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Presidential Early Career Awards Part II: More Psychologist Winners
By Patricia Kobor
Last month Psychological Science Agenda profiled two psychologists who won Presidential Early Career Awards for Science and Engineering (PECASE) (“Congratulations to Presidential Early Career Award Winners.”) Both Laura Elena O’Dell and Francis S. Lee were nominated for their awards by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Three additional psychologist winners were nominated by other federal agencies: two by the U.S. Department of Education and one by the National Science Foundation. Please join the APA Science Directorate in congratulating these individuals who have received the highest honor bestowed upon junior scientists by the U.S. government.
Jeremy Gray, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Yale University, pursues research on the interactions between emotion and higher cognition, including attention and self-control, at both behavioral and neural levels of analysis. Gray’s research is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Education and Human Resources Directorate, Division of Research on Formal and Informal Learning. The PECASE was granted “for outstanding research on the relationship between emotion and cognition in both laboratory and classroom studies of self-control; and for integrating his findings into undergraduate courses, public lectures, mentoring of graduate and undergraduate students, and seminars for parents.”
Nicole McNeil, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame, studies cognitive development. McNeil’s work focuses on the mechanisms that propel and constrain the development of problem solving, quantitative reasoning, and symbolic understanding. Her research addresses two main questions: Why are some domains of knowledge, such as mathematics, so difficult for children (and adults) to learn? And how do domain experience and practice affect learning and problem solving? She is interested in theoretical issues related to the construction and organization of knowledge, as well as practical issues related to learning and instruction. McNeil was nominated for her PECASE by the U.S. Department of Education.
Gregory Fabiano, of the University of Buffalo’s Graduate School of Education and Center for Children and Families, specializes in research with children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He is an Assistant Professor of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology. Currently, Fabiano's research interests focus on evidence-based treatments in home, school, and recreational settings. He is principal investigator on a grant from the Institute of Educational Sciences that investigates procedures for enhancing the outcomes of children with ADHD in special education. He is also principal investigator on an NIMH grant supporting the development of parenting programs for fathers of children with ADHD. Fabiano was nominated for his PECASE by the U.S. Department of Education.