UAB Department of Psychology Spring 2014 Newsletter

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Psychology SPRING

UPDATE

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS 13’ Department of Psychology

The Psychology Update is a newsletter written for Alumni and Friends of the UAB Department of Psychology.

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ON THE COVER Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Robert Palazzo, addresses the audience at the 2013 Department of Psychology Distinguished Alumni Awards during Homecoming Week 2013.

ALUMNI A look back at the 2013 Department of Psychology Distinguished Alumni Awards and the College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumni Achievement Awards.

FACULTY Faculty research is spotlighted as the Department of Psychology faculty continue to publish while their work is recognized across the country.

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UNDERGRADUATES AND NEUROSCIENCE PROGRAM Undergraduates receive top honors at the 26th Annual Ost Research Competition.

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PSI CHI EVENTS

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GRADUATE STUDENTS

Psi Chi hosted Eating Disorder Awareness week 2014. The event partnered with local organizations and consisted of a day full of activities on The Green as well as a candlelight vigil at the Edge of Chaos.

Graduate students receive top awards across campus. Plus a look at 2014 summer courses in psychology.

ALUMNI NEWS

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS 13’

DR. JAMIE TYLER, 2013 Distinguished Scholar Alumni Award winner delivers talk entitled: “Mechanically Interfacing with Brain Function.”

(from L to R:) DR. MARIA HOPKINS, DR. KARLENE BALL, SCOTT MORAN, CHRISTY MORAN, DR. JAMIE TYLER, & DEAN, ROBERT PALAZZO.

Dr. Tyler earned his Bachelor’s degree from UAB in 1998 and continued on at UAB to complete his doctoral degree in 2003 in Psychology/Behavioral Neuroscience. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship in 2006 from Harvard University and is now an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences at Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine.

He is also Co-founder, Chief Science Officer, and Board Member of Neurotek, Inc., headquartered in Silicon Valley, CA.

The 2013 Department of Psychology Distinguished Alumni Awards were held at the Spencer Honors House.

SCOTT MORAN receives the 2013 Distinguished Service Alumni Award from 2011 award winner Mrs. Sherri Van Pelt.

Scott Moran received his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from UAB in 1995 with minors in Chemistry and Biology.

Scott has served as a Program Director in the Facilities Department at UAB since 2007 where he started and leads programs including the UAB Recycling Center and the UAB Building Administrator’s Training Program.. In 2010 Scott worked to help create the Psychology Chapter within the UAB National Alumni Society.

Scott served on the UAB National Alumni Society Board of Directors as a school appointed Director from the College of Arts and Sciences from 2009 – 2012. He is currently serving another three year term on the Board of Directors.

Join UAB National Alumni Society

College of Arts and Sciences DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS 13’ DR. KRISTOFER HAGGLUND gives remarks to the audience as he accepts his award.

Dr. Kristofer Hagglund was named recipient of the 2 0 1 3 U A B C o l l e g e o f Arts and Sciences Distinguished A l u m n i A c h i e v e m e n t A w a r d on December 12 at the Alumni House. The honorees were selected based on a college-wide nomination process and are recognized for their exemplary leadership,

remarkable professional achievement, outstanding human qualities, and contributions to the university and our community.

Dr. Kristofer Hagglund received his undergraduate degree from Illinois State University in 1984. The Medical Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program at UAB was a very young PhD program when he applied having only been approved by the UA Board of Trustees in 1980. Dr. Scott Richards (PM&R) served as Kris’s primary mentor at UAB. He completed his PHD in 1990 and interned at Missouri Health Sciences Psychology Consortium. From 1990 – 1996, he served as Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the School of Medicine at the University of Missouri and in 2000 was promoted to Professor.

In 2001, inspired by his mentor, Kris pursued and was awarded the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellowship by the Institute of Medicine and National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC. In 2002, he

returned to the University of Missouri as Professor of Public Affairs in the Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs. From 2011 to present day, Dr. Hagglund is a Core Faculty member of the University of Missouri Informatics Institute and Professor of Health Psychology in the School of Health Professions. In July 2013, Dr. Hagglund was named D e a n o f t h e School of Health Professions at M i s s o u r i after serving as both Associate Dean of SHP since 2001 and founding Director of the Master of Public Health Program.

