Awards

Congratulations to DCBN graduate student, Steven Nieto, who has been awarded an NRSA F31 Fellowship from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The project title is, “Functional and Epigenetic Consequences of Paternal Alcohol Exposure,” and it is a three-year award. Steven is advised by Dr. Terri Kosten.

Congratulations to DCBN graduate student, Emily Barton, who has been selected as a recipient of a 2016 American Psychological Association Dissertation Research Award. This award of $1,000 is for her dissertation project entitled “How the Alcohol-Damaged Brain Responds to Exercise.” Emily Barton is advised by Dr. Leigh Leasure.

Congratulations to Kelly Vaughn, a third-year Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience graduate student, who received the Graduate International Immigration Research Fellowship from the Center for Immigration Research at UH. Kelly is advised by Dr. Arturo Hernandez.

Congratulations to Steven Nieto, who is a 2016 recipient of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society Graduate Student Travel Award. Steven is advised by Dr. Terri Kosten.

DCBN graduate students Joe Pirozzolo, Madeleine Gorges, and Kelly Vaughn all received the University of Houston’s Future Faculty Fellowship. Joe is advised by Dr. Don Foss and Dr. David Francis. Madeleine and Kelly are advised by Dr. Arturo Hernandez.

Hanako Yoshida, Associate Professor of Psychology, is one of the recipients of an individual seed grant award from the Center for Mexican American Studies. This award is for her work on “Early Social Impact on Mexican Immigrant Children’s Language Development”.

Arturo E. Hernandez is among this year’s recipients of the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award. The award honors his work in mapping how the brain processes language. This research has implication on how language – including a second language – is taught and learned.

Therese A. Kosten, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology was selected as the winner of the 2015 Women and Gender Resource Center (WGRC) Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award in the tenured faculty category. The Distinguished Faculty Scholar award recognized her as a highly productive researcher who has produced impactful work on addictive behaviors. Some of Dr. Kosten’s significant contributions including research in sex differences in the impact of early life stress and vaccines.

Bruno G. Breitmeyer, Professor of Psychology was a recipient at the professor level of the Faculty Excellence Award for his substantial continuing record of outstanding research and scholarship.

Jack M. Fletcher, Ph.D., ABPP (ABCN), Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor, and Chair of the Department of Psychology was awarded the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions (PHHP) 2014-2015 Alumnus of the Year Award.

Highlights

UH Prof. Arturo Hernandez’s research on the bilingual brain is featured in the Spanish language channel for National Geographic. Filming was on the UH campus as a neuroscience documentary in January 2015. The show is called “Asombrosamente” and it aired on the channel “Nat Geo Mundo”, the Spanish language channel for National Geographic. The show premiered in USA on September 13, 2015.