Awards and Honors 2015

Click on the links below to read about previous awards. For the most recent award announcements, subscribe to our monthly eNewsletter, the Penn Psychiatry Perspective.

Teaching Awards

Department of Psychiatry Honors

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, former Chair of the Department, this award recognizes Dr. Stunkard’s enormous contribution to the education, training, and support of Department housestaff. Henry R. Bleier, MD, Scott A. Campbell, MD, Claudia F. Baldassano, MD, Juliette Galbraith, MD, and Sarah B. Mathews, MD received this honor in 2015.

Sarah B. Mathews, MD received the 2015 PGY-3 & 4 Teaching Award and Henry R. Bleier, MD received the 2015 PGY-1 & 2 Teaching Award. 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.Steven J. Siegel, MD, PhD was awarded the 2015 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.Sydney E. Pulver, MD received the 2015 Annual Award for Clinical Faculty. This award, funded by a clinical faculty member, is given to a volunteer clinical faculty member who has demonstrated long-term loyalty to the Department and excellence in teaching and/or supervising.

Newell Fischer, MD and Ruth S. Fischer, MD were the recipients of the 2015 Earl Bond Award. Initiated by the efforts of Dr. William Peltz, this annual award is given to Department members who have distinguished themselves for teaching at the medical student, resident, and/or graduate levels.

Katharine Baratz Dalke, MD and Yu-Heng Guo, MD received the 2015 Dr. Henry P. and M. Page Durkee Laughlin Foundation Award. Upon the recommendation of the residency program, this award is given to residents in recognition of their professional achievement, dedication, and scholarship throughout residency training. Founded in 1964 through the generosity of Hank and Page Laughlin, the Dr. Henry P. and M. Page Durkee Laughlin Foundation is based in Frederick, Maryland. For more than thirty years, the Laughlin Foundation has honored outstanding residents in psychiatric training programs throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.

Katharine Baratz Dalke, MD, and Thomas Suberman, MD received the 2015 Kenneth D. Cohen, MD Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Award. This award is named as a tribute to the late Dr. Cohen in recognition of his outstanding teaching about psychodynamic understanding during his 54 years on the Department of Psychiatry faculty. He was a dedicated, tireless, and enthusiastic teacher who helped residents focus on the patient as a person and the essential importance of subjective experience. The prize has been endowed by the Cohen Family.

University of Pennsylvania/Perelman School of Medicine Honors

Juliette Galbraith, MD received the 2015 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching at an Affiliated Hospital from the Penn Perelman School of Medicine, along with three other recipients. This award recognizes “clinical teaching excellence and commitment to medical education by outstanding faculty members from affiliated hospitals.” Dr. Galbraith actively teaches clinical psychiatry to medical and nurse practitioner students, psychology interns, and psychiatry residents. She also lectures in several courses for the psychiatry residents and is part of the group psychotherapy training program for the residents as a certified group psychotherapist.

Henry R. Kranzler, MD received the 2015 Scott Mackler Award for Excellence in Substance Abuse Teaching from the Penn Perelman School of Medicine. This award was established in 2000 by the Center for Studies of Addiction and the Department of Psychiatry. The late Dr. Mackler was known for his excellence in teaching medical students, residents, postdoctoral fellows, nurses, and other Penn faculty in many different departments in the area of substance abuse. Dr. Kranzler’s research focuses on the genetics and pharmacological treatment of alcohol and drug dependence and common co-morbid psychiatric disorders, including personalized treatment approaches. Throughout his nearly 30-year career, teaching students, psychiatric residents, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty has been a major focus of his activities. Although initially, Dr. Kranzler spent considerable time teaching the clinical aspects of addiction, over the past two decades the focus of that effort has shifted to teaching clinical investigation in the addictions.

Stephanie Cross, MD, PhD received the 2015 Medical Student Teaching Award. This award is given to a resident who has been a consistently outstanding teacher of medical students.

Research and Career Achievement Awards

Regional, National & International Honors

David S. Mandell, ScD received the 2014 Transformative Contribution Award from the Autism Spectrum and Developmental Disorders (ASDD) Special Interest Group of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT). Dr. Mandell was honored for his “innovative and impactful work in the field of ASDD research."

Adrian Raine, PhD received an honorary degree in January 2015 from the University of York in England for his “significant contribution to society.” In summarizing his career contributions, the University cited his “prolific research into the neurobiological and biosocial causes of violent crime.” Dr. Raine is a world-renowned expert in the neurobiological causes of antisocial and violent behavior in children and adults, as well as the potential for preventing future crime and the neuro-ethical implications of this effort.

Charles P. O’Brien, MD, PhD received the 2015 Lifetime Science Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at a ceremony in Bethesda, Maryland on May 5, 2015 attended by many of his NIH and Penn colleagues, as well as by members of his family. Anna Rose Childress, PhD from the Center for Studies of Addiction in Penn’s Department of Psychiatry introduced Dr. O’Brien, followed by remarks from NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, MD. The award citation states that Dr. O’Brien received this prestigious honor for his “outstanding contributions to our understanding of the nature of addiction as a brain disorder leading to improved behavioral treatments and medications such as naltrexone for alcoholism now utilized in common practice throughout the world.”

