Current Year Award Recipients

Introduction by Jada Hamilton, PhD, MPH:

Dr. Marci Lobel is the 2024 recipient of the Society of Health Psychology’s Excellence in Health Psychology Research Award. Dr. Lobel is a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the area of Social and Health Psychology at Stony Brook University, where she directs the Stress and Reproduction (STAR) Lab. Dr. Lobel’s program of research applies social psychological theory to the domains of stress, coping, and health, particularly women’s reproductive health. Over more than three decades, she has investigated ways in which psychosocial and biopsychosocial factors, namely prenatal maternal stress, coping, and health behaviors, influence maternal and child health among diverse populations. Her work has been foundational in establishing how the stressful life conditions faced by pregnant women, particularly socioeconomically disadvantaged and marginalized women, have serious implications for their health and wellbeing and that of their offspring. Most recently, Dr. Lobel’s work has addressed effects of stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic on pregnant women across the globe. During her career, she has served as PI, Co-PI, or Co-I on more than 30 grants, and has published more than 130 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters regarding crucial issues in the psychology of women’s health and well-being. She has also been a supportive and unparalleled mentor to 20 doctoral advisees and has received numerous national-level awards for teaching, mentorship, service, and her scholarship.

Remarks:
I’ve always taught students to “Do what you love, and love what you do”. In my career, I’ve been fortunate to achieve that. Yet I realize that not all of us have this privilege. I recognize how much I owe to others. My grandmother was never taught to read or write and yet two generations later, her granddaughter graduated from Harvard, received a PhD from UCLA, and is now a psychology professor. That truly embodies the American Dream, but it could not have been realized without a supportive family, teachers and professors who challenged me, and donors who provided scholarships for my education. I am also enormously grateful for my students. Research projects with them feel like a team sport that we all enjoy together, whether we win (grants, publications) or lose. And even after we lose, we go out for margaritas together. On most days of my career, I’ve been excited to wake up and get to work. That’s also because I’ve had the great fortune to do work that helps others lead a healthier and happier life. Research can truly make a difference. When I started work in the psychology of reproductive health 40 years ago, you could count on two hands the number of studies that focused on stress and its effects in pregnancy. Now there are thousands, many of them scientifically rigorous and theoretically rich. While we still have a way to go — as the upcoming election makes very clear — policy makers, healthcare providers, and our fellow citizens are paying attention to our research. And families are the beneficiaries. I am grateful to the Society for recognizing me with this award, but to be honest, doing what I love and loving what I do are the greatest award of all.

Introduction by Laura B. Oswald, PhD:

Dr. Stacy Sanford is a Full Professor and Clinician-Educator in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Her career at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University has focused on advocating for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors ages 15 to 39 as well as promoting advances in science and clinical care for this vulnerable population. Dr. Sanford founded Northwestern’s multidisciplinary AYA Oncology Workgroup in 2009, and she now serves as Co-Director of Northwestern’s AYA Cancer Program. This program promotes research, advocacy and optimal standards of care for AYA patients as they receive care across both the Lurie Children’s Hospital and the adult cancer center. Under Dr. Sanford’s leadership, the AYA Cancer Program recently hired several new staff, allowing them to expand their programmatic reach into ten satellite clinics across the regional Northwestern Medicine Healthcare System. Dr. Sanford is also a highly sought-after research collaborator, an outstanding role model, and an inspiring clinical supervisor, helping to shape the next generation of health psychologists in oncology.

Remarks:

One moment that shaped my career trajectory was when I found myself choosing to re-specialize during postdoctoral fellowship. After spending my graduate school and internship training focused on adult and geriatric health psychology, I chose an opportunity to receive training in pediatrics as a postdoc. This was not part of the “original plan.” This choice was informed by my personal values and the difficult life choices that often accompany dual-career relationships. Needless to say, I learned a great deal during those two years, with my greatest lesson being the realization I was truly not meant to be a pediatric psychologist! Even so, taking this divergent path was pivotal in my career. I had been afforded the rare opportunity to gain experience with the full developmental lifespan and consequently found I was uniquely suited to grow a career in the emerging field of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology. I have spent the past 16 years doing just that and have found the work immensely rewarding. I am eternally grateful to the Society of Health Psychology for their role in supporting my career development over the years and am deeply honored to accept this prestigious reward.

