Honors & Awards

Jürgen Unützer named Doctor of the Year by Puget Sound Business Journal

Department News | October 30, 2025

We’re thrilled to announce that the Puget Sound Business Journal has selected PBSCI Chair Jürgen Unützer, MD, MPH, MA, as the recipient of its 2025 Healthcare Leadership Award for Doctor of the Year! He is one of 14 healthcare leaders who are being recognized for moving the industry forward by working to improve medicine and how it is delivered to patients.
 
Dr. Unützer is being recognized for his efforts to expand access to mental health services in our state and beyond. He describes his role as being a “doctor’s doctor,” who works with health care colleagues across the system when they face challenges in caring for individuals and families with serious mental health and addiction problems.
 
Dr. Unützer has also been instrumental in generating political and philanthropic support for new mental health programs. In 2019, he worked with philanthropists Lynn and Mike Garvey to secure a $50 million gift to establish The Garvey Institute for Brain Health Solutions at UW Medicine. His advocacy at the state level helped to secure support for an expansion of training programs in psychiatry and child psychiatry, the establishment of a state-wide psychiatric consultation program, and a $244 million appropriation by the Washington State Legislature to build the Center for Behavioral Health and Learning on the UW Medical Center – Northwest campus.   
 
The 2025 Healthcare Leadership Award honorees will be featured in a special report in the December 5 edition of the Puget Sound Business Journal. Congratulations, Dr. Unützer!

Jeremy Rudoler receives 2025 Joseph Becker Research Award

Department News | October 30, 2025

The Psychology Internship Program is pleased to announce that Jeremy Rudoler, MS has won this year's Joseph Becker Research Award! Jeremy is part of the General Adult Track and his research examines the effectiveness of a Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Next Steps group skills intervention in reducing perfectionism.  

This award was established in recognition of the significant contributions of Joseph Becker, PhD to the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and to the Psychology Internship Program. Congratulations, Jeremy!

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.

The Psychology Internship Program would like to thank the members of the awards committee, including Committee Chair Adam Carmel, PhD from the Adult Track; Sherilynn Chan, PhD and Jennifer Cadigan, PhD of the Child Track; Gina Formea, PhD and Katherine Wright, PhD of the Behavioral Medicine/Neuropsychology Tracks; and Erin Olson, PhD of the Autism Track for their service and help in reviewing applications for this award.

Seattle Children’s recognized as top 10 children’s hospital in U.S.

Department News | October 30, 2025

U.S. News & World Report has recognized Seattle Children’s as one of the top 10 children’s hospitals in the U.S., including #1 in Washington state! Seattle Children’s is also rated in the top 50 in Pediatric & Adolescent Behavioral Health.
 
The top medical centers are identified in 11 specialties, and Children’s ranked in all 11 including Cancer, Cardiology and Heart Surgery, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Gastroenterology and GI Surgery, Neonatology, Nephrology, Neurology and Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pediatric and Adolescent Behavioral Health, Pulmonology and Lung Surgery, and Urology.
 
These rankings are important to the hospital’s reputation. A recent survey conducted by Seattle Children's shows that over 50% of respondents consider the rankings either extremely important or very important when choosing a hospital for their child. U.S. News & World Report has recognized Seattle Children’s as a top children’s hospital every year since it began ranking medical facilities more than 30 years ago. See our Pediatric and Behaviroal Health rankings at U.S. News and World Report.

Highlights from the 2025 AAP Annual Meeting

Department News | September 30, 2025

Our department was well represented at the recent Association for Academic Psychiatry (AAP) Annual Meeting in Milwaukee where our faculty, fellows, residents, and staff showcased their work and were acknowledged for their dedication to advancing the field of academic psychiatry. A big congratulations to our own Heidi Combs, MD, MS for her outstanding leadership as president of AAP from 2024–2025. We are so grateful for her service!
 
We are also thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of two colleagues – Laurel Pellegrino, MD, who received the Early Career Development Award, and Andy Phan, MD (PGY4), who received the Resident Psychiatric Educator Award at this year’s meeting. Please join us in congratulating Drs. Pellegrino and Phan for their well-deserved achievements!

Rob Chen selected for Outstanding Resident Award Program

Department News | September 30, 2025

We’re excited to share that Rob Chen, MD, PhD has been selected for the prestigious Outstanding Resident Award Program by the National Institute of Mental Health. Now a third-year resident, Dr. Chen is working with Douglas Fowler, PhD in the UW Genome Sciences Center to investigate how genetic mutations linked to schizophrenia impact neuronal function. He is also collaborating with Debby Tsuang, MD, MSc on research using large-language models to unravel the genetics of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. His work aims to deepen our understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying serious mental illness and ultimately support the development of more targeted treatments. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Chen on this well-deserved honor!

Madison Reichelt receives the Margaret O’Donnell Prize in Psychiatry 

Department News | September 30, 2025

Congratulations to fourth year medical student Madison Reichelt, this year’s recipient of the Margaret O’Donnell Prize in Psychiatry. We award this prize to a senior medical student who has been highly involved in behavioral health issues and done outstanding academic work in psychiatry.
 
As a member of the Student Committee on Health Access, Madison set out to license more providers in longitudinal (telehealth) care to WWAMI students regardless of their current location. She proposed a solution utilizing the interstate licensure compact, and after 18 months and dozens of meetings, they are now licensing a third interstate provider through Husky Health, with more sites to come. Madison’s career aspirations are to improve underserved access to psychiatric care. She is currently working on her capstone for the Black Health Justice Pathway, which is an exploration of the history of systemic racism in psychiatry and ways to promote health justice in modern practice.
 
We thank her for the amazing work she has done thus far for our field and for the many things we know she will accomplish as a psychiatrist and colleague in the future.

Jesse Fann receives ACLP Foundation Research Professor Award

Department News | September 30, 2025

Jesse Fann, MD, MPH has been selected as the winner of the 2025 ACLP Foundation Research Professor Award by the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry! This award honors an individual with a substantial track record of research achievement in an area relevant to consultation-liaison psychiatry, as well as demonstrated excellence in mentorship. As part of the award, Dr. Fann will deliver a lecture during the Research Professor Presentation session at the ACLP Annual Meeting on November 21 in San Antonio, TX.
 
Congratulations to Dr. Fann on this well-deserved recognition! Your contributions to both research and mentoring exemplify the spirit of this honor.

Michael Vitiello named a 2024 Highly Ranked Scholar by ScholarGPS

Department News | September 30, 2025

ScholarGPS celebrates Highly Ranked Scholars for their exceptional performance in various fields, disciplines, and specialties. The prolific publication record and the outstanding quality of his scholarly contributions have placed Professor Emeritus Michael Vitiello, PhD in the top 0.05% of all scholars worldwide according to the most recent 2024 ScholarGPS rankings!
 
Highly Ranked Scholars are the most productive authors (by number of publications) whose works demonstrate exceptional impact (citations) and outstanding quality (h-index). These scholars hold a ScholarGPS rank within the top 0.05% in any given field, discipline, or specialty.
 
Congratulations to Dr. Vitiello for being recognized as a Highly Ranked Scholar based on his accomplishments in the psychiatry discipline over the past five years and the totality of his career.
 
Highly Ranked Scholar – Prior 5 years
#1 – Sleep disorder
#5 – Sleep medicine
#28 – Sleep
 
Highly Ranked Scholar – Lifetime
#5 – Sleep disorder
#12 – Sleep medicine
#52 - Sleep

Seattle Magazine and Seattle Met’s top doctors list for 2025

Department News | September 30, 2025

We’re proud to report that once again Seattle Magazine’s annual list of top doctors in the Puget Sound region features a number of faculty and courtesy faculty members from our department. Congratulations to Jesse Adams, MD; Joshua Bess, MD; Dorcas Dobie, MD, Jesse Fann, MD, MPH; Lina Fine, MD, MPhil; Ray Hsiao, MD; Ian Kodish, MD, PhD; Hower Kwon, MD; Charles Meredith, MD; Richard Ries, MD; Carol Rockhill, MD, PhD; Peter Roy-Byrne, MD; Andrew Saxon, MD; and John Wynn, MD. Additional congratulations to Rebecca Hendrickson, MD, PhD; Sarah Kish, PA-C; and Lida Turner, MD, PLCC; for being included in Seattle Met’s list of top doctors for 2025. Thank you all for your great work!