Dr. Zimmerman is the principal investigator of the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and Services (MIDAS) project. The goal of the MIDAS project has been to integrate research methodology into routine clinical practice in order to improve clinical practice. The MIDAS project is the largest clinical epidemiological study using standardized measures that has been conducted in clinical practice.
Dr. Zimmerman’s research interests during the past 20 years have been in the areas of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, particularly for mood and personality disorders. He is the author of more than 350 articles published in peer-reviewed journals, and serves on the editorial board of eleven journals. He is an associate editor of two of those journals: Psychiatry Research and the Journal of Personality Disorders. He is author of the revised Interview Guide to Diagnose DSM-V Psychiatric Disorders and the Mental Status Examination.
In the 1980s, Dr. Zimmerman developed a self-report questionnaire to diagnose DSM-III major depressive disorder, and was one of the authors of the first semi-structured interview to assess the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd edition (DSM-III) personality disorders. More recently he has developed the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire, Diagnostic Inventory for Depression, Remission from Depression Questionnaire, and the Clinically Useful Depression Outcome Scale (CUDOS) and Clinically Useful Anxiety Outcome Scale (CUXOS). The CUDOS and CUXOS are included in the first web-based outcome evaluation system (www.outcometracker.org).