The purpose of the FABBS Doctoral Dissertation Research Excellence Awards is to acknowledge and honor graduate student scientists who have conducted doctoral dissertation research of superior scientific quality and broader societal impact. The opportunity to nominate students for these awards is offered to our Departmental and Division Affiliates.

Doctoral Dissertation Research Excellence Awards

2020-2021 Awardees

• Katherine Lopez, Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
  “Cognitive, personality, and neural signatures of impulsivity in childhood suicide: An Adolescent, Brain, and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study“
• Colleen Frank, University of Michigan, Department of Psychology
  “The Role of Working Memory for Emotion in Affective Forecasting”
• Martin De Vita, Syracuse University, Department of Psychology
  “The effects of cannabidiol and analgesic expectancies on experimental pain reactivity in healthy adults: A balanced placebo design trial”
• Celine Cammarata, Cornell University, Department of Human Development
  “The role of acetylcholine in flexible cognition across age and species”

2019-2020 Awardees

• Kaitlin Cassady, University of Michigan, Department of Psychology
  “Age-related neural dedifferentiation in the sensorimotor system and its behavioral consequences“
• Jeremy Harper, University of Minnesota, Department of Psychology
  “The effect of alcohol use on brain networks of cognitive control and salience attribution in young adulthood: causal inferences from a cotwin control study“
• Stephanie Koebele, Arizona State University, Department of Psychology
  “Hysterectomy and Cognition: A Novel Preclinical Assessment of the Longitudinal Cognitive Effects Resulting from Gynecological Surgery in Adulthood“
• Jacob Westerberg, Vanderbilt University, Department of Psychology
  “Bridging the Gap Between Cognitive Signals from Single Neurons to EEG“
• Nur Hani Zainal, The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Psychology
  “A Randomized Controlled Trial of a 14-Day Mindfulness Ecological Momentary Intervention for Generalized Anxiety Disorder“
  

2018-2019 Awardees

• Charles Lynch, Georgetown University, Department of Psychology
  “Precision Mapping and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Cortical Hubs in Individuals”
• William E. Pelham, III, Arizona State University, Department of Psychology
  “Depression in Mothers and Behavior Problems in Children: From Association to Causation”
• Sophia Vinci-Booher, Indiana University, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
  “Brain Development from Sensorimotor Experiences: Handwriting and Letter Perception”
• Michelle Zaso, Syracuse University, Department of Psychology
  “Interplay of perceived friend environments with genetics on trajectories of alcohol use across adolescence”

2017-2018 Awardees

• Nick Jacobson, The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Psychology and Psychiatry
  “Differences in Neural Activation in Anxiety and Depressive Disorders: An fMRI Meta-Analysis“
• Alaina Pearce, PhD, Georgetown University, Department of Psychology
  “Neurocognitive Deficits in Pediatric Obesity“
• Joseph Vitriol, PhD, University of Minnesota, Department of Psychology
  “The (In)Egalitarian Self: On the Motivated Rejection of Alleged Implicit Racial Bias“