Department news | May 31, 2023

Congratulations to Katherine Hoerster, PhD, MPH, for receiving the Leading the Narrative Award from the Society for Behavioral Medicine honoring her work and dedication to effective community-engaged behavioral medicine science communication. Dr. Hoerster has published eleven op-eds and letters since 2017 and is a frequent contributor to The Seattle Times and other local and national publications. She is known for “passing the microphone,” mentoring writers whose voices are underrepresented. Two of two of her recent pieces focused on active transportation were called out in her nomination: Transportation: try active commuting published in The Seattle Times and Make public transit accessible for all! published in the South Seattle Emerald. Dr. Hoerster was also recently featured in The Whole U’s People of UW series. 

Department news | March 30, 2023

Patricia Areán, PhD, received the Susan Essock Award from Columbia University for her work in services and policy research. Dr. Areán is an international expert on the effectiveness of behavioral interventions for mood disorders in special populations such as older adults and ethnic minorities. She leads a research and training group known for developing, studying, increasing access to and implementing user friendly, high quality behavioral interventions for mood as it presents in chronic illness, aging, low income and ethnic minority populations.

Susan M. Essock, PhD, is the Edna L. Edison Professor of Psychiatry, Emerita, in the Division of Behavioral Health Services and Policy Research in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University.

Congratulations, Pat!

Department news | February 28, 2023

Congratulations to the recipients of our latest round of Staff Scholarship Awards! Funded by department and philanthropic funds, these awards support professional development of classified and professional staff who work in our department. Awards are given twice per year. Awardees for this round include: 

• Center for Mental Health, Policy, and the Law, team award, to complete a live professional training program on ‘Stigma in the law and the impact on the forensic mental health evaluation’ offered through Palo Alto University.
• Angela Dahiya-Singh (ECHO/INCLUDE/Seattle Children’s Autism Center) to attend the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) Annual Meeting in Sweden.
• Linda Nzabamwita (CHAMP Study) to complete courses on project management, strategic planning, team building, and effective communication.
• Sally Ngo (CoLab) to complete the Google UX Certificate Course.
• Yesenia Navarro-Aguirre (PERC Center) to complete a course on the fundamentals of Stata: data management, analysis, and graphics.
• Afomia Assefa (Doorway Project) to complete a class through the Institute for Radical Permission.
• Alanna Feltner (Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute) to take an online python programming course through Seattle Central College.
• Sarah Franich (UW Psychiatry/PCAP) to take a continuing education class in Python.
• Stacy Dimmich (Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute) to take a POD course on Practical Approach to Anti-Racism; What’s the Word: Inclusivity in Language.
• SPIRIT Lab/Northwest MHTTC, team award, to take a POD course on Exploring Cultural Competence. This course is intended to build skills and provide frameworks to enhance communication between individuals with different cultural backgrounds.
• Vaughan Collins (SMART Center) to take a series of POD courses toward the completion of Supervisory Skills Certificate.

Thank you to the Staff EDI professional development selection committee (Vaughan Collins, MSW, Winnie Ho, Andie Uomoto, MPA, and Jasmine Zhu) for reviewing the proposals and to the donors who make this program possible. If you are interested in supporting this program, you can contribute to the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Staff Development Fund. The deadline for the next round of funding is August 1, 2023.

Department news | January 31, 2023

The UW Medicine MLK Community Service Award 2023 honors individuals or groups who exemplify Martin Luther King, Jr.’s principles through commitment to addressing community needs, particularly communities of color and low income; development and implementation of significant programs to improve the human condition; and outstanding efforts to protect and empower all individuals. This year, Pamela Y. Collins, MD, MPH, was one of 11 recipients who received the award.

Dr. Pamela Collins is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Professor of Global Health at the University of Washington, where she is Executive Director of I-TECH and director of the UW Consortium of Global Health, a joint effort of the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Global Health. She is a psychiatrist and mixed methods researcher with 25 years of experience in global public health and global mental health research, education, training and capacity-building, and science policy leadership. Her research has focused on social stigma related to mental illness and its relationship to HIV risk among women of color with severe mental illness; the intersections of mental health with HIV prevention, care, and treatment; and the mental health needs of diverse groups in the US, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. She is currently the Principal Investigator of EQUIP Nairobi: a pilot implementation of Trauma-Focused CBT in Nairobi, Kenya, part of a more comprehensive effort to meet the mental health needs of children and adolescents in Nairobi.

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Department news | November 30, 2022

We are pleased to announce that the psychology resident who has been selected as the winner of this year's Joseph Becker Research Award is Adam Kuczynski of the Psychology Internship Program Adult Track. He is examining the association between loneliness and depressed mood in people’s natural environments and testing whether social interaction quantity and quality following feelings of loneliness moderate this association. Adam is mentored by Patricia Areán, PhD, in conducting this research. He will receive a plaque at the graduation ceremony in June, as well as an award in support of his research this year. 

Thank you to Adam Carmel, PhD, chair of the Awards Committee, and the members of the committee for their service and help in reviewing applications for this award including Jennifer Cadigan, PhD (Adult Track), Cynthia Flynn, PhD (child track), Joy Kawamura, PhD (child track) Gina Formea, PhD, ABPP-CN (Behavioral Medicine/Neuropsychology Track) and Joel Peterman, PhD (Behavioral Medicine/Neuropsychology Track).

Department news | September 29, 2022

Congratulations to the recipients of our latest round of Staff Scholarship Awards! Funded by department and philanthropic funds, the awards support professional development of classified or professional staff who work in our department. Awardees include:

• Meg Brunner, MLIS (ADAI), to take a course on digital accessibility (making websites, documents and other digital materials accessible to people with a range of different types of disabilities) through Deque University.
• Debra Glazer, MPH, PT (Maternal/Child Mental Health), to complete a certificate program for Maternal Mental Health for Mental Health and Clinical Professionals.
• ADAI, team award, for a training on microaggressions, including prevention and mitigating harm.

Thank you to the Staff EDI professional development selection committee (Vaughan Collins, MSW, Winnie Ho, Jennifer Magnani, MSW, Andie Uomoto, MPA, and Jasmine Zhu) for reviewing the proposals and to the donors who make this program possible. If you are interested in supporting this program, you can contribute to the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Staff Development Fund.

Department news | September 29, 2022

Alysha Thompson, PhD, received the 2022 Promoting Evidence Based Mental Health Services Award from the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Division 53 of the American Psychological Association, in August at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Congratulations to Alysha!

Department news | September 29, 2022

The University of Washington Board of Regents has approved Susan Stoner, PhD, as the holder of the Ann Streissguth, Ph.D. Endowed Professorship in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Dr. Stoner is Director of the Washington State Parent-Child Assistance Program, Data Operations Specialist at the Northwest Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) and a Research Associate Professor at Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute.