DIVISION SPOTLIGHT

DIVISION NEWS

Div. 42 (Psychologists in Independent Practice)

One thousand people will each find a discount coupon in a fortune cookie distributed at practitioner symposia hosted by Div. 42 during APA's 1999 Annual Convention in Boston. The lucky fortune cookies publicize a line of "Practicing with Pride" products developed by the division. The products will be on view at Booth 625 beginning Thursday, Aug. 19.

The line consists of coffee cups, mousepads and tote bags all imprinted with a photo and companion inscription, "When the road of life takes a turn, a psychologist can help." Sales of the products support the division's public education marketing activities.

DIVISION AWARDS

Div. 33 (Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities)

Sharon Ramey, PhD, president of Div. 33, was honored with the annual research award from the American Association for Mental Retardation, at its May 1999 conference, for her distinguished research contributions to the field of mental retardation in treatment and prevention.

Div. 40 (Clinical Neuropsychology)

The awards committee of Div. 40 has chosen Mark W. Bondi, PhD, as the winner of the 1999 Robert A. and Phyllis Levitt Early Career Award.

Bondi's longitudinal research is among the first to demonstrate that older adults with familial or genetic risk factors for developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) perform worse on measures of learning and memory. These performance decrements appear to be effective in detecting AD in a preclinical phase and may provide a cognitive marker for the subsequent development of the disease during an ensuing two- to three-year period. The ability to identify independently functioning older adults who are nevertheless in a pre-clinical phase of AD has assumed great importance for both early diagnosis and the use of new antidementia pharmacological interventions applied in the early stages of the disease.

In his latest line of research, Bondi hopes to combine neuropsychological, magnetic resonance (MR) morphometric, cognitive event-related potentials (ERPs) and genetic susceptibility markers in order to examine the pattern of impaired brain structures and processes associated with pre-clinical AD. He plans to expand this line of work to the elderly, who represent the fastest growing high-risk segment of the population.

In addition to his role as a cutting-edge researcher, Bondi supports a thriving clinical practice in neuropsychology. He has been a clinical neuropsychologist in the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) psychiatry department's private practice plan since 1993, and he recently obtained the Diplomate in Clinical Neuropsycholo-gy under the auspices of the American Board of Professional Psychology.

Bondi maintains an active role in teaching, clinical training and professional organizational activities. He also serves on numerous program committees for each of the three major organizations in the field of neuropsychology: APA's Div. 40, the International Neuropsychological Society and the National Academy of Neuropsychology. He is an ad hoc reviewer on more than a dozen journals in his field.

Bondi, who received his doctoral degree in 1991 from the University of Arizona, is a staff clinical psychologist with the VA Medical Center and assistant professor of psychiatry at UCSD.

The awards committee of Div. 40 established the APF Robert A. and Phyllis Levitt Early Career Award in 1995, and continues to select the winner each year. It seeks to encourage promising careers in neuropsychology and carries a $1,000 award and an invitation to present a paper at APA's Annual Convention.

--M. Waters



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