Four Professors Appointed to Endowed Chairs
Date published: 10/13/25
Congratulations to the following faculty for being appointed to term chairs endowed by Bernice Wenzel and Wendell Jeffrey. Avi Adhikari has been appointed to the Bernice Wenzel and Wendell Jeffrey Term Endowed Chair in Behavioral Neuroscience. Bridget Callaghan has been appointed to the Bernice Wenzel and Wendell Jeffrey Term Endowed Chair in Developmental Neuroscience. Dave Clewett has been appointed to the Bernice Wenzel and Wendell Jeffrey Term Endowed Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience. Tiffany Ho has been appointed to the Wendell Jeffrey and Bernice Wenzel Term Endowed Chair in Behavioral Neuroscience.
Psychology Staff Spotlight Award – Becca Bell
Date published: 10/01/25
Highlighting Faculty Member Barbara Knowlton
Date published: 09/19/25
My lab is focused on understanding learning and memory. Much of my work is motivated by the insight that learning is not a unitary phenomenon but consists of very different types of learning that depend on different brain systems.
Prof. Parkinson Receives 2025 S4SN Early Career Award
Date published: 09/08/25
Congratulations to Associate Professor Carolyn Parkinson for receiving a 2025 Early Career Award from the Society for Social Neuroscience (S4SN). This award recognizes the formation of new approaches or paradigms within the field of social neuroscience, and/or the development or advancement of research that cuts across multiple fields of neuroscience to understand social cognition and behaviour.
Erin Morrow (Cognitive Area) was quoted in a New York Times article !
Date published: 08/13/25
Erin Morrow (Cognitive Area) was quoted in a New York Times article titled “To Protest Budget Cuts, Young Scientists Try Letters to the Editor.” The article is available at https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/science/science-budget-cuts-protest-letters.html?smid=url-share
Congratulations to Fran Querdasi (Developmental Area) for receiving the 2025 Millard Madsen Distinguished Dissertation Award for the best developmental dissertation.
Date published: 08/13/25
Congratulations to Fran Querdasi (Developmental Area) for receiving the 2025 Millard Madsen Distinguished Dissertation Award for the best developmental dissertation. Fran’s dissertation is titled “Early Caregiving Adversity and Internalizing Symptoms in Middle Childhood to Adolescence: Gut Microbiome and Inflammatory Mechanisms,” and her dissertation committee chair is Bridget Callaghan.
Congratulations to Kaitlin McManus (Clinical Area) for being selected by the Pritzker Committee for Excellence to receive the sixth annual Pritzker Graduate Scholar Award.
Date published: 08/13/25
Congratulations to Kaitlin McManus (Clinical Area) for being selected by the Pritzker Committee for Excellence to receive the sixth annual Pritzker Graduate Scholar Award. The Pritzker Graduate Scholar Award is intended to support graduate students in the Department of Psychology who demonstrate excellence in the conduct of psychological science with the potential for high public impact.
Congratulations to Shiba Esfand (Clinical Area) and Julia Fischer (incoming Quant Area) for being selected for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP).
Date published: 08/13/25
Congratulations to Shiba Esfand (Clinical Area) and Julia Fischer (incoming Quant Area) for being selected for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). Both Shiba and Julia previously received Honorable Mention accolades and were recently notified that they were selected for the NSF GRFP.
2025 UCLA Psychology Graduate Hooding Ceremony
Date published: 07/29/25
Congratulations to the 18 participants who participated in the Psychology Graduate Hooding Ceremony! We wish our students much success in their futures!
Prof. Monti Selected as Fulbright U.S. Scholar
Date published: 07/07/25
Congratulations to Professor Martin Monti for being selected as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar for 2025-2026 for Japan. Fulbright Scholar Awards are prestigious fellowships that offer scholars unique opportunities teach and conduct research abroad, playing a critical role in U.S. public diplomacy.