Dr. Hagglund has been the principal or co-principal investigator on grants and contracts worth more than $ 1 7 m i l l i o n.

He has over 7 0 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and is the co-editor of a book addressing disability and rehabilitation research. He continues to publish in the areas of health policy and services for persons with disabilities and health and rehabilitation policy.

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Dr. Scott Richards, and Dean Robert Palazzo.

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Research Spotlight: Dr. David Schwebel’s

UAB Youth Safety Lab Teaching School Children Pedestrian Safety: A Pragmatic Trial Using Virtual Reality Dr. David Schwebel and his UAB Youth Safety Lab are currently teaming up with Digital Artefacts, a small business who created the virtual environments, where they will work with several Birmingham area schools to train 7 and 8 year-olds to cross streets safely while using their newly-developed virtual reality pedestrian environment.

“Child pedestrian injuries are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity across the United States and the world. One reason children have heightened vulnerability to pedestrian injury is because safe pedestrian behavior requires sophisticated cognitive -perceptual skills. Those skills are still developing among children,” says Dr. Schwebel.

Dr. Schwebel’s Lab with friends and family.

Bottom Row (L-R): Michelle McCorkle (MPH student), Dr. Schwebel’s Family - Yikun Schwebel (wife), Andy (son), Dr. David Schwebel, Rosa (daughter).

Middle Row (L-R): Jenni Rouse (MA student-Education/ Counseling), Shilpa Boppana (Post -Bac student), Mansavee Godbole (post -MA student) & Jinhong Guo (PhD- Developmental student).

Dr. Schwebel notes that the advantage of using Virtual Reality (VR) is that it offers a unique opportunity for repeated practice without the risk of actual injury.

Back Row (L -R): Anna Johnston (Lab Manager), Mostafa Emeira (MA student-Engineering), Mandy Sessions (UAB undergrad), Tejas Thorat (PY IT Support), Jiabin Shen (PhD-Developmental student).

The Study

Other studies in the UAB Youth Safety Lab

The research team is preparing to conduct a pragmatic repeated-measures trial evaluating whether 7- and 8-year-old children learn to cross streets safely through training in a newlydeveloped VR pedestrian environment placed in a community setting. Data will be analyzed using linear mixed models that test behavioral change over time. It is expected that child pedestrians will have fewer virtual crashes and close calls with motor vehicles, will be more attentive to traffic, and will make quicker and more successful pedestrian crossing decisions following training in the VR.

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Research on how young children recognize dangerous or safe product packaging; poisoning prevention

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Study of college student pedestrian safety the morning after being kept awake overnight

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Study of consumer feelings about security of using credit cards in new technology payment systems such as on tablets and phones

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Development and evaluation of a website to improve children’s safety with pet dogs

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Development of grants/studies to improve kerosene safety in low-income South African communities

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Participation in the Global Burden of Disease project, a worldwide effort to understand disease and injury rates in every country

Joan Severson, President of Digital Artefacts and Dr. David Schwebel.

Student at Hemphill Elementary School using the virtual environment.

In The News: Dr. Robert Sorge

Rodents’ awareness of researchers has a more profound effect than anyone may have thought according to Dr. Robert Sorge’s new study.

The study was released April 28 in Nature Methods and has received heavy media attention. Media outlets such as the Huffington Post , t h e N e w Y o r k T i m e s , a n d T I M E (seen below), have published the study results.

“OLFACTORY EXPOSURE TO MALES, INCLUDING MEN, CAUSES STRESS AND RELATED ANALGESIA IN RODENTS”

Study: The Smell of Men Stresses Out Lab Mice From www.time.com published April 28

A new study published online in the journal Nature Methods finds that the smell of male researchers causes a stress response in mice and rats equivalent to making them swim for three minutes, while female researchers have no effect.

Scientists have long used mice and rats as test subjects before developing clinical trials for humans, but a new study suggests the gender of the researchers can influence rodent behavior in a way that could skew their findings. Researchers at McGill University found that male experimenters cause increased stress levels in lab rodents, while female experimenters do not.

