Newsletter Fall 2016

Dear Friends of Psychology,

Welcome to our Fall 2016 Psychology Department newsletter! I hope you’ll enjoy reading about all the exciting developments in our Department in the past year. I’m extremely proud of our faculty and students for their numerous accomplishments, many of which are honored by awards and other recognitions that you can read about in the newsletter.  This past year we also had great success in recruiting 6 new faculty members to Psychology!  Together, their cutting edge research programs span all areas of the Department. Our new colleagues will enrich our community and expand the learning opportunities for our students.  Last year, we also launched a new monthly lecture series by our faculty at the downtown branch of the Ann Arbor public library.  The series was a great success and will continue this year—please join us if you’re in town!  Wherever you are, we hope you’ll visit our wonderful new website often for news and event announcements throughout the year!

With my very best wishes,
Patti

Naomi E. Lohr Award provides lasting impact

The Naomi E. Lohr Award for Excellence in Clinical Psychology is awarded to a Clinical Science doctoral student during the internship year. The award recognizes a student who demonstrates a clear commitment to developing clinical expertise and an appreciation for a diversity of theoretical and clinical perspectives and approaches. Learn more about the impact of the generous donations to this award by reading about the research of this year’s award recipient, Johnny Berona, here.
 

The Fitts Memorial Fund helped support the Department of Psychology’s 5th annual “Fitts Faculty, Staff, and Graduate Student Awards Banquet and Lecture”, with approximately 200 in attendance. Click here to read about the award winners and click here to learn more about the late University of Michigan Psychology Professor, Paul M. Fitts.

From left to right: Colonel Eugene Salaniuk, Mrs. Paul Fitts, Susan Fitts-Salaniuk (Prof. Fitts’ daughter), Professor Susan Gelman (the 2016 Fitts Lecturer),Professor Patricia Reuter-Lorenz (Psychology Department Chair), and Professor Thad Polk (Psychology Department Associate Chair).

José Dávila, Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience Undergrad

José Dávila spent his summer in Ethiopia working on a Design Ethnography Project that is running usability testing on a Medical Device Prototype that aims to reduce the skill needed to insert Contraceptive Hormonal Rods that go in the upper arm of a patient. This technology would allow for rural areas in Ethiopia to have greater access to contraceptive care. José is interested in the psychological and public health influences that impact women’s health and family planning.

Nia Byrd, Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience Undergrad

Rising Senior BCN major, Nia Byrd, has been awarded a scholarship from the Undergraduate Scholarship Program (UGSP) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is one of only 16 undergraduates nationally to receive the honor, which includes a scholarship of up to $20,000 for the 2016-2017 academic year. Next summer, she will become a paid research trainee at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland for 10 weeks followed by one year of full time employment as a research trainee. She will also be applying for Medical School during this time. Nia is looking forward to picking her own research mentor. Currently, she is looking into the Radiology and Physical Rehabilitation departments, but will have a better idea once she visits in January to meet the research mentors and tour the departments. "I am extremely grateful to be selected for such an amazing program as this and I cannot wait to begin this next chapter of my life." Congratulations, Nia!  

Life after Graduation: Putting Psychology to Work with Reda Jaber

Dr. Reda Jaber, Partner, IncWell

University of Michigan, Psychology BS, 2008

Dr. Jaber is a partner at IncWell, an early-stage venture capital fund based in Birmingham, MI. IncWell provides seed funding, strategic partnerships and mentorship for U.S. and Canadian startup companies. Dr. Jaber has lead responsibility for all medical sector activities, and is currently focused on artificial intelligence in healthcare and consumer health products.

Each year Forbes Magazine lists their picks for the top 600 brightest young entrepreneurs, breakout talents and change agents in 20 different sectors. In 2016, Forbes recognized Dr. Jaber on their 30 under 30 list (healthcare sector). Read more about what inspires Dr. Jaber and his experience at the University of Michigan here.  

UM Psychology recently launched its monthly “Exploring the Mind” series of community talks, offering the public an inside look at emerging topics in the field of psychology. This series was a huge success in 2015-2016 with five different Psychology faculty presenting at the downtown branch of the Ann Arbor District Library. You can view past presentations, see a schedule of future talks, and subscribe to our community talk Email list here.

Sari van Anders, Associate Professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies

While it has been long understood that hormones can have a powerful influence on our behavior, Dr. van Ander’s research suggests that our behavior can actually influence our hormones too. Read more about this fascinating research in LSA’s most recent magazine, here.

Shelly Schreier, Neil M. Kalter Collegiate Lecturer IV, Psychology

Michigan Daily posted an article on ‘The Best of Ann Arbor’, and our very own Shelly Schreier was listed as Best Professor. According to the article’s author, Megan Mitchell, “Professor Shelly Schreier is undoubtedly deserving of the “Best of Ann Arbor” award. Actually, I’m also absolutely certain that if there were an award for “Best Professor on God’s Green Earth,” she would win that one too.” Congrats Shelly!

Julie Boland, Professor of Psychology and Linguistics

Julie Boland’s recent study in PLOS One, showing that a reader's personality influences how they react to errors in Email messages, has been picked up by blogs and news alike.