Congratulations to the graduate students who successfully defended their dissertations during Fall 2024, Winter 2025, and Spring 2025, and those expecting to file in Summer 2025
Date published: 07/02/25
Congratulations to Xochitl Arlene Smola (Developmental Area) for receiving the 2025 Dena Chertoff Graduate Student Service Award
Date published: 07/02/25
Congratulations to Xochitl Arlene Smola (Developmental Area) for receiving the 2025 Dena Chertoff Graduate Student Service Award. Established in 2009 to honor Dena Chertoff (who served as Graduate Advisor for 38 years), this departmental award honors graduate students who have made outstanding contributions to the overall well-being of the students, faculty, and staff in the department.
Congratulations to Molly Smith (Social Area) for receiving the Harold H. Kelley Award
Date published: 07/02/25
Congratulations to Molly Smith (Social Area) for receiving the Harold H. Kelley Award for her paper titled “Can Generative AI Chatbots Emulate Human Connection? A Relationship Science Perspective.” This award has been given since 1997 and honors an exceptionally meritorious research paper addressing basic issues or theory in social psychology.
Congratulations to Ryan Sabillo (Social Area) for receiving the Shelley Taylor Dissertation Award
Date published: 07/02/25
Congratulations to Ryan Sabillo (Social Area) for receiving the Shelley Taylor Dissertation Award for his dissertation titled “Blurring Boundaries: A Social Categorization Approach to Facilitate Tolerance Toward Diversity.” This award has been given since 2013 and honors an exceptionally meritorious dissertation completed by a graduate student whose primary advisor is in the Social Area.
Congratulations to Kasheena Rogbeer (Social Area) for receiving the Bertram Raven Award
Date published: 07/02/25
Congratulations to Kasheena Rogbeer (Social Area) for receiving the Bertram Raven Award for her paper titled “Is Unity Durable Among People of Color? Two Large Experiments Stress-Testing Solidarity Between Black and Latino Americans.” This award has been given since 1997 and honors an exceptionally meritorious research paper addressing a social issue or problem.
Congratulations to Gabrielle Rinne (Health Area) for receiving the 2025 Joseph A. Gengerelli Distinguished Dissertation Award!
Date published: 07/02/25
Congratulations to Gabrielle Rinne (Health Area) for receiving the 2025 Joseph A. Gengerelli Distinguished Dissertation Award for having the most outstanding dissertation in our department this year. This award honors Professor Gengerelli, who is remembered for his teaching, guidance of students, innovative research, and departmental leadership.
Erin Morrow (Cognitive Area) was quoted in a Forbes article!
Date published: 07/02/25
Erin Morrow (Cognitive Area) was quoted in a Forbes article titled “Scientists-In-Training Speak Out To Protect Public Research.” The article is available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/johndrake/2025/06/19/scientists-in-training-speak-out-to-protect-public-research/
Congratulations to Kaitlin McManus (Clinical Area) for receiving a 2025 Enoch Gordis Research Recognition Award for a graduate student in the Psychosocial/Clinical category.
Date published: 07/02/25
Congratulations to Kaitlin McManus (Clinical Area) for receiving a 2025 Enoch Gordis Research Recognition Award for a graduate student in the Psychosocial/Clinical category. This award recognizes outstanding research by a trainee and was presented by the Research Society on Alcohol (RSA) at the 48th Annual RSA Scientific Meeting.
Congratulations to Tyrus Korecki (Health Area) for receiving the 2025 Health Psychology Paper Prize
Date published: 07/02/25
Congratulations to Tyrus Korecki (Health Area) for receiving the 2025 Health Psychology Paper Prize for his paper titled “Depression and Inflammation in Women with Breast Cancer: Risk and Resilience Factors,” published in Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine.
Congratulations to Kaitlin McManus (Clinical Area) for being selected by the Pritzker Committee for Excellence to receive the sixth annual Pritzker Graduate Scholar Award
Date published: 06/30/25
Kaitlin McManus (Clinical Area) was selected by the Pritzker Committee for Excellence to receive the sixth annual Pritzker Graduate Scholar Award. The Pritzker Graduate Scholar Award is intended to support graduate students in the Department of Psychology who demonstrate excellence in the conduct of psychological science with the potential for high public impact.