The mission of the Psychology Internship Program’s Diversity Advancement Committee (DAC) is to promote the cultural diversity training during the Psychology Resident year. The DAC sponsors the annual Shigetomi Memorial Lecture in honor of Carol Shigetomi, a former Psychology Resident from the class of 1982-1983. Carol tragically died during a hiking accident in Oregon shortly after completing her internship. The Shigetomi Memorial Lecture is supported by a donation from the Shigetomi family in her honor.

Kym Ahrens, MD, MPH, a pediatrician, adolescent medicine physician/researcher, and Associate Professor at UW and Seattle Children’s, and a former graduate of our department’s T-32 training program in Primary Care Psychiatry presented this year’s Shigetomi Memorial Lecture on March 1. Dr. Ahrens spoke on Using Theory-Based, Community-Engaged Mixed Methods Research to Improve Reproductive Health and Other Outcomes for Adolescents in Foster Care. Her research is focused on using theory-based, community-engaged research mixed methods research to understand risk and resilience factors and develop intervention approaches for youth exposed to early adversity, including and especially youth in the foster system. She was joined by Ben Packard, MSW, Mental Health Therapist, Seattle Children’s and Raquel Granath, an advocate for youth in the foster care system, for a panel discussion.