Introduction by Elizabeth L. Kacel, PhD:

Thank you to the awards committee and Division 38 for the opportunity to introduce Dr. Shawna Ehlers, this year’s recipient of the Excellence in Health Psychology Mentoring Award. One of Dr. Ehlers’ favorite ways to introduce work in psychosocial oncology to incoming fellows or other mentees at the Mayo Clinic is to compare the quantity of opportunities to the sensation of standing in a candy store. This is both celebratory, in terms of the endless sweet and shiny possibilities to follow our passions, as well as cautionary, because we all know too much candy leads to a stomachache and overcommitting too early in our careers leads to a headache.

Dr. Ehlers has been an active member of the Society for Health Psychology for decades and has made significant contributions to the field in patient care, research, and education. However, mentorship is an area she is particularly passionate about, which is why myself and 5 other active health psychologists, all former mentees, worked together to nominate her for this award. We are grateful for the recognition she is receiving today and for the ways in which she has helped us on our individual journeys toward rewarding careers and meaningful lives.

Remarks:
One lesson I would offer to today’s health psychology students or trainees is:
Apply gentle persistence to 3 projects that are important to you. When the environment is supportive for one project, it will move forward because of your gentle, persistent pressure. With this strategy, you always have something moving forward. Your productivity does not depend upon nor fluctuate with the normal ups and downs of a single project.

One moment that shaped my career trajectory was:
There are several small moments I can see in time, during which I spoke up from my personal sense of integrity. These moments have been defining for me, because they attracted like-minded people who together have advanced translation of best-evidence interventions into real world practice settings.

I found unexpected inspiration for my work through:
Being witness to patient suffering. I need to advocate for implementation of best-evidence cancer care, because I am witness to unnecessary suffering that is caused by lack of evidence-based care. We have known how to lessen suffering with evidence-based treatments for 40 years- it is now urgent that we advocate within our institutions and national organizations to adopt policy and promote implementation science that makes best-evidence the standard of care.

Introduction by Elizabeth Seng, PhD:

It is my pleasure to introduce Dr. Charles Swencionis as this year’s recipient of the Cynthia D. Belar Award for Excellence in Health Psychology Education and Training. Dr. Swencionis has made a substantial, formational and enduring contribution to education and training of health psychologists.

Dr. Swencionis served a pivotal role in the early development of the field of health psychology: in addition to chairing the Education and Training committee at 38, he co-edited, along with Dr. Cynthia Belar for whom this award is named, the sourcebook for the 1983 National Working Conference on Education and Training in Health Psychology (APA), which is a foundational conference and document outlining the training pathway for individuals interested in becoming health psychologists and differentiating health psychology as a distinct field within the profession. is leadership during this critical period of the definition and growth of the field set up the familiar system of education and training for health psychologists we know today.

Dr. Swencionis was among the founding faculty members of the Health Psychology Ph.D. program at Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University (Ferkauf) in the 1980s, where he continues to serve as a Professor to this day. This was one of the first Ph.D. programs specifically dedicated to the field of health psychology in the country, and was critically co-located with its affiliated medical school, Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Einstein). Dr. Swencionis personally has served as the dissertation chair for 13 experimental health psychology Ph.D.s and 71 clinical health psychology Ph.D.s, contributing to the exponential growth of the field of health psychology. Dr. Swencionis is a pioneering researcher and clinician in the health psychology of obesity, a passion which he inspired in many of his trainees.

On a personal note, Dr. Swencionis also made a major impact on my own trajectory as an educator in the field of health psychology. When I arrived on faculty in the clinical health psychology program at Ferkauf in 2013, I was the only woman in the department at the time, and decades younger than the other faculty. Dr. Swencionis brought me up to speed on the education and training landscape for health psychology, particularly as it relates to relationships with medical schools and hospitals in the NYC area, and helped me navigate changing landscapes in our own institution. His generous collegiality absolutely set the foundation for my own career as an educator in clinical health psychology.

