Honors & Awards

Presidential panel at Society of Behavioral Medicine’s annual meeting

Department News | April 30, 2025

Kate Hoerster, PhD, MPH recently co-presented on a panel at the Society of Behavioral Medicine's Annual Meeting in San Francisco about the MOVED BY LOVE study, which seeks to reduce disparities and ensure Veteran-centered care for Black Veterans. The panel was selected as a presidential panel by the society. Dr. Hoerster and the other panelists presented findings from their four interlocking studies including Photovoice, a project that has already been published.

The panel from left to right includes Lamont Tanksley, peer support counselor at VA Puget Sound; JoAnne Hall, Veteran advisory council member for MOVED By LOVE; Na'imah Muhammad, research coordinator at VA Puget Sound; Kate Hoerster, PBSCI associate professor at VA Puget Sound and co-principal investigator of MOVED By LOVE; and Jessica Breland, co-principal investigator and core investigator at VA Palo Alto. 

Jesse Fann elected president of the APOS Board of Directors

Department News | March 15, 2025

The American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) Board of Directors has elected Jesse Fann, MD, MPH to fill the role of president on the APOS Board of Directors. The APOS Nominating Committee selected Jesse to appear on the competitive election ballot and his seat was secured via majority vote by the APOS full membership. Jesse is a consultation-liaison psychiatrist and health services researcher with PBSCI and an adjunct professor in the Departments of Rehabilitation Medicine and Epidemiology. He is also medical director of the Department of Psychosocial Oncology at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Jesse previously served as the APOS Board’s treasurer and began his two-year term as president on March 7. Congratulations, Jesse!

UW Distinguished Staff Award nominees

Department News | March 15, 2025

Congratulations to Diane Powers, MBA, MA and Athena Wong, MHA who have both been nominated for UW Distinguished Staff Awards in the Career Achievement category! Athena is the department’s associate director of education and Diane is co-director of the AIMS Center. The following paragraphs are excerpts from their nomination letters describing the fantastic contributions they’ve both made to our department.

For over 20 years Diane Powers has demonstrated excellence in her UW work, positively impacted each person she works with and supported the dissemination of integrated care around the world.  In 2004, she helped found the Advancing Integration Mental Health Solutions (AIMS) Center to promote the delivery of mental health services in primary medical settings and specifically the implementation of the Collaborative Care Model.  She has trained thousands of clinicians and hundreds of health care organizations around the county and world to expand access to mental health services. She has accomplished this through her servant leadership and dedication!

Since joining the UW Psychiatry Residency Program as a program assistant in 2000, Athena Wong quickly rose through the ranks, taking on a leadership position. She is an exceptional team leader, earning the trust and respect of those she supervises. She ensures our educational programs and staff work as effectively as possible. She creates a safe, stimulating, enjoyable work environment for staff while maintaining high expectations for performance. Athena and her team are extraordinarily competent, responsive, courteous, helpful, and professional, and have been cited as a reason trainees choose our residency. In 2021 Athena became associate director for education, the highest staff position within the education program. She is highly deserving of this honor. 

Assembly Resident-Fellow Member Mentor Award

Department News | March 15, 2025

Congratulations to Jacqueline Hobbs, MD, PhD, who has been selected to receive the 2025 Assembly Resident-Fellow Member (RFM) Mentor Award for her outstanding work as a mentor and advocate for RFMs! Jackie is the director of our Psychiatry Residency Program and she will be presented with this award on Saturday, May 17, during the Assembly luncheon at the RFM Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. Thank you, Jackie, for your dedication to mentoring future psychiatrists. Your inspiration and support of RFMs makes a tremendous difference!

CPDD Awards in Excellence: Innovator Award

Department News | March 15, 2025

Congratulations to Marco Pravetoni, PhD, winner of the 2025 College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) Innovator Award! This award, sponsored by Indivior, Inc, recognizes an individual who has developed innovative approaches in basic science, clinical research, or treatment and prevention science that reflect ground-breaking strides with potential for significant impact in drug dependence. Marco leads the Center for Medication Development for Substance Use Disorders and Overdose and will be presented with this award during the CPDD Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

C-L Fellow receives Trainee Editorial Fellowship

Department News | January 30, 2025

James Lee, MD, one of our Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellows, has received Academic Psychiatry’s Trainee Editorial Fellowship. Congratulations, James! This award is an opportunity for psychiatry residents and fellows with demonstrated interest in education, scholarship, and leadership to expand their skills in scholarly publication. During this one-year fellowship, trainees will learn about and participate in peer reviewing, decision making, and editorial writing for an academic medical journal.

