Jacklyn Foley, a doctoral candidate in the Clinical Psychology program, has been selected to receive the Society of Behavioral Medicine 2019 Distinguished Student Award: Excellence in Research.

The Excellence in Research award is provided to students who demonstrate excellence in student-conducted research and whose application show a need for resources to support this research. Particular consideration is given to research-related activities that are originally conceived by the student with the student functioning as the lead; significant and methodologically strong; and in need of resources that can be supported by the award.  

Under the guidance of Dr. Peter Vanable and Dr. Sarah Woolf-King, her research focuses on the associations between depressive sympotms, substance use, and sexual health to inform behavioral intervention development for marginalized populations. Recently, she has been focusing on the use of message framing as an approach to motivating sexual risk behavior change among men and women on PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) treatments to prevent HIV infection.

"Jackie is highly collaborative, creative in the pursuit of high-priority research topics, and delivers on all the clinical and research-oriented goals that she sets for herself. She represents a great investment for SBM and will no doubt go on to do great things in her career," said Peter A. Vanable, Professor of Psychology and Dean of the Graduate School.

The award will be formally presented at SBM's 40th Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions in Washington, DC in March.

Congratulations, Jackie!