Remarks:

One moment that shaped my career trajectory was: In 1979 I was doing a postdoctoral fellowship in cerebral asymmetry under Robert Ornstein at UCSF. I had just finished my degree and was struck by the apparent explosion in health psychology publications compared with the small number of programs offering a concentration in health psychology. It seemed to me there was a need for more programs to train people in good research and clinical work. I shared my opinion with nearly everyone I talked with. One afternoon my phone rang. It was Gilbert Levin of Albert Einstein in New York. His dean had asked him what could be done to encourage more psychological and behavioral research, teaching, and presence at the medical school. Gil’s response was to start a Ph.D. program. He was calling to ask me if I would come and do it together.

Introduction by Daniel Bruns, PsyD:

Dr. Lumley is a native of Detroit and attended Wayne State University as an undergraduate, majoring in both psychology and biology. He completed the Ph.D. program in clinical and health psychology at the University of Florida in Gainesville from 1985 until 1990, including a pre-doctoral clinical psychology internship (1989 – 1990) at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. Subsequently, he had a post-doctoral fellowship (1990 – 1991) in behavioral medicine at the University of Michigan. He has been a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at Wayne State University since 1991.
Dr. Lumley served as an Assistant Professor at Wayne State University (1991 – 1997), Associate Professor (granted with tenure) (1997 – 2005), Professor (2005 – 2017), and Distinguished Professor (2017 – present). He also served as the Director of Clinical Psychology, and director of Ph.D clinical training Wayne State University (2005 – present). In that capacity, he has graduated 45 Ph.D. students, and also conducts clinical supervision at an in-house training clinic where he develops and tests novel emotional processing therapy interventions with students in his lab. Additionally, Dr. Lumley is a licensed clinical psychologist in Michigan, and maintained a small practice for many years.
Dr. Lumley is the recipient of multiple awards from multiple societies. For the Society for Health Psychology, he is an award-winning mentor for health psychology doctoral students and early career health psychologists as well. As of 2018 his work has been funded by 26 grants (I do not have the most recent data here).

Regarding service, Dr. Lumley served on the on the Society for Health Psychology executive committee as treasurer (2012 – 2017). He also serves as the Associate Editor of the Journal of Psychosomatic Research (2011 – 2017), and is an editorial board member for Health Psychology (2010 – present), Psychosomatic Medicine (1999 – present), Journal of Psychosomatic Research (2009 – 2011; 2018 – present), British Journal of Health Psychology (2006 – present), PAIN (2004 – 2014), Translational Behavioral Medicine: Practice, Policy, & Research (2010 – 2016) and the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (2000- 2002)

Sadly there is not enough space to review all of Dr. Lumley’s many accomplishments. In nominating Dr. Lumley for this award, I will focus on his work developing a new category of psychotherapy.

As we all know, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has become the dominant form of psychotherapy. If we stop to consider for a moment though, an assumption of cognitive therapy is that emotional problems are often the result of faulty cognitions, which can be corrected by replacing these faulty cognitions with more adaptive ones. Multiple theorists of CBT have tied this therapeutic approach to the Greek philosophy of Stoicism, and the cognitive control of emotion. Similarly, Behavioral Therapy utilizes techniques such as exposure or desensitization to decrease emotional intensity. Neither of these approaches explore the history of the individual’s emotional experiences in any detail, both are focused on the present, and both tend to suppress emotional experiences which are judged to be irrational or excessive.

In contrast, over the course of three decades and over 100 published scientific articles and 19 book chapters pertaining to health and suppressed emotion, Dr. Lumley led the development of a new therapy which he calls Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET). Unlike CBT or Behavioral Therapy, EAET focuses on a person’s emotional experiences, with particular attention to how these experiences developed over the course of the patient’s life.

