Professor Mark Hatzenbuehler Receives Award from Association for Psychological Science

Mark L. Hatzenbuehler, PhD, associate professor of Sociomedical Sciences and co-director, Center for the Study of Social Inequalities and Health at the Mailman School of Public Health, was honored by the Association for Psychological Science, with the Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions. This award celebrates the many new and cutting edge ideas coming out of the most creative and promising investigators who embody the future of psychological science. The Spence award recognizes young researchers who cross traditional sub-disciplinary lines in psychological science and honors contributions that reveal the organization underlying complex behavior by drawing upon multiple fields of psychological science.

Janet Taylor Spence was the first elected APS President. Her work embodied transformative contributions to psychological research, developing new approaches to research topics ranging from schizophrenia to developmental psychology to gender bias.

Dr. Hatzenbuehler's research focuses on the causes of health disparities related to sexual orientation; the health consequences of exposure to structural forms of stigma; and the identification of biopsychosocial mechanisms linking stigma to adverse health outcomes. His recent work has examined how social policies that differentially target sexual minorities (e.g., same-sex marriage laws, employment non-discrimination policies, anti-bullying policies) affect the health of lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations.

Last month, the American Psychological Association's Committee on Psychology in the Public Interest Awards selected Dr. Hatzenbuehler as the recipient of the 2016 Early Career Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest. Earlier this year, he received the 2015 Louise Kidder Early Career Award from The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, which recognizes young social issues researchers who have made substantial contributions to the field.

Dr. Hatzenbuehler will be honored at the annual convention of the Association for Psychological Science in May.