Faculty Recognition
FACULTY AWARDS AND HONORS
Kevin King, a Professor of Child Clinical Psychology, was appointed as Chair of the Addiction Risks and Mechanisms Study Section at NIH https://public.csr.nih.gov/StudySections/DABP/BP/ARM. This study section focuses on the nature, etiology, and progression in humans. His term will run for two years, through 2026.
At the recent 46th meeting of the American Society of Primatologists (ASP), on September 8-11, Randy Kyes was awarded the 2024 ASP Distinguished Primatologists Award. The Distinguished Primatologist Award recognizes a primatologist who has had an outstanding career and has made significant contributions to the field. It is the highest honor that the Society bestows. Randy joins 27 other exceptional primatologists who have won this award since 1989. He also is now the third University of Washington scientist to receive the honor.
Adjunct Professor of Psychology, Kate Comtois, is among the 15 professors elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences. https://www.washington.edu/news/2024/08/01/wsas-2024/?utm_source=UW_News
Ariel Rokem was awarded the Organization for Human Brain Mapping 2024 Education in Neuroimaging Award at the annual meeting of the organization. The award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to education and training in the field of neuroimaging. https://www.humanbrainmapping.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3643
Angela Fang received a 5-year R01 award from the National Institutes of Health. The award title: Contributions of Self-Focused Attention to Early Warning Indicators of CBT Non-Response. Brief description: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the most effective psychological treatment for anxiety and obsessive compulsive related disorders, yet approximately half of patients with these disorders who receive CBT fail to achieve sustained clinical remission. No reliable biomarker of CBT non-response exists. This study will determine whether early changes in a specific biomarker, self-focused attention, will represent a sensitive predictor and potential mechanism of CBT non-response.
Sama Ahmed received a UW Royalty Research Fund award titled: Uncovering Rules for Robustness in Biological Neural Networks. Brains are resilient to some, but not all, forms of damage. Uncovering the rules for such robustness is critical for deciphering how brain circuits maintain functionality in the face of injury and aging. Our preliminary data show that removing most neurons minimally alters network dynamics—the network is ‘robust’ to their removal. However, removing a handful of key neurons significantly disrupts network dynamics—the network is ‘fragile’ to their removal. This project aims to determine whether the particular connectivity pattern of a given neuron can predict whether the network will be robust or fragile to its removal.
Cynthia Levine received an award from the Center for Institutional Courage for her work titled: Institutional Norms about Prioritizing Students’ Needs Legitimize Contrapower Harassment. Women college/university faculty members are more likely than men to experience contrapower harassment, which is harassment from people with less formal power (e.g., students) against people with more formal power (e.g., professors). Previous research has focused on the characteristics of students that drive these disparities, but the proposed research uses an institutional betrayal framework to study institutions’ role. An experiment with a student sample and a survey of college/university professors will test whether colleges’/universities’ messages that faculty members should prioritize students’ needs (e.g., proactively check in, be available when needed) increase contrapower harassment against women and exacerbate its negative effects.
Cheryl Kaiser received a 3-year award from the Templeton Foundation for her research titled: Does Living a Religiously Inspired Life Reduce Affective Polarization Through Instilling Virtues of Compassion and Intellectual Humility. Affective polarization, animosity towards opposing political parties, is at unprecedented levels. As a result, these partisan divides harm social cohesion and prevent people from seeing our common humanity and coming together as family, neighbors, friends, and a nation with a shared purpose. This project integrates the science of character virtues and religion to investigate whether living a life characterized by religion can increase intellectual humility and compassion to decrease affective polarization and encourage cross-party prosocial behavior. We examine these questions with ecological momentary assessment, experimental, and quasi-experimental approaches among multiple religious groups. This project is needed to identify approaches that can increase tolerance and civility in our politically divided nation and promote social cohesion and human flourishing.
FACULTY PUBLICATIONS
Ariel Rokem published an article titled "COVID-19 lockdown effects on adolescent brain structure suggest accelerated maturation that is more pronounced in females than in males" in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, together with Neva Corrigan and Pat Kuhl from the UW Institute for Learning and Brain Science. The article received news coverage in The New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/09/health/teen-brains-pandemic-girls.html), The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/sep/09/covid-lockdowns-prematurely-aged-girls-brains-more-than-boys-study-finds), Newsweek (https://www.newsweek.com/covid-lockdowns-teenage-brain-aging-neuroscience-1950990), CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/09/health/pandemic-teen-brain-aging-study-wellness/index.html), NPR (https://www.npr.org/2024/09/09/nx-s1-5103943/the-pandemic-may-have-sped-up-brain-development-for-adolescents-research-shows),KUOW (https://www.kuow.org/stories/new-study-finds-pandemic-lockdowns-prematurely-age), US News (https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2024-09-10/pandemic-isolation-may-have-caused-rapid-brain-aging-in-teen-girls), The Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/09/covid-lockdown-sped-up-ageing-in-teenage-brains-study-finds/), and the Seattle Times (https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/mental-health/uw-study-shows-how-pandemic-affected-teen-boys-and-girls-differently/).