EAET therapy begins with having the patient develop a list of past traumatic or stressful events that caused hurt, shame, resentment, embarrassment, pain, anger, guilt, humiliation, fear, worry, or other negative emotions. It then goes on to have the patient explore numerous topics, including the following:

• How do you currently avoid experiencing or expressing your emotions?
• Roots of emotions in childhood
• Traumatic childhood experiences
• Secret experiences about which you feel shame
• Journaling avoided emotions
• Exploring hurt, anger, forgiveness and gratitude
• Practicing healthy emotional communication
While this therapeutic method seems ambitious, EAET accomplishes this in about 10 sessions of psychotherapy.

What I find especially interesting is that in 32 published studies, Dr. Lumley explored using EAET as a treatment for unexplained pain conditions. Current pain science has demonstrated that chronic pain is processed primarily in the brain’s affective center, linking physical pain with emotional pain. Based on this, Dr. Lumley tested a remarkable hypothesis. Dr. Lumley hypothesized that suppressed emotions could underlie mysterious pain conditions. In subsequent trials when compared head-to-head with CBT for treating pain disorders, EAET compared very favorably to this established treatment. Beyond pain disorders, Dr. Lumley’s work has also explored the relationship of unexpressed emotion to other health problems as well, and may help to explain “medically unexplained symptoms.”

Dr. Lumley’s work has provided practicing clinicians with an entirely new category of treatment. In my experience, some patients are difficult to engage in structured cognitive or behavioral approaches, don’t do their homework, may drop out of treatment, and in session want to change the topic to what they are feeling. For those patients who don’t respond to cognitive behavioral approaches, EAET provides a different approach. In particular, EAET is especially valuable for treating pain that occurs in connection with past or recent psychological trauma. More recently, Dr. Lumley has also been involved in the development of a second related affective therapy, which is Pain Reprocessing Therapy. It is currently being tested.

In conclusion, Dr. Lumley’s contribution to the field of psychology is extraordinary in that he has created an entirely new category of psychotherapy. To my surprise, I don’t believe that this category has a name yet, and I would offer the term “Affective Therapy.” EAET approaches the patient’s condition from a fundamentally different perspective than either Cognitive Therapy or Behavioral Therapy, and has demonstrated its clinical effectiveness. EAET provides health psychologists (and psychologists in general) with a new evidence-based method for treating patients. The development of EAET is based on 30 years of Dr. Lumley’s theorization and research, and I cannot think of a person more deserving of this Career Service Award.

Remarks:

I’m very honored and grateful to receive the Nathan W. Perry Jr. Award for Career Service to Health Psychology. I thank Dan Bruns for recognizing my career contributions and nominating me, the committee for supporting his nomination, the Society for Health Psychology for making this award, and Barbara Keeton, for her decades of support of all of us. I also thank my long-time friend and collaborator, Dr. Howard Schubiner, with whom I have worked closely in developing these intervention approaches, and I thank my many doctoral students and other colleagues who have contributed to theory, research, and dissemination. Finally, I want to recognize, with much gratitude, the amazing instrumental and emotional support that my wife, Sherry Lumley, has provided me over the decades—my career award is also hers.

The Nathan Perry award has unique significance to me. I attended graduate school in the late 1980s in the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology at the University of Florida, and Nate Perry was my department chair. I remember his strong views on scientist-practitioners—that our science should be clinically relevant, and our practice should be grounded in science. My work has, I hope, exemplified Dr. Perry’s beliefs, by being informed by what practitioners are doing, testing the effectiveness of those approaches, and encouraging practitioners to use what works best.

But I would like to encourage students and others to go beyond our usual way of operating—which tends to be rather safe and predictable and resulting too often in little meaningful change. I encourage us all to be creative in our research and practice—to think outside of our comfortable and traditional boxes—and also to be courageous in exploring new models and practices, even if doing so may be personally uncomfortable or risk some social pushback. Creativity and courage will help more of us to have careers that really make a difference. Thank you.