James completed his residency with PBSCI and a year as Harborview inpatient chief. He is grateful for his past educational experiences, including Yale College, where he majored in Cognitive Science (with a focus in canine cognition), and Mayo Clinic School of Medicine for medical school. He has received the American Psychiatric Association Diversity Leadership Fellowship, the Association for Academic Psychiatry Resident Psychiatric Educator Award, the Paul Kalanithi Writing Award, and the Stephen C. Hofmann Award. James has also been published in New England Journal of Medicine and Academic Medicine. Alongside his dedication toward LGBTQ+ and public psychiatry, he is an advocate for medical humanities as an actor, violinist, and short story writer.

Myra Parker receives Distinguished Staff Award at MLK tribute event

Department News | January 30, 2025

We are thrilled to announce that Myra Parker, JD, MPH, PhD is the School of Medicine’s 2025 Distinguished Service Award Recipient! This award honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by recognizing employees and students who exemplify his call to serve others. For over 30 years, Myra has served as a leader, organizer, and do-er who has a genuine love for Native people. She embodies Dr. King’s legacy of service and truth telling through her mentoring, research, teaching, and traditional practices.
 
Myra is an associate professor with PBSCI and leads the 7 Directions Center for Indigenous Public Health housed within the Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behaviors (CSHRB). 7 Directions connects research, practice, policy, and organizers in urban and tribal communities that have the health and wellness of indigenous people at the heart of their work.
 
An adjunct faculty in the UW School of Public Health, Myra leads the school’s first indigenous health class and will be collaborating on new curriculum development in the future. When a public health student pointed out the need to have a course on this topic, Myra was one of the first to step up and help make it happen. She is a mentor to other faculty, especially Native colleagues, and she always gives a hand to support those in need of guidance and support.
 
A colleague who nominated her shared that they “have learned so much from Myra and would love nothing less than for her – as well as all our indigenous colleagues in 7 Directions – be recognized for the work they do.” Congratulations, Myra!

Sarah Jane Webb nominated for Mentoring Women Faculty Award

Department News | January 30, 2025

Congratulations to Sara Jane Webb, PhD, one of this year’s nominees for the School of Medicine Excellence in Mentoring Women Faculty Award! This award recognizes the importance of the mentoring of women faculty by all faculty. 

Sara Jane directs the Psychophysiology and Behavioral Systems lab at Seattle Children’s Research Institute and is the associate director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center. Her research focuses on the development of social brain markers to better assess therapeutics and interventions that foster positive skill improvement in children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Sara Jane’s nomination speaks to her experience and exceptionalism as a role model and mentor for women faculty at UW. Thank you for your wonderful contributions! 

Class of six selected for prestigious Webb Fellowship

Department News | November 27, 2024

Congratulations to Brittany Goldstein, MD, one of six new recipients of the 2024-2025 Webb Fellowship! The Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (ACLP) created the William Webb Fellowship Program to foster the career development and leadership potential of advanced psychiatry residents and C-L Psychiatry fellows at an early stage in their career. Dr. Goldstein, one of our Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellows, has developed a trial that will investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of an adjunctive mindfulness intervention for managing distress in patients seen by the C-L service at UW. Implementation of the study is funded by a Trainee Research Award through the department's Clinician Scientist Training Program.

“I have long been interested in using behavioral interventions to help patients with medical comorbidities," says Dr. Goldstein. This interest has developed in clinical settings, where she treated chronic pain and chronic fatigue, and research settings with grants for studies in postural tachycardia syndrome and inpatient C-L service.

The fellowship will allow Dr. Goldstein to build a broader network within the C-L Psychiatry community and bolster the regional and national recognition necessary to advance in an academic career. "Within academia, I hope one day to serve as a medical school psychiatry clerkship director," Dr. Goldstein says. "I have greatly valued the role of mentors in my personal and professional development. This program will not only open multiple sources of mentorship, it will also provide me with unique experiences that afford me the ability to mentor younger trainees.”

Joseph Becker Award for Outstanding Research Achievement

Department News | November 27, 2024

We’re pleased to announce that the winner of this year's Joseph Becker Research Award is Emma Parrish, MS, a psychology resident who’s part of the General Adult Track. Mentored by Sarah Kopelovich, PhD, the objective of Emma’s research is to evaluate effectiveness of a brief CBT for psychosis intervention on psychological recovery, cognitive flexibility, and progress. Congratulations, Emma!
  
The Joseph Becker, Ph.D. Award for Outstanding Research Achievement is an award established in recognition of the significant contributions of Dr. Becker to the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and to the Psychology Internship Program.
 
The establishment of this award honors Dr. Becker’s vision of a scientist-practitioner internship and his long-term presence as a model of the principles this embodies. The award further acknowledges his nationally recognized stature as a clinician-researcher, and as a strong, compassionate teacher and leader. In keeping with Dr. Becker’s vision, the purpose of this award is to stimulate quality research by rewarding an intern for independence, creativity, and intellectual depth in a research effort of the internship year.