The Lionel Aldridge Award recognizes an individual consumer for courage, leadership, and service on behalf of all people with mental illness. As the 2008 recipient of this award, Dr. Jean Campbell, of the Missouri Institute for Mental Health, has been recognized for her service as an innovative thinker, speaker, consumer advocate, and mentor for more than 20 years. Her scholarship in all areas of consumer research, including data and quality improvement, will be the source of new ideas and will be cited for many years to come.

Her willingness to serve on a broad, national scale--evidenced by her service on the President's New Freedom Commission and, before that, as a consultant to the Surgeon General's 1999 report on mental health--has been balanced by the personal relationships she has established with individual consumers, her generosity as a mentor, and her creation of many opportunities to educate consumers through research. Her work has been important in its own time and will continue to be important for many years to come.

Sarah Chilenski, Research Assistant Professor, is the 2008 winner of the "Best Dissertation on a Topic Relevant to Community Psychology Award" from the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) recognizing the excellence of her dissertation. Criteria for the award include relevance of the study to community psychology, with particular emphasis on important and emerging trends in the field; scholarly excellence; innovation and implications for theory, research, and action; and methodological appropriateness. The award includes a plaque, cash, and partial travel support to one of two major scientific conventions in order to receive the award.

Congratulations Dr. Chilenski!

Matthew Hile, Research Associate Professor and Director of the Behavioral Health Division, has been accepted into the Leadership Saint Louis 2008-2009 class. This program brings together community leaders from a variety of fields to explore ways to make the Saint Louis region a better place to live and work and is one of the most highly-respected leadership development programs offered in the area.

Congratulations Dr. Hile!

The Society for General Psychology (APA Division One)is pleased to announce the 2008 Ernest R. Hilgard Award for the outstanding lifetime contributions to general psychology across specialty areas. The winner is Danny Wedding, PhD, MPH. Danny will be recognized at the Society’s meetings in Boston in August 2008, and will offer the Hilgard Lecture in August, 2009 at APA in Toronto, where he receives a $1,000 check. He is invited to submit an essay in 2009 to The General Psychologist, the Division's magazine edited by Bob Johnson.

Like the legendary Ernest R. Hilgard, Danny Wedding's extraordinarily diverse work shows him to be a psychologist for all seasons: researcher, teacher, practitioner, consultant, author, editor, advocate, and elected fellow of five APA divisions: General, Clinical, Health, International, and Pharmacotherapy. Since completing his PhD in 1979 at University of Hawaii, and his MPH in 1994 at Saint Louis University, Danny seems to have done it all, including service as an award-winning teacher, international lecturer, author of several books, administrator, practitioner, Congressional Fellow for Health Policy (1989-90) and Science Policy (1990-91). Danny has also been a US Air Force medical corpsman and later Captain in the US Navy Reserve (1976-1996), a US Fulbright Senior Scholar and Distinguished Lecturer (1999, and 2008-2009), and, since 1991, he has served as the Director of the Missouri Institute of Mental Health. As the Editor of APA's PsycCRITIQUES (2005-2010), under his direction, the previous Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books has been dramatically transformed into a bold new on-line weekly journal and database, tripled in its coverage, extended its international influence, and greatly expanded across non-print media (including DVDs and films). Psychology is indeed in Danny's debt for his many and great contributions across specialty areas.

We thank you Dr. Wedding!

According to a 2006 Missouri Student Survey conducted by the Missouri Institute of Mental Health, the age when a child in Missouri takes his first drink of alcohol is 12.

HOUSTON – The American Psychological Association’s (APA) Council of Representatives has introduced new wording in a resolution to clarify the ethical responsibilities of psychologists in harsh interrogation techniques, according to the March edition of its publication The National Psychologist. This action was a response to resounding condemnation by APA’s members who objected to the participation of psychologists in the Bush administration’s open defiance of international law banning torture.

A program offering services to families affected by methamphetamine abuse in southwest Missouri has recently been launched by a Chicago-based private non-profit human service organization. Circle of Hope with its newly named director Shannon Stokes will target nine counties in the southwest corner of the state with especially high numbers of children in care who have been affected by their families' meth drug abuse.

The most common substance abused by teens is alcohol, and the average age of first regular use is 11.8 years old, according to the results of a 2006 student survey conducted by the Missouri Institute of Mental Health.

Teens and adults in Columbia are working together this month to raise awareness about underage alcohol use, its effects on the community and what can be done to change teen behaviors and attitudes about alcohol.

Researchers collaborating with the School of Public Health at Boston University found that limited access and availability of alcohol is a key factor in reducing underage drinking. In accordance with this strategy, the University of Missouri Wellness Center last week launched a free online training program for retail and convenience store clerks to ensure they don’t sell alcohol to minors.