | Research Matters Magazine