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.