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Awards and Honors
AWARD ARCHIVE - 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006
Penn Honors - 2009
The Albert Stunkard Faculty Recognition Award is given annually to faculty members who are outstanding teachers and mentors. The graduating resident class selects award winners who have significantly influenced their education and training. Named for Albert J. Stunkard, MD, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and former Chair of the Department, this award recognizes Dr. Stunkard's enormous contribution to the education, training, and support of Department housestaff. Claudia Baldassano, MD, Chang-Gyu Hahn, MD, PhD, Alexandra McLean, MD, John P. O'Reardon, MD, and David Weiss, MD received this honor in 2009.
Rebecca Aspden, MD was the 2009 recipient of the Medical Student Teaching Award. This award is given to a resident who has been a consistently outstanding teacher of medical students.
The 2009 PGY-3 & 4 Teaching Award was awarded to Claudia Baldassano, MD and the 2009 PGY-1 & 2 Teaching Award was awarded to Christian Kohler, MD. These awards honor those individuals whom the residents believe were the most effective teachers of the academic year and exemplary in shaping their overall education.
The Special Recognition for Service to Psychiatric Education Award was given to Michele Cepparulo, who has tirelessly contributed organization, energy, and affection to the Office of Education, in honor of her 10 years of service as Education Administrator of the Psychiatry Residency, and in honor of her formal certification this year as a Program Administrator by the Training Administrators for Graduate Medical Education (TAGME).
Taliba Foster, MD received the 2009 Elizabeth B. Weller, MD Award. This new award is given to a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow who has contributed to the improvement of psychiatric care of children, adolescents and their families through excellence in research and clinical care.
Chang-Gyu Hahn, MD, PhD was awarded the 2009 Martin P. Szuba Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching and Research. This award is presented annually to a Department faculty member with outstanding teaching abilities, ongoing clinical research, and a focus on translating research concepts into clinically useful teaching, all of which Dr. Szuba embodied in his work.
David Metzger, PhD has been named Scientific Liaison for TRI and the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Psychiatry effective June 1, 2009. Metzger assumes the liaison position to facilitate closer research and academic linkages between the University and TRI, identify collaborative research possibilities, and disseminate more broadly the research findings of both groups.
John P. O'Reardon, MD was the 2009 recipient of the Earl Bond Award. Initiated by the efforts of Dr. William Peltz, this annual award is given to a Department member who has distinguished himself/herself for teaching at the medical student, resident and/or graduate levels.
The Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Award is given by the Psychoanalytic Cluster Steering Committee to a graduating resident in recognition of his/her excellence in providing psychodynamic psychotherapy. Ben Pumphrey, MD and Sarah Mathews, MD were the 2009 recipients.
Steven Siegel, MD, PhD became the Associate Director of the Masters in Translational Research by the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics/Clinical & Translational Science Awards. In this role, he will be responsible for the design and implementation of a new Therapeutics Development Track, focused on how to effectively move technology from academia into practice.
The Special Chairman's Award honors special achievements by Penn faculty members, particularly in the development of new and innovative educational programs, or special academic or educational contributions to the Department. The recipient for 2009 is Elizabeth B. Weller, MD.
Regional, National & International Honors - 2009
Siobhan Banks, PhD is the Vice-Chair of the Sleep Deprivation Section of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Jacques P. Barber, PhD has been appointed a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS), in recognition of "sustained and outstanding distinguished contributions to psychological science."
Aaron T. Beck, MD has been selected to receive the Jonathan E. Rhoads Commemorative Medal for his pioneering work in cognitive behavioral therapy by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Dr. Beck is the first psychiatrist to be awarded this medal.
Tami Benton, MD has been elected as Councilor at Large for the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry to serve a three-year term. She has also been appointed as Co-Chair of the recruitment committee for the Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training to serve a three-year term.
Wade Berrettini, MD, PhD has been selected by NARSAD, the leading charity for research on mental health disorders, to receive its prestigious Distinguished Investigator Award. The one-year grant will provide Dr. Berrettini with $100,000 to advance his research on the genetic foundations of bipolar disorder.
Chaya Bhuvaneswaran, MD has been selected as a 2009 ACNP Travel Award for Minorities Travel Awardee from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. This award, which supports attendance at the ACNP Annual Meeting, is given to individuals who have, through their research, teaching, or clinical activities, demonstrated professional and scientific interest in the field of neuropsychopharmacology.
Joshua A. Blume, MD has been selected by the American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education (APIRE) to participate in the APIRE/Janssen Resident Psychiatric Research Scholars program. This one-year fellowship will provide special mentoring and career enrichment programs, along with a $2,500 grant to assist in research career development.
Michele Cepparulo, Education Administrator for the Department of Psychiatry, passed the examination for the National Board of Certification for Training Administrators of Graduate Medical Education. Michele is only the second Residency Administrator at UPHS to receive certification.
Anna Rose Childress, PhD was named President-Elect of The College on Problems of Drug Dependence.