Figure 1: Male-associated olfactory stimuli produce decreased pain behavior in mice.

In the presence of men, rats and mice experience a stress response equivalent to swimming for three minutes or being restrained in a tube for 15 minutes.

This is because men secrete many more pheromones, which alert the rodents to the proximity of male animals, than women do.

The increased stress makes lab animals of both genders less sensitive to pain, which can influence the results of an experiment.

“Our findings suggest that one major reason for lack of replication of animal studies is the gender of the experimenter — a factor that’s not currently stated in the methods sections of published papers,” Robert Sorge, a psychology professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who led the study at McGill, said in a statement.

The study marks the first time researchers have directly demonstrated what scientists have long suspected — the rodents’ awareness of the researchers, according to senior author Jeffrey Mogil, who joked that one solution to the discovery was to “fire all the men.”

Figure 2: Observed decreases in pain behavior are due to stress-induced analgesia.

TO READ THE FULL STUDY, VISIT WWW.NATURE.COM AND SEARCH “ROBERT SORGE”

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Things You Need to Know About

THE BRAVE INITIATIVE

The Research Constraint Induced Movement Therapy has had far reaching success, not only for stroke and brain damaged patients, but has demonstrated success for injured veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. TBI has become the signature injury of “new veterans” of Afghanistan and Iraq D r . G i t e n d r a U s w a t t e a n d D r . E d w a r d T a u b wars. In November 2013, the Department of Defense (DOD) meet Governor Robert Bentley while speaking recommended funding of $2.7 million dollars to advance research on w i t h l a w m a k e r s i n M o n t g o m e r y . the application of CI Therapy to veterans who have been diagnosed with TBI. This project will be known as The BRAVE Initiative.

The Mission The mission of The BRAVE Initiative is to improve the quality of life of veterans diagnosed with TBI due to blast injuries. This journey will bring awareness throughout Alabama to the wounded soldiers and a unified front to treat and care for these “new” veterans and their caregivers/families. UAB will partner with the Birmingham VA, the Denver VA, and the Houston , TX VA hospitals. The Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham will provide housing for all participants and their primary caregivers.

The Governor In December 2013, Governor Robert Bentley issued an Executive Order to create the Alabama Executive Veterans Network (ALAVETNET) to study ways to identify existing services and to improve or expand services for Alabama’s active military members, veterans and military families. There are over 400,000 veterans living in Alabama and over 30,000 active military and active reservists who are Alabama Citizens.

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The State On March 18, 2014, Drs. Edward Taub and colleague, Gitendra Uswatte, were introduced to the Commissioner of Military and Veteran’s Affairs, Rear Admiral Clyde Marsh, by State Representative Richard (Dickie) Drake, to provide a briefing on the upcoming project, and the existing services at the UAB Taub Clinic.

The Community On April 14, 2014, First Lady Dianne Bentley expressed support as Dr. Taub introduced The BRAVE Initiative to the “Greater Birmingham Republican Women” organization. President Phyllis Davis announced that the organization has selected The BRAVE Initiative as their 2014 annual “Caring for America” Project.

“Caring for America by Caring for Alabama Veterans”

B ringing R ehabilitation to A merican V eterans in an E nriched environment

(from L to R:) Dr, GItendra Uswatte, Dr. Edward Taub, Representative Dickie Drake, Mary Frances Thetford, and Lauren Vardaman Dr. Taub welcomed support from First Lady Diane Bentley after speaking with the Greater Birmingham Republican Women at their April luncheon.

The 26th Annual Ost Research Competition was held on April 16, 2014 in the Green and Gold Room of Bartow Arena. The competition was comprised of student poster presentation, awards ceremony and reception.

2014 OST WINNERS Ethan Gossett “The Associations among Mindfulness, Pain Catastrophizing, and the Nociceptive Processing of Painful Stimuli”

& Peter Lee

“Subthalamic Stimulation for Parkinson Disease

Regularizes the Timing of Peripheral Motor Unit Discharges During a Simple Voluntary Force“

The 2014 Outstanding Undergraduate Neuroscience Students, Outstanding Undergraduate Students, & Outstanding Graduate Student Awards were presented at the Ost following student poster presentation.

