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

The recipient of this year’s award is Patricia Areán, PhD. Dr. Areán is a collaborative scholar who embodies a team science approach and who was nominated by mentees both within and outside the department. An excerpt from her nomination packet states, “Dr. Areán approaches relationships with a collaborative and curious spirit, and blends personalism with professionalism. She is informally regarded as a ‘safe’ person whom other trainees and faculty members approach with challenging situations, be it navigating mentorship or supervisory relationships, or proactively discussing concerns with institutional climate and culture. She has an open-door policy that many junior and mid-career faculty, particularly women, have benefited from.”

Dr. Areán also received the American Psychological Association’s prestigious Committee on Aging (CONA) Award. CONA works toward the optimal development of older adults, expanded scientific understanding of adult development and aging, and the delivery of appropriate psychological services to older persons. According to Dr. Haley, Chair of the selection committee, Dr. Areán’s heartfelt nomination letters gave them little doubt that Dr. Areán was more than worthy of receiving this year’s award.