Cynthia Levine and Rachel Song published a paper titled "Gentrification creates social class disparities in belonging" in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Priscilla Lui is one of the authors on 4 upcoming publications, "A daily diary study on associations between school-based ethnic discrimination and school engagement" in Social Psychology of Education; "Conformity drinking motives, college alcohol beliefs, and drinking behaviors among college students: Examining the protective role of prosocial behaviors" in the Journal of Adult Development; "A replication and extension of the factor structure of the Masculine Drinking Norms Measure (MDNM) and associations with drinking behaviors in a multisite sample of college men" in Psychology of Men & Masculinities; and "Motives to play drinking games and their relevance to drinking game behaviors and consequences in a national sample of university students in the United States" in Psychology and Health.
Chantel Prat sold a new book! Learning, Knowing, Growing. Professor at the University of Washington and author of THE NEUROSCIENCE OF YOU Chantel Prat’s LEARNING, KNOWING, GROWING, which rejects the “one-size-fits-all” view of learningand replaces it with a new paradigm defined by personalized neuroscience to help diverse learners understand their brains, overcome obstacles, and maximize their potential at every age to Emily Graff at Simon Element at auction.
IN THE NEWS
Nicole McNichols is quoted in this Seattle Times article about a Seattle play that addresses loneliness and imaginary friends. https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/in-seattle-play-imaginary-friends-and-loneliness-take-center-stage
Jonathan Bricker, Affiliate Professor in Psychology, is quoted in this New York Times article on the fear of flying. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/16/travel/fear-of-flying-planes-tips.
Lucía Magis Weinberg announces plans to review phone bans in schools, as a part of her study, in this Kitsap Sun article. https://www.kitsapsun.com/story/news/2024/10/09/kitsap-county-schools-enact-phone-bans
Professor Emeritus, David Barash, is quoted in this Vox.com article titled Why absolutely everyone is obsessed with Moo Deng (And wait until you hear about Pesto the penguin.) https://www.vox.com/science/376476/moo-deng-pesto-nibi-viral-animals
Andrea Stocco’s work, in diagnosing memory health issues, is one of three projects, funded by the Population Health Initiative, mentioned in this UW News article. You can read more about the study and the new app to help patients test their memory, here: https://www.washington.edu/news/2024/09/19/over-8-years-uw-population-health-initiative
Ariel Rokem published 10 simple rules for scientific code review in this PLOS Computational Biology journal. https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012375 The Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology discusses it in this CSDE News story here: https://csde.washington.edu/news-events/rokem-publishes-10-simple-rules-for-scientific-code-review/
Lucía Magis-Weinberg is quoted in this King5 News article about the impacts of phone bans in schools. https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/researchers-university-of-washington-impacts-cellphone-bans-schools/
Elon Musk recently declared on X that Blindsight, a cortical implant to restore vision, would have low resolution at first “but may ultimately exceed normal human vision.” Ione Fine and Geoffrey Boynton recently co-authored a study, published July 29 in Scientific Reports. In it the researchers created a computational model that simulates the experience of a wide range of human cortical studies, including an extremely high-resolution implant like Elon Musk’s Blindsight. Fine said Musk’s projection for the latest Neuralink project rests on the flawed premise that implanting millions of tiny electrodes into the visual cortex, the region of the brain that processes information received from the eye, will result in high-resolution vision. https://www.washington.edu/news/2024/07/29/uw-model-shows-cortical-implants-like-elon-musks-blindsight-unlikely-to-exceed-normal-human-vision/
Ariel Starr explains the health benefits of reading, in this Right As Rain article. https://rightasrain.uwmedicine.org/life/leisure/reading-health-benefits
Loma Pendergraft discusses what happens to crows’ brains when they use tools, in this KUOW article. https://www.kuow.org/stories/seattle-crows-are-so-smart-they-re-challenging-what-we-know-about-evolution
Season Two of "That Implementation Science Podcast" has just been released! Co-hosted by Kevin M. King and Mike Pullmann, Ph.D., That Implementation Science Podcast discusses everything related to Implementation Science, and many things not. Drs. Pullmann and King interview guests, review new research, and implement solutions to things that aren’t even problems yet. With over 7,000 downloads to date, the podcast features interviews luminaries in the field including David Chambers, Bryan Weiner, Cara Lewis, Aaron Lyon, and UW Psychology's own Shannon Dorsey. That Implementation Science Podcast can be found through any major podcast application, or directly at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/that-implementation-science-podcast/id1692120672, or https://thatimplementationsciencepodcast.podbean.com/
POST-DOC & RESEARCH SCIENTIST HONORS, AWARDS, NEWS
Gregg Muragishi, postdoctoral scholar with Sapna Cheryan’s lab, discussed new research on microinclusions with UW News. UW News has posted a Q&A with Gregg Muragishi about his new research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, which shows how microinclusions, brief instances of positive treatment, especially from members of the dominant group, help women feel valued at work.
Gregg Muragishi, postdoctoral scholar with Sapna Cheryan’s lab, received the NSF Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for his research titled: Examining the Role of Defaults in Faculty Recruitment. Defaults are the default beliefs of which attributes are rewarded, valued, and deemed important or necessary in a setting. This two-year grant will focus on defaults and examine whether the overemphasis on certain defaults (e.g., independence, competitiveness) in faculty job ads impacts applicants' motivations in pursuing those positions.