Recipients of the APA Meritorious
Research Service Commendation
The Meritorious Research Service Commendation is now in its second
year. This award, with its uncharacteristically long name, was developed
by the Board of Scientific Affairs (BSA) to recognize those unsung
but outstanding psychologists in the federal government who advance
the discipline by their programmatic activities – typically
by fostering the research of others. BSA members developed this
commendation because they felt there needed to be a clear mechanism
for highlighting the important contributions to the discipline that
these psychologists make by identifying funding streams, developing
new directions, and fostering research opportunities.
Psychologists in federal funding agencies can play a crucial role
in the development of behavioral science -- in running the programs
that fund psychological scientists, in working with the science
community to identify new opportunities and directions and to turn
these into programs and funding opportunities, in serving as a catalyst
for promoting cutting edge work, and in shepherding behavioral research
within their institutions.
The recipients for 2003, selected from nominations solicited through
PSA, the Monitor and Division newsletters and listservs, are:
Steven J. Breckler (National Science Foundation—NSF)
Breckler is Program Director for Social Psychology at the National
Science Foundation. He is being honored for his role in improving
the stature of psychology at the National Science Foundation, increasing
resources and respect for the field, and facilitating the development
of new directions within the field.
“The job I do is not the kind for which research scientists
are trained, so it is very gratifying to be recognized for doing
a job that does not really fit the usual mold.” Breckler stated.
For the next few years, Breckler plans to devote most of his attention
to what he calls, “NSF-wide priority areas,” which cover
the Science of Learning Centers and Human and Social Dynamics. One
of his goals is to better connect Social Psychology with other fields
of science.
Edgar M. Johnson (Army Research Institute--ARI)
Johnson recently retired from serving as the Director of the U.S.
Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI)
and Chief Psychologist of the U.S. Army. He is being recognized
for his leadership within ARI and for developing the Consortium
Research Fellows Program, which provides professional development
and financial support to graduate students who are completing their
degrees.
Peter G. Kaufmann (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute--NHLBI)
Kaufmann is Chief of the Behavioral Medicine Branch of the NHLBI.
He is being recognized for increasing the visibility of health psychology
and behavioral medicine research at NHLBI, in particular, and at
NIH, in general.
Lisa S. Onken (National Institute of Drug Abuse--NIDA)
Onken is Associate Director for Behavioral Treatment Research and
Chief of the Behavioral Treatment Development Branch at NIDA. She
is being recognized for developing NIDA’s behavioral therapies
development research program and for her efforts in bridging basic
and clinical research findings.
“I am honored to be recognized by the APA for developing
NIDA's Behavioral Therapies Development Program and for my efforts
to bridge basic and clinical research,” said Onken. “Over
the past four decades, behavioral treatments have been developed
that have had great impact upon many human problems. With strategic
research aimed at not only developing better behavioral treatments,
but also aimed at understanding how and why treatments work and
how they can be transported and adapted to community settings, there
is enormous potential for behavioral treatments to impact positively
on the public health. I plan to continue to promote a comprehensive
program of behavioral treatment research that fosters creativity
and innovation and demands scientific rigor, but does not lose sight
of its ultimate goal: to ease human suffering.”
Delores Parron (National Institutes of Health--NIH)
Parron is Scientific Advisor for Capacity Development in the Office
of the Director of the National Institutes of Health. Some of her
previous positions included Associate Director for Special Populations
at the National Institute of Mental Health and Associate Director
of the Division of Mental Health and Behavioral Medicine at the
Institute of Medicine. She is being cited for her knowledge, research
strategies, and career-long dedication to the development of new
projects addressing ethnic minority groups and to efforts to develop
funding opportunities for ethnic minority researchers.
“One of the reasons I stayed at NIMH for seventeen years
was the pleasure of watching so many smart, creative people move
along their chosen career path, producing superb work, gaining their
academic promotions, receiving recognition for advancing the discipline
of Psychology and helping others to understand the human condition
a bit better,” Parron stated. “This Commendation is,
for me, ‘icing on the cake’.”
The recipients of the 2003 citations will be honored at a luncheon
at the Spring 2004 meeting of BSA.
House Defeats Attempt to De-Fund Selected NIH
Grants
by Patricia Kobor, Public Policy Office
On July 10, 2003, during debate on the appropriations bill to fund
the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education,
the House of Representatives narrowly defeated an amendment offered
by Rep. Patrick Toomey (R-PA) to defund five NIH grants on sexual
behavior. The vote was 210-212.
APA and other behavioral science and public health organizations
worked tirelessly to get out information about the amendment and
persuade House members to vote no. The APA Public Policy Office
sent out two electronic action alerts to let psychologists know
about the dangerous amendment, and many responded by emailing or
calling their member of Congress.
Appropriations LHHS Subcommittee Chairman Ralph Regula (R-OH),
Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Bill Young (R-FL), Rep. Randy
Cunningham (R-CA) and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) spoke against the
amendment on the House floor. Ranking minority member David Obey
(D-WI) and APA member Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) both eloquently defended
the funded research and the peer review process.
PPO Director of Science Policy Geoff Mumford wrote in a message
to psychologists, “It was wonderful to see so many of you
take action on this issue and we hope this victory will stimulate
you to remain active in the advocacy process when we put out a call
for help next time.”
Information about the issue, including summaries of the targeted
grants and how members of Congress voted, are on the APA Public
Policy Office web site at http://www.apa.org/ppo.
Back
to September/October homepage |