2014 OUTSTANDING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS Passey Prize for the Outstanding Student in Psychology Hylton Molzof UAB Psychology Department Achievement Award Jamaal Little

2014 OUTSTANDING NEUROSCIENCE STUDENTS Sadhvi Batra Pauleatha V. Diggs Deepa M. Etikala Naveed Q. Farrukh Ramya Singireddy

(from L to R:) DR. CARL MCFARLAND, co -director of the Undergraduate Neuroscience Program, DEEPA ETIKALA, RAMYA SINGIREDDY, SADHVI BATRA, PAULEATHA DIGGS, & NAVEED FARRUKH

UAB PSI CHI

Psi Chi is the National Honor Society in Psychology. It seeks to advance the science of psychology and to encourage, stimulate, and maintain excellence in

scholarship. Membership in Psi Chi is open to majors and minors in psychology who have completed at

least 9 hours of psychology courses, and 45 hours of college-level coursework. Students must have Psychology, UAB, a and cumulative GPAs of 3.0 or higher.

Former Psi Chi President Stacy Wills takes a minute to pose after smashing a scale!

Dept,. Of Psychology Business Officer Anna Helova shows support by purchasing a scale from Psi Chi President Kate Wesson-Sides.

2014 Psychology Club *Psychology Club is open to students of all majors regardless of academic standing. psychology club chair

Stacy Wills, Courtney Blair, Harper-Grace Niedermeyer, Cristina Natasie, and Dr. Boggiano take a moment to reflect at the candlelight vigil.

Nicholas Armour psychology club chair

psychology club chair

Regan Gaskin

Jessica Davis

National Eating Disorder Awareness Week 2014

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On February 26, UAB Psi Chi held “Twisting Out of Eating Disorders,” a national eating disorder awareness campus day that took place on The Green. Partners for the event included Magnolia Creek Treatment Center for Eating Disorders, Highland Treatment Center, NBC 13, Al.com's Jesse Chambers, Riviera Fitness, Stacey Shannon- Zumba instructor from UAB REC, 95.7 Jams, UAB Counseling and Wellness. UAB Counseling and Wellness as well as Magnolia Creek Treatment Center for Eating Disorders set up tables to pass out information to participants. Psi Chi offered scale smashing, cotton candy, hot chocolate, face painting, and t-shirt tie dyeing. Wayne Heard, UAB Alum and Personal Trainer who had battled body image issues assisted with the scale smash.

In addition to the scale smash, there was also a Zumba class and a fitness obstacle course for participants. All proceeds benefitted the National Eating Disorder Association.

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The event was held at the Edge of Chaos in Lister Hill Library. Two survivors gave their accounts of struggles with eating disorders while Dr. Mary Boggiano, psychology faculty member, spoke about the harsh realities of eating disorders. Stacy Wills, former Psi Chi President, sang while white candles were lit to honor those who have lost their lives due to their battle with eating disorders. Silver candles were lit for those struggling with eating disorders, and gold candles for those in celebration of those who are in recovery.

Courtney Blair speaks to the audience at the candlelight vigil about her story as a survivor.

2014 Psi Chi Officers p r e s i d e n t Kate Wesson-Sides

vice president Wesley Browning d i r . o f e x p a n s i o n & r e c r u i t m e n t Bhavan Modi d i r . o f i n t e r n a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n s Myriah McNew d i r . o f e x t e r n a l c o m m . Shauna Fuhrman

d i r . o f f i n a n c i a l a f f a i r s Brianna Watkins d i r . o f e d u c a t i o n Sarah Terry d i r . o f p h i l a n t h r o p y Ethan Gossett s e c r e t a r y Christy Thai i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y l i a i s o n Hylton Molzof p r o j e c t c o o r d i n a t o r Savannah Hawkins

p h o t o g r a p h e r Jessica Chriesman v o l u n t e e r l i a i s o n Catherine Jones

UAB Psi Chi headquartered the event on The Green complete with a life-size Barbie representing society’s ideal body measurements.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PSI CHI, PLEA SE EMAIL US AT PSYCH -PSICHI@UAB.EDU

GRADUATE STUDENTS 2014 AWARD WINNERS Gregg Steele Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year Behavioral Neuroscience Matthew Warner Rice Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year Medical/Clinical Psychology Cady Kristen Block

Brent Womble Won first place in graduate research at the U A B C N C N e u r o s c i e n c e R e s e a r c h D a y for his poster: Upper extremity motor training of an initially motor complete tetraplegic patient with CI Biofeedback therapy (CIBT).

