Stith is Executive Lead Psychologist for Science at APA, where she leads programs and initiatives to advance and elevate psychological science. This work helps the field stay up to date with advanced scientific methods, elevates the role of psychological science in addressing complex societal challenges, engages scientists in dialogue about emerging topics, and advances the integration of psychological science into policy.
Prior to joining APA, Stith served as director of the Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences (BBCSS) at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine after providing oversight of projects within BBCSS for two years as the associate director. Activities and reports within BBCSS brought the latest research on how people think, learn, make decisions, and experience the world to address public policy questions.
Before those roles, she directed numerous studies and other convening activities at the National Academies, within BBCSS, and the Health and Medicine Division. Notable reports include Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life; Psychosocial Interventions for Mental and Substance Use Disorders: A Framework for Establishing Evidence-Based Standards; and Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research. She also served as the staff officer for reports about the nursing workforce, family planning, preterm birth, diversity in the health care workforce, and racial and ethnic disparities in health care.
Stith is a clinical psychologist and received her PhD from the University of Vermont. She completed a clinical internship at Children’s Memorial Hospital (now Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago) and postdoctoral fellowships in adolescent medicine and pediatric psychology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York. She then served as the James Marshall Public Policy Fellow, sponsored by the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.