For Immediate Release
Contact: Rob Grant, Communications Director
202.966.7300, Ext. 119
rgrant@aacap.org
Amanda Greenberg, Communications Coordinator
202.966.7300, Ext. 154
agreenberg@aacap.org
Washington, D.C., October 22, 2009 – The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is pleased to announce Hannah Stevens, M.D., Ph.D., as the recipient of the Robinson Cunningham Award for the Best Paper by a Resident. Her paper, “Risk and Resilience: Early Manipulation of Macaque Social Experience and Persistent Behavioral and Neurophysiological Outcomes,” was published in the Feburary 2009 issue of Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
“When I started in the Solnit Integrated Program at Yale School of Medicine 5 years ago, I was excited about the possibility of conducting neuroscience research to help elucidate childhood psychiatric disorders but I had little insight into how I would do this,” Dr. Stevens remarked. “Fittingly, this paper and the process of writing it reflect my own research and clinical development through residency. My progress began thanks to the guidance of my training directors, Dorothy Stubbe and Andrés Martin, who provided me with excellent experiences in adult and child psychiatry early in my residency.”
Dr. Stevens reviewed the contribution of research on non-human primates and related them to the understanding of early social stress and its effects on behavior and neurophysiology. Her study, conducted by reviewing two bodies of work on macaque monkeys and early social manipulation: peer-rearing and variable foraging demands, concluded that disrupted social relationships during macaque rearing contributes to the risk of developing emotional and neurophysiological disturbances. This interaction of genetics with early social environment also applies to child mental health, implicating biological mediators identified in macaques as contributing to more complex outcomes in humans.
AACAP’s Robinson Cunningham Award for the Best Paper by a Resident is named after J. Franklin Robinson, M.D. and James M. Cunningham, M.D., two former AACAP Presidents who dedicated their lives to improving and expanding psychiatric services for children. This award recognizes an outstanding paper on some aspect of child and adolescent psychiatry started during residency and completed within three years of graduation.
For more information on this award, please contact Amanda Greenberg, Communications Coordinator, at 202.966.7300 x 154 or agreenberg@aacap.org.
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Representing over 7,500 child and adolescent psychiatrists nationwide, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is the leading authority on children's mental health. AACAP members actively research, diagnose, and treat psychiatric disorders affecting children, adolescents, and their families.
Contact: Rob Grant, Communications Director
202.966.7300, Ext. 119
rgrant@aacap.org
Amanda Greenberg, Communications Coordinator
202.966.7300, Ext. 154
agreenberg@aacap.org
Washington, D.C., October 22, 2009 – The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is pleased to announce Hannah Stevens, M.D., Ph.D., as the recipient of the Robinson Cunningham Award for the Best Paper by a Resident. Her paper, “Risk and Resilience: Early Manipulation of Macaque Social Experience and Persistent Behavioral and Neurophysiological Outcomes,” was published in the Feburary 2009 issue of Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
“When I started in the Solnit Integrated Program at Yale School of Medicine 5 years ago, I was excited about the possibility of conducting neuroscience research to help elucidate childhood psychiatric disorders but I had little insight into how I would do this,” Dr. Stevens remarked. “Fittingly, this paper and the process of writing it reflect my own research and clinical development through residency. My progress began thanks to the guidance of my training directors, Dorothy Stubbe and Andrés Martin, who provided me with excellent experiences in adult and child psychiatry early in my residency.”
Dr. Stevens reviewed the contribution of research on non-human primates and related them to the understanding of early social stress and its effects on behavior and neurophysiology. Her study, conducted by reviewing two bodies of work on macaque monkeys and early social manipulation: peer-rearing and variable foraging demands, concluded that disrupted social relationships during macaque rearing contributes to the risk of developing emotional and neurophysiological disturbances. This interaction of genetics with early social environment also applies to child mental health, implicating biological mediators identified in macaques as contributing to more complex outcomes in humans.
AACAP’s Robinson Cunningham Award for the Best Paper by a Resident is named after J. Franklin Robinson, M.D. and James M. Cunningham, M.D., two former AACAP Presidents who dedicated their lives to improving and expanding psychiatric services for children. This award recognizes an outstanding paper on some aspect of child and adolescent psychiatry started during residency and completed within three years of graduation.
For more information on this award, please contact Amanda Greenberg, Communications Coordinator, at 202.966.7300 x 154 or agreenberg@aacap.org.
###
Representing over 7,500 child and adolescent psychiatrists nationwide, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is the leading authority on children's mental health. AACAP members actively research, diagnose, and treat psychiatric disorders affecting children, adolescents, and their families.
