Ohio Psychological Association Announces 2015 Michael Sullivan Diversity Scholarship Recipients
Columbus, Ohio (PRWEB) March 13, 2015 -- The Michael Sullivan Diversity Scholarship Fund committee has selected two winners for 2015. They are Caitlin Cavanagh of the University of California, Irvine and Barbara Wood Roberts of Idaho State University.
The Michael Sullivan Diversity Scholarship Fund supports research, training and community projects in the area of diversity. Dr. Michael Sullivan served as the Assistant Executive Director for State Advocacy at the American Psychological Association (APA). The scholarship was created by the Ohio Psychological Association (OPA) in honor of his work with APA, state, provincial and territorial psychological associations, and his commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Caitlin Cavanagh’s research focuses on the overrepresentation of Latino youth in the juvenile justice system. To understand the mechanisms of support that may differ among Latino and non-Latino youth, it is necessary to investigate the primary support system for youth on probation: their parents. In an effort to improve how the juvenile justice system works with families toward youth probationary success, Ms. Cavanagh’s study examines justice system treatment, offending trajectories, and how the youth-mother dyad dynamically responds to justice system contact for Hispanic/Latino families. Using a sample of first-time youth offenders and their mothers interviewed longitudinally, Cavanagh’s goal is to develop a cultural framework around which to create recommendations for policy makers.
Cavanagh received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rochester and is currently in her final year of the PhD program in developmental psychology at The University of California, Irvine.
Barbara Wood Roberts’ research explores whether culture has an impact on the accuracy of perspective-taking and pain perception in a healthcare setting. Roberts’ project will illuminate the scientific community and the public about the differences in how we listen to each other in one of society’s most important relationships: the patient/provider dyad. Adding to the body of information about the ways that cultural interactions effect healthcare disparities means the results of this study can possibly play a role in the reduction and eventual elimination of such disparities.
Roberts’ said she is especially humbled to receive the Michael Sullivan Diversity scholarship, “I'm so delighted to have been selected; this is an important achievement for our lab. Thanks to opportunities like the Michael Sullivan Diversity Scholarship, important research is made possible.”
Roberts’ received her Bachelor of Humanities from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Barbara is currently a second year PhD student in Experimental Psychology at Idaho State University.
This is the eighth year for the Michael Sullivan Diversity Scholarship. Past winners are:
2014-Calia A. Torres, University of Alabama and Jeremy J. Eggleston, Fordham University
2013-Jim Kim, University of California-Davis and David Luck, University of California-Los Angeles
2012-Marisa Franco and Anahi Collado-Rodriguez, University of Maryland
2011-Ana Fernandez, Long Island University/Brooklyn Campus
2010-Ariz Rojas, University of South Florida
2009-Sangetta Parikshak, University of Kansas
2008-Janelle Hines, University of Cincinnati
Additional information about the Michael Sullivan Diversity Scholarship is available at http://www.ohpsych.org. Call for applications for the 2016 scholarships begin in the fall of 2015.
Photographs of the Michael Sullivan Diversity Scholarship recipients are available upon request.
Karen Hardin, Ohio Psychological Association, http://www.ohpsych.org, +1 (614) 224-0034 Ext: 15, [email protected]
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