Introduction by John M. Ruiz, PhD:

It is a pleasure to recognize Dr. Diana Chirinos for the Excellence in Health Psychology Research by an Early Career Professional Award. Dr. Chirinos is an outstanding early career Latina, scholar and Assistant Professor in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. She earned her Ph.D. from the prestigious clinical health psychology program at the University of Miami where she trained with luminaries in the field including Drs. Neil Schneiderman, Maria Llabre and others.

Her work seeks to understand the role of socio-demographic and psychological factors such as depression and sleep disturbance, as determinants of cardiovascular health in vulnerable populations. She is currently funded under a K01 through NIH/National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute (NHLBI). She has nearly 60 publications and her work appears in Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Psychosomatic Medicine, BMJ Open, Sleep, and other critical outlets.

In 2023 Dr. Chirinos earned the Early Investigator Award from the prestigious, Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research (ABMR). In 2023 she was chosen as one of 7 inaugural APA Associate Editor Fellows to the journal, Health Psychology and in 2024 was promoted to Associate Editor with the journal. These are all hallmarks of outstanding research scholarship commensurate with this award.

Remarks:

One lesson I would offer to today’s health psychology students or trainees is to let go of the expectation to excel in every area. The pursuit of perfection in all things can be overwhelming and unsustainable. Instead, focus on discovering the areas that truly ignite your passion, and invest deeply in those. It’s perfectly fine not to be exceptional in everything; what matters is dedicating yourself to what resonates most with you. By embracing this balance, you not only reduce unnecessary pressure but also allow your strengths to shine where they matter most. This approach is likely to more meaningful contributions and personal fulfillment in your work.

Introduction by Barbara Andersen, PhD:

I am fortunate in being asked to tell you a bit about the 2024 awardee for Excellence in Health Psychology Research by an Early Career Professional for the Society. In doing so I am selfishly asking (if I am still around) that I be considered to introduce Claire again when she receives the senior investigator award.

I know that will happen as her work today is far beyond that seen for the Early Career Research award. Already she has 40+ publications, externally funded work, and two (count them two) programmatic lines of research. Young faculty are typically discouraged from trying to have more than one, as it is hard enough to “do all the things” for one and then replicate it with a new topic. Thus, what Claire is doing is linking research on risk for cancer with her research on the challenges of advanced disease—the ends of a continua–by focusing upon personalized medicine, preference-sensitive care, and shared decision-making.

Claire has accelerated her work logarithmically since her upward trajectory that I saw during her time in graduate school at Ohio State. Claire was always there with ideas, persistence, and being non-plussed by new projects and opportunities. A joy with whom to work, she was the type of student for which I quickly realized that I just needed to get out of her way so as to not slow her down. So, I will step aside now, Claire, and just wish you God’s speed and happiness as you continue your important life’s work.

Remarks:

One lesson I would offer to today’s health psychology students or trainees is to find a clinical or research area that you’re truly passionate about, not just one that you think is reliable or fundable. When I was starting to work on my dissertation, I told my advisor that the topic I was leaning towards was the one that I thought, ‘I would hate the least at the end of this.’ After a moment, my advisor responded that ‘not hating’ wasn’t good enough, and she would help me find a topic that called to me. Because of that, I felt supported to go outside my comfort zone and do research with a population I had no experience in – unaffected women at high risk for breast cancer. That line of work eventually led me to my postdoctoral fellowship position, and to the faculty position that I’m in today! If I hadn’t tapped into my passions, I wouldn’t have the motivation and drive to continue in research, which can be an extremely tough path.

Introduction by Allison E. Gaffey, PhD:

