Alison Cerezo, PhD, has been appointed chief science officer at mpathic, after serving as senior vice president of research and health equity. Cerezo studies the effects of stress and trauma on mental health and substance use, with the goal of improving clinical care in these areas. In this new role, Cerezo is leveraging AI to develop innovative mental health tools, including personalized precision dyadic care (for a parent and child, for example) and clinician support for detecting depression and suicide risk.
Gail Wyatt, PhD, a professor emeritus of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles’s (UCLA) David Geffen School of Medicine, has received the 2025 Humanitarian Award from the Association of Black Women Physicians for her lifelong work addressing women’s health disparities, trauma, and domestic violence. Wyatt is known as the first person of color licensed as a psychologist in California and the first Black woman to achieve the level of full professor at UCLA’s medical school. She also founded UCLA’s Center for Culture, Trauma, and Mental Health Disparities and Sexual Health Programs.
Douglas Sanders, PhD, a longtime psychology professor at State University of New York Orange and a mental health clinician, has received the Frank W. Masterson Distinguished Services Award from the Orange County Department of Mental Health and partner organizations Garnet Health and the Mental Health Association in Orange County. The honor recognizes his more than 2 decades of teaching and clinical work, including psychotherapy and cognitive remediation for individuals with severe mental illness. Sanders also conducts research on schizophrenia-related cognitive deficits, psychological and social impacts resulting from multiple sclerosis, and cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia and their remediation.
Adele Diamond, PhD, a professor in the University of British Columbia’s Department of Psychiatry and Canada Research Chair Tier 1 in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, has been appointed to the Order of Canada, the nation’s highest civilian honor. A cofounder of the field of developmental cognitive neuroscience and fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Diamond has transformed understanding of early cognitive development and the prefrontal cortex, influencing social policy and improving medical and educational practices worldwide.
Ana Daugherty, PhD, has been named director of the Institute of Gerontology at Wayne State University in Detroit. A faculty member at the institute since 2018, she also holds an affiliate appointment with the Translational Neuroscience Program. She also directs the Detroit Aging Brain Study, a community-based longitudinal project that has tracked brain aging in metro Detroit for more than 23 years. As a cognitive neuroscientist, her research focuses on aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and related dementias. Her work aims to reduce disparities in late-life cognitive health.
Three psychologists were included on King Charles’s 2025 New Year Honours List, which recognizes outstanding contributions across the British Commonwealth. Rhona Flin, PhD, of Robert Gordon University and the University of Aberdeen received a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to applied research. Andrew Steptoe, PhD, of University College London, was awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services to behavioral science. Divine Charura, PhD, of York St. John University, earned a Member of the Order of the British Empire for advancing inclusion and promoting counseling and psychotherapy.
