Department news | November 30, 2021

Congratulations to Kevin Hallgren, PhD, for receiving the Outstanding Research Mentor Award given by the UW School of Medicine. Dr. Hallgren has been working with Judith Tsui, MD, MPH (Division of General Internal Medicine) as a research mentor and research methods coach on her new MedStAR program that helps medical students develop and complete an addiction medicine-focused research project by pairing them with faculty mentors. Below is an excerpt from Dr. Hallgren’s nomination:

My mentor helped me not only develop my research project almost from the ground up, but also helped me to focus my research in something to which I was personally drawn to. With his help not only was I able to have a very fulfilling and enlightening research experience, but I was able to have a great clinical experience coincide with my research. Dr. Hallgren showed a lot of trust and faith in my abilities to direct a project on my own and gave me a lot of autonomy, but also advice whenever I asked. He was really able to understand my own interests in medicine and my previous background and used that information to show me how research conducted in the field of medicine can be collaborative and rewarding.

The hope is that providing this foundational experience through MedStAR will entice more medical students to be interested in addiction medicine research and clinical care, pursue residencies and fellowships that focus on addiction medicine, and/or champion addiction-related medical care throughout their careers.

Department news | November 30, 2021

Barbara McCann, PhD, was elected to serve as President-Elect of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (SCEH) for a two-year term starting November 2021. SCEH is an international association whose mission is to promote excellence and progress in hypnosis research, education, and clinical practice. A distinguishing feature of the Society is its emphasis on empirical inquiry and the evidence-base of hypnosis. Dr. McCann has served as Secretary of SCEH for the past two years and is Program Co-Chair of the Annual Conference. Catherine McCall, MD, is the other Conference Co-Chair and is current Secretary of SCEH. Congratulations Dr. McCann!

Department news | October 29, 2021

Benjamin Danielson, MD, a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and a celebrated community leader in health equity has been selected as the 2021 recipient of the Seattle-King County First Citizen Award. The former medical director of the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic was honored at a civic banquet at the Seattle Art Museum on October 28.

In announcing this year’s recipient, event co-chair Cindy Silverstein called out Dr. Danielson’s extraordinary commitment to the health and well-being of children and families, especially children of color from low-income families, his leadership in the area of equity and social justice, and his lifelong commitment to community service which make him an especially worthy honoree this year when healthcare and a national reckoning with racism are paramount Read more.

We are looking forward to working with Dr. Danielson as he builds a new program in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences that seeks to promote paths to opportunity that are youth-centered, community-informed, and evidence-based and that will help end youth incarceration in Washington State by the year 2030. The proposed AHSHAY Center, Allies in Healthier Systems for Health & Abundance in Youth, recently received a foundational grant from the Bezos Family Foundation.

Department news | September 30, 2021

Congratulations to Catherine McCall, MD, and Andy Saxon, MD, on being named one of the Best Physicians in the Puget Sound region in Seattle Met Magazine for 2021.

We are delighted they were selected for this well-deserved honor and appreciate their commitment to excellence in patient care.

Department news | June 30, 2021

Nathan Sackett, MD, MS, is the first recipient of our new Clinician Scientist Transition (CST) Award. Funded by philanthropic and departmental support, the award provides funds to advance the career of clinician scientists who are committed to starting careers in clinical or translational research. Finding time to pursue research interests is difficult while fully engaged in clinical and teaching responsibilities, and the CST Award supports this career trajectory by protecting a clinician scientist’s time to do so.

Dr. Sackett will use his award to explore novel therapeutics, such as the use of psychedelics to treat substance use disorders. He completed his psychiatry residency and Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship with us and we are excited to welcome Nathan to the UW faculty and to support his work in novel therapeutics.

Department news | June 30, 2021

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 Heidi Combs, MD.