I’m honored to introduce Dr. Alyssa Vela as the recipient of the Society of Health Psychology’s Excellence in Clinical Health Psychology by an Early Career Professional Award.
Throughout her early career Dr. Alyssa Vela has continually demonstrated excellence. Since joining the Cardiac Behavioral Medicine (CBM) service at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 2020, Dr. Vela has demonstrated a clear commitment to improving cardiovascular health equity through the implementation of clinical service, program development, research, education, and advocacy. As faculty in the Department of Surgery, Dr. Vela is a key member of the interdisciplinary advanced heart failure team. Dr. Vela has also developed and implemented other important clinical services, including an integrated behavioral medicine clinic for heart transplant recipients inspired by models of integrated primary care. This clinic allowed for increased access to cardiovascular behavioral medicine services, supported other team members in understanding patient needs, and increased opportunities for intervention. Her clinical services have reinforced the importance of advocacy and education in health equity, and she has been a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) leader within Northwestern. She first served as co-chair of the DEI Committee, and more recently was appointed as Department of Surgery’s Vice Chair of Equity. In these roles, Dr. Vela has provided her unique lens as a Clinical Health Psychologist, advocating for opportunities to improve patient care and resident education.

Simultaneously, Dr. Vela has championed these clinical services nationally, through her work with the Society of Behavioral Medicine’s Cardiovascular Disease Special Interest Group (CVD SIG). As a SIG leader for the past four years, including as Chair, Dr. Vela led key initiatives including: developing a series of public-facing articles to educate patients on connections between cardiovascular health and mental and behavioral health, the publication of a policy statement to advocate for intensive behavioral counseling for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, which was shared with U.S. legislators, and leading a Journal of the American College of Cardiology Viewpoint, advocating for expansion and better integration of intensive behavioral counseling and the value of health psychology science and practice, with the goal of attuning a cardiology audience to these needs. These select efforts speak not only to Dr. Vela’s passion for the patient care that she provides but also for her desire to see a greater impact of cardiovascular behavioral medicine on the lives of patients beyond the few institutions with access to a health psychologist with cardiovascular expertise.

Dr. Vela’s dedication to advancing health psychology in Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery and to improving cardiovascular health equity could not be more evident. Overall, Dr. Vela is a passionate and skilled clinical health psychologist who exemplifies excellence through her clinical work and innovation, teaching, research, and advocacy. She is, and will continue to be, an exceptional leader in our field and is well-deserving of this Award.

Remarks:

One moment that shaped my career trajectory was: Not a specific moment but the experience of training in cardiology and organ transplant, a rotation offered during my internship at the Cleveland VA, led me to my current role in Cardiac Behavioral Medicine. The training made me a good candidate for this position and the experience and supervision sparked my interest in this area of Health Psychology. Both internship and my role at Northwestern have shaped my efforts to contribute to an advocate for more science and training in Cardiac Behavioral Medicine. Simultaneously, an internship supervisor was one of the first to point out my interest and attention to health equity, which continues to shape my career clinically and in research, education, and leadership.

Introduction by Barbara Keeton:

Building a website is a lot like having a baby. What looks like an intuitive, effortless process turns out to be fraught with uncertainty, takes longer, and costs more than anticipated! So many decisions must be made: what will we call it? What colors will look good? How much space will we need? And what happens as it grows?!

During both pregnancy and web development, many people are willing to make suggestions about what to do and how to do it, but fewer volunteer to see it through. Casey Cavanagh stepped up to face the challenge of building a new website for the Society for Health Psychology. She assessed all aspects of our previous site; applied the best practices in communications and technology, and expanded services while simultaneously simplifying the site to make it more engaging – on multiple platforms.

We’re grateful to Casey as Web Editor-in-Chief for her commitment; but more than that, we are enriched by her insight, organization, and collegiality. Not many people could produce a new site in under a year, while maintaining their professional responsibilities, and – oh, yes – actually having a baby!

The Society for Health Psychology thanks Dr. Casey Cavanagh for her professional generosity and look forward to her continuing participation.

Remarks:

I am honored to receive this award for service to the Society for Health Psychology. It is a privilege and joy to volunteer for this organization that dedicates itself to improving the lives of individuals and society through health promotion and research. I would like to thank Barbara Keeton for selecting me to receive this award and for Steff Brown’s amazing support of our work. I would also like to extend my gratitude to all of the Society’s other volunteers, whose collective efforts and commitment enhances our work and makes a difference in our field. I’m inspired by the Society for Health Psychology and our work together. I look forward to continuing to contribute to the Society’s mission. Thank you once again for this great honor.