Newsletter Article

Faculty in the News

Since the last newsletter, members of our faculty have been all over the news - it's a great accomplishment and we are very proud of their work. If you'd like to see a full list of all the times faculty has been in the paper, on the radio, in magazines or on television, please follow this link. It is updated weekly throughout out year.

Below is a recap of the professional honors and grants received by faculty since June.

Andrea Stocco & Chantel Prat

Andrea StoccoChantel PratAndrea Stocco (PI) and Chantel Prat (co-PI) in collaboration with Rajesh Rao (co-PI) from CSE were awarded a prestigious grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation for their work on human brain-to-brain interfacing. The grant, entitled "Advancing Human Brain to Brain Communication Capabilities" was funded with an endowment of $1,000,000 to be used for direct costs over 3 years. They have also been awarded a grant entitled "Training the Mind and Brain: Investigating Individual Differences in the Ability to Learn and Benefit Cognitively from Language Training" by the Office of Naval Research's Cognitive Science of Learning Program. They were awarded $510,000 total costs paid across 3 years.

Mavis Tsai, Ph.D., Department Research Scientist and Director of the Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) Specialty Clinic within Psychological Services & Training Center, has received the Washington State Psychological Association's 2014 Distinguished Psychologist Award in recognition of significant contributions to the field of psychology.

Ilene BernsteinProfessor Emeritus Ilene Bernstein was awarded the Gantt Medal from the Pavlovian Society.  This award was established by the Society following the death of W. Horsley Gantt in 1980. It is awarded to individuals who have made distinguished lifelong contributions to the fields of psychology, physiology, behavioral neuroscience, psychophysiology, mental health or medicine within the confines of Pavlovian conceptual models.

Wendy StoneCongratulations to Professor Wendy Stone, who received a new 5 year ($4 million) grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to improve services for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This project will implement and evaluate an innovative healthcare service delivery model designed to promote earlier access to specialized intervention for toddlers with ASD. Four communities across Washington State will receive specialized training in ASD screening and intervention, as well as telemedicine consultation. (for more information see https://www.facebook.com/pages/UW-READi-Lab/198594377005824). She is also the recipient a NIMH grant for A Screen-Refer-Treat (SRT) Model to Promote Earlier Access to ASD Intervention. Learn more about it here- http://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2014/new-grants-fund-cross-lifespan-services-research-for-autism-spectrum-disorder.shtml

Corey FaganCongratulations to Corey Fagan - she was named 1 of 10 new members to the Presidential Entrepreneurial Faculty Fellows (a two-year program designed to spark more entrepreneurial activity at the university). This honor is in recognition of her work with Jon Hauser to create the Owl Outcomes mental health tracking system (http://owloutcomes.com/index.html).  The Owl Outcomes system was considered a highly valued example of what faculty entrepreneurship can bring to society. Learn more here - http://www.geekwire.com/2014/tech-moves-julep-nabs-blue-nile-operations-whiz-salesforce-com-hires-cfo-etc/

Congratulations to Professor Lynn Fainsilber Katz Lynn Fainsilber Katz and former UW professor Bob McMahon, who received a new 3-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to develop a combined emotion-coaching/parent training parenting program for treating oppositional defiant disorder in 3-7 year old children who also have limited prosocial emotions (e.g., lack of guilt and empathy, callous use of others). The combined intervention will be tested in a community mental health center setting to establish the feasibility, treatment fidelity, and participant satisfaction of the new intervention. Co-investigators include Shannon Dorsey, Sue Kerns and Mike Pullmann. 

Congratulations to Jaime Olavarria Jaime Olavarria for his award from the Office of Global affairs to recognizing the importance of his international work and efforts. This award will fund “A Changing Public and Mental Health Care System 2014”  Exploration Seminar in Chile. The program was offered in early fall 2014.