Dr. Combs loves to teach and has a stellar record of exceptional, very highly rated teaching of medical students, residents, faculty, physicians in practice and other learners. She was an outstanding leader of medical student education in our department and was recognized as Teacher Superior in Perpetuity by the UW School of Medicine in 2013. This honor, held by only 21 other teachers in the School’s history, is bestowed upon those who have received the Distinguished Teaching Award from the graduating class four times. She is intimately involved in the education of psychiatry residents and is a founding faculty member of the Clinician-Teacher Pathway for our residency program. She regularly educates primary care providers on detection and treatment of psychiatric illnesses in primary settings and has a long record of significant accomplishment and recognition in faculty development (including the Stern Endowed Chair). She is also a superb role model and mentor. Dr. Combs assumed the role of Vice Chair of Education in 2020 and in that role, she oversees all educational efforts for our department.

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, Elizabeth McCauley, PhD and Andrew Saxon, MD.

Department news | June 30, 2021

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. This year, the award was given to Tracy Simpson, PhD.

There was a terrific nomination packet submitted on Dr. Simpson’s behalf from a large group of colleagues and mentees which detailed a remarkable generosity and investment in her mentees. The selection committee was very impressed with Dr. Simpson’s track record of mentoring a diverse group of faculty and trainees. Her commitment to developing the next generation of researchers in alcohol use disorders, PTSD and Veterans’ mental health was very clear. An excerpt from her nomination packet states, “She is one of those rare mentors who, behind closed doors and when no credit can be given, consistently puts in the extra effort to support the growth and success of her mentees. I can say without hesitation that even among mentor superstars, Dr. Simpson is truly exceptional.” Dr. Simpson has previously received the Exceptional Psychology Mentorship/Leadership Award by the VA Puget Sound Health Care System and the Outstanding Mentor Award by the American Psychological Association.

Past recipients of the award include Raphe Bernier, PhD, Mary Larimer, PhD, Kathleen Myers, PhD, Christine Lee, PhD, and Patricia Areán, PhD. We also congratulate this year’s other nominees Michele Bedard-Gilligan, PhD and John Fortney, PhD.

Department news | June 30, 2021

The Exceptional Staff Award 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. This year’s Exceptional Staff Award went to Debra Morison, Senior Project Manager and Practice Coach for the AIMS Center, and Michele Roe, Process Improvement Analyst and Education Project Manager. The below excerpts from their respective nomination packets give a hint at their exceptional service.

“Debra is one of the most humble and collaborative people I’ve had the privilege to work with over the course of my career. She never seeks the spotlight, is the quickest person to give credit to her collaborators, and always look for the ways she can continue to learn and grow rather than resting on her considerable expertise. I know I can count on Debra to bring her ‘A-game’ to every meeting, every email, every conversation. She never cuts corners or takes the easy path.”

“Michele’s work is notable for accuracy, flexibility, creativity, adaptability and efficiency. She produces real results quickly, and her quality of work improved the success of every project I have seen her work on. She is always open to suggestions and is an effective team member even when it involves a diverse group of individuals (residents, faculty, students, internal and external to UW), but also works well independently. She has a knack for proposing solutions to problems and rising to every occasion.”

Department news | June 30, 2021

New in 2021 is the Exceptional Team Award, born from the recognition that we have an incredible number of effective teams that support our work and that no one person acts in isolation. The winner of this inaugural award is the Department Finance Team consisting of Binyam Abraham, Marlene Parafina, Linda Sandhop and Beth Kunze-Sieps. The Finance Team is led by Nadia Khan, Associate Director of Financial Services. The team works across our department and in all our mission areas (education, clinical and research) and processes over 100 transactions a week with an eye on delivering timely service and ensuring a high level of compliance with state and federal financial guidelines.

“In my 20 years of employment at UW, this is hands down the most talented team I’ve worked with. In the last year, they have managed to provide seamless support to the Department despite the abrupt transition to remote work and the loss of a key fiscal position due to layoffs. Most importantly, they consistently operate with the Department’s values in mind (Diversity, Collaboration, Continuous Learning and Mentorship, Integrity and Accountability).”