Honors & Awards – Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

WA State Prevention Awards of Excellence 2024

Department News | November 18, 2024

Congratulations to Christine Lee, PhD, recipient of a WA State Health Care Authority’s Prevention Award of Excellence at the 2024 Prevention Summit! The Summit, which has been convening annually since the 1980s, is an enriching training and networking opportunity for youth, volunteers, and professionals engaged in health promotion and the prevention of substance misuse, violence, and other high-risk behaviors. The event provides high-quality workshops, forums, and hands-on learning opportunities designed to meet a variety of needs, including professional development for prevention professionals.

This year’s awards went to 13 remarkable people and organizations – youth and adult – who have impacted the landscape of behavioral health in Washington with their unwavering commitment to prevention. Dr. Lee, who was recognized in the Prevention Professional category, has worked for over 20 years to advance best practices in prevention. She has developed a brief intervention shown to successfully result in reductions in cannabis use and related consequences among college students. This program was developed, implemented, and tested in Washington. She also developed an adaptation to the program BASICS (Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students) for community college students which can be delivered virtually. During the pandemic, this option was a game changer and resulted in lower estimated peak blood alcohol concentration and fewer drinks per week.

The full list of winners includes:

Michael Langer, Lifetime Achievement
Jackie Berganio, Lifetime Achievement
Luke Fincher, Young Adult Leadership
Katya Miltimore, Prevention Professional
Francisco Jimenez, Prevention Professional
Dr. Christina Lee, Prevention Professional
Jordan Newbug, Early Career Prevention Professional
Clarkston EPIC Leadership Team, Community Prevention Group
WSU 4-H Teens Helping Teens, Youth Leadership: Group or Club
Nexus Mental Health Hub for Schools, Youth Leadership: Group or Club
MV Hope Equity Team, Community Prevention Group
Sake Yakima Valley, Contributions to Prevention by a Community Organization
Multicultural Child and Family Hope Center, Contributions to Prevention by a Community Organization

The WA State Health Care Authority congratulates Dr. Lee and the other winners, “we are better because of you!”

Research on students and smartphones awarded most impactful paper

Department News | October 31, 2024

At Ubicomp 2024 in Melbourne, Australia, the paper StudentLife: Assessing mental health, academic performance, and behavioral trends of college students using smartphones received the 10-year Impact Award celebrating most impactful paper since Ubicomp 2014! Dror Ben-Zeev, PhD was co-author and collaborated with Rui Wang, a doctoral student at Dartmouth College who was supervised by the publication's senior author, Andrew Campbell, PhD.

With a unanimous vote from the committee, this award recognizes not only the paper's obvious influence in terms of being the most cited and downloaded paper from the conference, but also the influential linking of mental health to real world challenges such as mobile data mining. The dataset was also made available to the community, an exhibit of exemplary research practice. Congratulations on this fantastic achievement and a great multidisciplinary collaboration!

Distinguished School Social Work Advocate of the Year Award

Department News | October 31, 2024

Congratulations to the SMART Center, recipient of the 2024 School Social Work Advocate of the Year award from the Washington Association of School Social Workers (WASSW)! Their work represents a turning point in school social work in Washington state where dedication to the social work profession and collaboration to better support youth, have aligned to create lasting systemic change.

While presenting the award, WASSW’s Michelle Sorensen, MSW said, “In October 2022, a dedicated group came together to explore how to improve student access to school-based mental health services. Among the many ideas discussed, one stood out: expanding the role of school social workers to better support youth across Washington state. Through ongoing collaboration and, of course, the timely submission of a grant, SMART Center’s vision began to take shape, creating new opportunities for school social workers and, WASSW believes, fundamentally altering the profession’s trajectory in the state. Together, we tackle challenges and pave the way for increased school social worker employment and broader involvement, ensuring that more students and families receive the support they need.”

In attendance to accept the award were Nikki York, MSW, Workforce for Student Well-Being program operations specialist, Kelcey Schmitz, MSEd, director of training and technical assistance, and Rachel Barrett, MSW, Workforce for Student Wellbeing program manager.