PENN Psychiatry residents recently competed in MindGames, a jeopardy like competition that pits residency programs against each other for the coveted title of national champions. The residents representing PENN this year include Ryan Connolly, MD, Regina Szucs, MD and Josh Blume, MD. They were selected as one of the final 3 programs to compete at the annual APA meeting in San Francisco this year, receiving a $5,000 grant from the APA. Click here to visit the Residency Training Program site for additional details.
James C. Coyne, PhD was appointed External Scientific Advisor to the European Commission's program "Optimised Suicide Prevention Programs and Their Implementation in Europe", a 14-nation project coordinated by Leipzig University.
Dwight L. Evans, MD received the 2009 William C. Menninger Memorial Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Science of Mental Health from the American College of Physicians at its Annual Meeting in April 2009 in Philadelphia. The award was established in 1967 and was named for Dr. Menninger who was a Governor, Regent, and the first President of the College. Dr. Evans also delivered the William C. Menninger Memorial Award Lecture. Albert J. Stunkard, MD and Aaron T. Beck, MD from the Department of Psychiatry are past recipients of this award.
The American College of Psychiatrists has selected Dwight L. Evans, MD as the 44th President of the organization for 2009-2010. As President, he will oversee the College's governance and chair its Annual Meeting "Translating Scientific Advances into Psychiatric Practice", in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, February 24-28, 2010.
Edna B. Foa, PhD been selected to receive the Career/Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies for her "substantial and enduring impact on the field and on the well-being of patients". The Career/Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Dr. Foa at the ABCT convention in New York in November.
Melissa DeJesus Quinn, MD & Benjamin Pumphrey, MD received the 2009 Dr. Henry P. and M. Page Durkee Laughlin Foundation Award. This award is given to a resident upon recommendation of the program in recognition of his/her outstanding professional achievement, dedication and scholarship during the residency.
Michael Kowitt, PhD, ABPP received the Teacher of the Year Award from the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia for the year 2008-2009.
David S. Mandell, ScD was named Associate Director of the new Center for Autism Research (CAR). The CAR is a center of emphasis at the Joseph Stokes Jr. Research Institute at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and is a collaboration between CHOP and the University of Pennsylvania.
Donovan Maust, MD has been selected as a NIMH Outstanding Resident Awardee 2009. This award is intended to honor psychiatric residents with outstanding academic potential that have entered their PGY-III level by December 2009.
At the 2009 Annual Colloquium of Scholars Meeting of the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society, Angeliki Pesiridou, MD and Sasha Waring Penn, MS-IV won first prize for their poster on: "Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in the treatment of depression: effectiveness in the real world of clinical practicepost FDA approval". In addition Yan Xuan Penn MS-IV won third prize for his poster entitled: "Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) in the maintenance treatment of major depression: long term outcomes".
R. Arlen Price, PhD will serve as a member of the Kidney, Nutrition, Obesity and-Diabetes Study Section, Center for Scientific Review for the term beginning July 1, 2009. Members are selected on the basis of their demonstrated competence and achievement in their scientific discipline as evidenced by the quality of research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals, and other significant scientific activities, achievements and honors.
Matt Prowler, MD received a scholarship from the Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome Information Service (NMSIS) Promising New Investigators competition, for a paper entitled "Treatment of catatonia with methylphenidate in an elderly patient with depression", to be published in Psychosomatics.
David B. Sarwer, PhD was named Associate Editor of the journal Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases.
Robert A. Schnoll, PhD will serve as Co-Chair of the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. He has also been appointed to the Risk, Prevention and Intervention for Addictions Study Section of the NIH.
Richard F. Summers, MD was honored as the Teacher of the Year by the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia in May 2008. He currently serves as Program Chair for the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatry Residency Training. He was appointed a Member of the Clinical Skills Assessment Curriculum Task Force of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and a Member of the Psychotherapy Standards Committee of The Psychoanalytic Consortium.
Chris Tjoa, MD, a resident in the Department of Psychiatry, was awarded an APA/SAMHSA Minority Fellowship. The Minority Fellowships Program (MFP) endeavors to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in mental health and substance abuse care by providing specialized training to psychiatry residents and medical students interested in serving minority communities.
Regional Recognition - 2009
A number of Department of Psychiatry physicans were recognized by Philadelphia Magazine as "Top Doctors" in the region, as reported in the May 2008 issue:
Kyle M. Kampman, MD (Addiction Psychiatry)
Anthony L. Rostain, MD and Elizabeth B. Weller, MD (Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)
Joel E. Streim, MD (Geriatric Psychiatry)
Michael E. Thase, MD (Psychiatry)
In addition, the Charles O’Brien Center for Addiction Treatment was cited as one of the places “to get the best care” for addiction treatment.
A number of Department of Psychiatry physicians were recognized in Castle Connolly's 2008 edition of "America's Top Doctors". According to Castle Connolly, physicians are selected through "peer nomination, extensive research and careful review and screening by [a] doctor-directed research team." The Department faculty recognized in 2008 include: Edward Brodkin, MD, Kyle M. Kampman, MD, Anthony L. Rostain, MD, Joel E. Streim, MD, Michael E. Thase, MD and Elizabeth B. Weller, MD.