Erica Schmidt Last fall, Erica Schmidt was selected as the S T R I D E Center’s Student of the Year for 2013.

Schmidt will receive a $1000 scholarship plus certain approved costs for attending the 2014 93rd TRB Annual Meeting, two free registrations to the CUTC Awards Banquet and a certificate.

Sarah Gillott

Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year Medical/Clinical Psychology Donna Louise Murdaugh

Was awarded the W h i t M a l l o r y R e s e a r c h F e l l o w s h i p in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. The research fellowship awards Gillott with $25,000 that may be used as a stipend supplement for direct projects costs.

Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year Developmental Psychology Lauren E. Libero

Jiabin Shen

Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year in Psychology Cady Kristen Block

2014– 2015 Medical Clinical Psychology Merit Fellowships

Emilee Burgess & Anjali Gowda Lauren Libero & Donna Murdaugh Were both awarded the C i v i t a n E m e r g i n g S c h o l a r A w a r d . Each year the Civitan International Research Center solicits applications for the Civitan Emerging Scholar Award for clinical or basic science research aimed at enhancing our current understanding of typical and atypical brain development, autism spectrum disorders, Down and Rett syndromes, developmental disabilities, impaired cognitive development, and the effects of environmental toxins on the development of the brain. The $25,000 award may be used as a stipend supplement or for direct projects costs.

Jiabin Shen, a doctoral student in the Psychology Department and Sparkman Fellow was selected along with 14 others to serve on the C o n s o r t i u m o f Universities for Global Health ( C U G H ) Trainee Advisory Committee (TAC). The TAC will proactively represent the voice and views of trainees regarding CUGH’s educational products, programs, activities and services and will work to ensure that these are relevant and useful to trainees and trainers.

Shen was also selected to receive travel funding in support of his travel to the 2014 Transportation Research Board Meeting in Washington DC. The funding for his travel will be provided by the STRIDE and NCTSPM University Transportation Centers.

Cady Block

In addition to being named Overall Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year in Psychology, Block worked alongside student representatives of APA Divisions 22 and 38 to win one of a very limited number of C O D A P A R program development grants available to Division leaders. The grant is for $1,550 and was the only grant submission by students to be awarded funding. The award will promote a web-based toolkit to facilitate interdisciplinary healthcare training amongst doctoral-level clinical psychology students. The grant is titled: "Promoting brief, evidence-based assessment and intervention in interdisciplinary healthcare settings: An online educational toolkit and convention program for trainees"

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INTRO TO PSYCHOLOGY ROTHROCK, A.

PSYCH OF MARRIAGE JONES, S.

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HUMAN SEXUALITY KENNEDY, B.

SOCIAL & ETHNIC RELATIONS JONES, S.

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DRUGS & HUMAN BEHAVIOR HENDRICKS, A.

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PROF ISSUES/ETHICS IN PY BEIDLEMAN, W.

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ELEMENTAL STATS, METHOD, & DESIGN CLAY, O.

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SPORT PSYCHOLOGY GAMPHER, E.

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METHODS: PY RESEARCH Clay, O.

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TEACHING PRAC TICUM IN PSYCHOLOGY GAMPHER, E.

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SPORT PSYCHOLOGY GAMPHER, E.

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY KENNEDY, B.

RESEARCH PRAC IN PSYCHOLOGY GAMPHER, E.

CLINICAL PRAC IN MED PSYCH COOK, E.

2 0 psychology UPDATE 1 4 is produced by the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Psychology executive editor KARLENE BALL, PH.D. editor MARY FRANCES THETFORD, M.ED. content and design LAUREN VARDAMAN

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