Department news | November 30, 2019

Congratulations to Carolyn Brenner, MD, who received the Fall 2019 UW Medicine CARES Award in the provider category. The award signifies that Dr. Brenner is one of UW Medicine’s highest performers, as voted upon by the HMC Recognition Program. The CARES Award was established in 2013 to formally recognize and celebrate the accomplishments and excellences of those in the UW Medicine community who consistently exemplify the UW Medicine Service Culture Guidelines – professional standards that ensure anyone who encounters UW Medicine receives the same great care and service throughout the system

Department news | November 30, 2019

The American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) Board of Directors and the 2020 APOS Awards Committee selected Jesse Fann, MD, MPH, as the awardee of the APOS Outstanding Education & Training Award. The award is presented to a leader who has enhanced the field of psychosocial oncology through the education and training of new investigators and/or clinicians.

Department news | June 30, 2019

The Wayne J. Katon Outstanding Mentor Award recognizes a faculty member who demonstrates sustained commitment to the creative, scholarly, professional and personal development of research mentees. The award honors Wayne Katon, MD, a gifted and dedicated mentor who supervised medical students, psychiatry residents, research fellows and junior faculty across several departments, many of whom have become principal investigators of their own grant funded research programs. He directed an NIH-funded T-32 Fellowship Program in Primary Care Psychiatry for over 25 years that produced more than 30 successful researchers at the interface of medicine and psychiatry, including many members of our department. The award is funded by the Wayne Katon Memorial Fund for Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Faculty Development.

The recipient of this year’s award is Christine Lee, PhD. An excerpt from her nomination packet sums up her commitment to mentoring: “It is remarkable to see how successful Dr. Lee has been in her own field of addictions research while also dedicating large amounts of her time to fostering the growth of her mentees. She spends as much if not more time helping us develop into strong, independent researchers with many opportunities to continue being successful in our chosen fields of study and for that I feel lucky to be working under her supervision.”

Past recipients of the award include Raphe Bernier, PhD, Mary Larimer, PhD, and Kathleen Myers, PhD.

Department news | June 30, 2019

The Gary J. Tucker Career Teaching Award, named in honor of the Chair of our department from 1985 through 1997, recognizes exceptional career achievement in teaching and education and honors Dr. Tucker's significant contributions to our academic programs, his leadership and dedication as a teacher, clinician, and scholar, his love of teaching, and his ability to inspire and encourage trainees.

The award is given to a member of the academic or clinical faculty who has demonstrated, throughout his or her career, outstanding skills as a teacher and dedication to education. This year, the award was given to Andrew Saxon, MD.

Dr. Saxon has shaped the careers of numerous addiction psychiatrists over the course of his career. He developed our Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship which he has directed for almost 25 years and he co-leads the Addiction Psychiatry interest group. Excerpts from his nomination packet say he is ”kind, caring, and warm,” "motivates mentees to do what they love,” and "is the type of clinician, educator, and mentor I aspire to be.”

Past recipients of the award include Jack Carr, PhD, Johan Verhulst, MD, Chris Varley, MD, Joan Romano, PhD, Deb Cowley, MD, Dick Miyoshi, RPh, Marcella Pascualy, MD, and Elizabeth McCauley, PhD.

Department news | June 30, 2019

The Outstanding Mentor Award, Clinician Teacher Pathway honors extraordinary and sustained dedication, commitment, and effectiveness in fostering the professional and personal development of faculty members in our Clinician Teacher pathway. This year the award goes to Anna Ratzliff, MD, PhD. Dr. Ratzliff has displayed a consistent and passionate commitment to mentoring clinician teachers, in both individual and group settings. She has led the UWMC clinician teacher peer mentoring group and over the past few years has mentored over 20 faculty members through a curriculum development project for the Integrated Care Training Program (ICTP). Mentees describe her as “an amazing mentor,” praise her for her “genuine desire to help others succeed coupled with her willingness to provide meaningful opportunities for growth for those that she works with” and state that her mentorship has been very valuable in their career development.

Department news | June 30, 2019

The Exceptional Staff Award is a new award that honors and celebrates the valuable efforts staff members make toward supporting the mission of the department and upholding our core values of collaboration, continuous learning and mentorship, and integrity and accountability. We had six amazing nominees this year: Alison Laing, department research administration; Jessica Leith, Evidence Based Practice Institute; Kim Nguyen, department research administration; Juliann Salisbury, AIMS Center; Gayle Schneider, psychiatry clerkship program; and Emily Taylor, HaRRT Center. Two staff members were chosen for this year's award: Kim Nguyen and Gayle Schneider.

Kim supported our research post award activities for over 16 years until her retirement this month. Excerpts from her  nomination packet describe her as exceptional, effective, outstanding, and open-minded. Her nominator, Michael V. Vitiello, PhD, said, "I can safely say that, in my thirty-plus years as faculty member and active researcher who worked closely with a fair number of very qualified and competent fiscal managers and supervisors, Kim is far and away the best fiscal staff member it has been my privilege to work with."

Gayle serves as the Psychiatry Clerkship Administrator, shepherding all of the UW medical students through their required, six-week Psychiatry Clerkship every year as well as the 4th year UW and visiting students. Adjectives in her nomination packet include exemplary, exceptional, hardworking, caring and dependable. Said one nominee, "Gayle is one of the most dedicated and most intelligent people I have worked with. She always brings her impressive analytical abilities to any team she is on. She is a superb employee and fabulous person. The department has greatly benefited from her excellent service."

Department news | May 31, 2019

Pamela Y. Collins, MD, MPH, was honored at the APA/APAF Minority Fellows and Alumni Reception this month for receiving the 2019 Jeanne Spurlock, MD Minority Fellowship Achievement Award. Dr. Collins is recognized as an outstanding psychiatrist who has taken innovative and supportive efforts to raise awareness of mental illness in under-served minority communities, increasing the need for early recognition, increasing the availability of treatment and how to access it, and addressing the culture barriers to treatment. She has increased access to quality mental health services for under-served minority communities and improved the quality care of underserved minority populations, particularly those in the public health system or with severe mental illness.

Department news | May 31, 2019

Barbara Juarez was honored this month with a 2019 Undergraduate Research Mentor Award at the Undergraduate Research Symposium after being nominated by her students. The Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium is a chance for undergraduates to present what they have learned through their research experiences to a larger audience. The Symposium also provides a forum for students, faculty, and the community to discuss cutting edge research topics and to examine the connection between research and education. "One of my goals as an academic scientist is to ensure undergraduates receive an enriched training environment in the laboratory by providing tailored mentoring plans to each individual based on their goals,” says Juarez. “I am extremely honored to receive this award."

Department news | May 31, 2019

Raymond Vath, MD, a retired clinical faculty member, recently received the 2019 MEDEX Pioneer Award. After attending medical school at the UW and graduating from our psychiatry residency program In 1969, he was hired on as faculty at the newly formed MEDEX Northwest program by founder Dr. Richard Smith. He worked with the team for two years before returning to his private practice in 1971. During his career he developed a treatment for anorexia nervosa and helped create the international aid organization Mercy Corps International (now Mercy Corps), where he served on the Board of Directors from 1979-2000. In 2005 Dr. Vath was named Humanitarian of the Year by the UW Medical School Association and received an Honorary Doctor of Humanities from Providence University Great Falls, MT. This 10-minute film documents Dr. Vath’s invaluable contributions.