Kenneth J. Weiss, MD, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and a noted forensic psychiatrist, was elected President of the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society (PPS). He assumed the one-year position on June 1, 2015. PPS comprises over 950 psychiatrists practicing in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Montgomery, and Delaware Counties. PPS is a chapter of the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society, a district branch of the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

Caryn Lerman, PhD received the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Outstanding Investigator Award (OIA) in June 2015. This highly competitive honor is bestowed upon a special group of influential researchers with outstanding records of productivity in cancer research. The OIA supports investigators with up to $600,000 in direct costs per year for seven years to provide funding stability. During her distinguished career, Dr. Lerman has focused on translating research in neuroscience, pharmacology, genetics, and behavioral science to develop innovative therapeutic approaches for behavior change.

Rinad S. Beidas, PhD has been selected to receive the 2015 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) President’s New Researcher Award. According to the ABCT, this award is “based upon an early program of research that reflects factors such as: consistency with the mission of ABCT; independent work published in high-impact journals; and promise of developing theoretical or practical applications that represent clear advances to the field.” The ABCT is “a multidisciplinary organization committed to the advancement of scientific approaches to the understanding and improvement of human functioning through the investigation and application of behavioral, cognitive, and other evidence-based principles to the assessment, prevention, treatment of human problems, and the enhancement of health and well-being.”

James R. McKay, PhD has been appointed to serve as a member of the Interventions to Prevent and Treat Addictions (IPTA) Study Section of the NIH Center for Scientific Review for the term beginning July 1, 2015 and ending June 30, 2018. According to the Center, “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.”

Michael S. Ascher, MD has been selected to receive the 2015 Jack Greenspan Award from the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society (PPS). This award is presented to a “psychiatrist who has been out of training for up to seven years and has established a private practice, who has excelled in preserving, protecting, and defending the practice of psychiatry in Pennsylvania or has made a substantial contribution to the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society and/or organized psychiatry.”

Edna B. Foa, PhD received the 2015 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association (APA) for her contribution to the theory and clinical practice of psychology, specifically her theoretical and empirical work on the psychopathology and treatment of anxiety disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Her full citation reads: “For her outstanding and innovative research on the nature, measurement and treatment of anxiety, Edna B. Foa was among the group of early developers and pioneers of behavior therapy, especially exposure therapy. She proceeded to become a major force in the integration of behavior therapy and cognitive therapy. Indeed, the central idea in her highly influential emotional processing theory of exposure therapy is that cognitive change is what drives the affective and behavioral benefits produced by exposure therapy. Her theoretical brilliance and creativity, fierce intellectual courage, and clinical insight have inspired much research and informed the practice of countless therapists.”

Matthew S. Kayser, MD, PhD received support from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) designed to launch the careers of early-career investigators. He obtained a Career Award for Medical Scientists, which provides $700,000 over five years to facilitate the transition of academic physician-scientists from mentored positions to tenure-track faculty appointments.

C. Neill Epperson, MD and Tracy Bale, PhD have been awarded a large mentored-career development grant to promote women’s health and sex-differences research. The Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) Scholars Program is funded by the National Institutes of Health Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH).

David W. Oslin, MD, Joel E. Streim, MD, and Tom Snedden, MPA received an American Psychiatric Association (APA) Psychiatric Services Achievement Bronze Award for their SUSTAIN program at the 2015 Institute on Psychiatric Services (IPS): The Mental Health Services Conference, held on October 7, 2015. SUSTAIN (SUpporting Seniors receiving Treatment And INtervention) is an innovative approach to facilitate the large-scale dissemination of collaborative care for low-income seniors. It is a private-public partnership of the Pennsylvania Department of Aging (DoA) and Penn’s Department of Psychiatry. SUSTAIN identifies elders at risk of poor health outcomes, and supports them and their primary care prescribers in managing their mental health care. Since 2010, SUSTAIN staff have engaged more than 4,500 patients and family caregivers in a range of behavioral health services.

Kenneth J. Weiss, MD was awarded the 2015 Golden Apple award by the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL, pronounced “apple”) at its annual meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on October 22, 2015. The award is given to a senior member of the organization who has made significant contributions to forensic psychiatry. AAPL is an organization of psychiatrists dedicated to excellence in practice, teaching, and research in forensic psychiatry.

Kyle M. Kampman, MD received the Publication Award from the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society (PPS) on November 6, 2015 at the Society’s Benjamin Rush Gala in Merion, Pennsylvania. This honor is given to non-PPS members for articles directed to non-psychiatrists in Pennsylvania. Specifically, Dr. Kampman was recognized for his major contribution to the 2015 American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) National Practice Guideline for the Use of Medications in the Treatment of Addiction Involving Opioid Use. The guideline outlines the importance of medications – Methadone, Buprenorphine, and Naloxone – in the treatment of opioid use disorder and also identifies evidence-based psychosocial treatments.

Clinical Recognition

Five (5) Department of Psychiatry physicians were recognized by Philadelphia Magazine as “Top Doctors” in the region, as reported in the May 2015 issue – Kyle M. Kampman, MD (Addiction Psychiatry); Anthony L. Rostain, MD, MA (Child and Adolescent Psychiatry); Joel E. Streim, MD (Geriatric Psychiatry); Edward S. Brodkin, MD (Psychiatry); and Michael E. Thase, MD (Psychiatry).