SCCAP Fellows Committee Update

SCCAP Fellows Committee Update

By Martha C. (Marcy) Tompson, PhD
Chair, SCCAP Fellows Committee

By Martha C. (Marcy) Tompson, PhD
Chair, SCCAP Fellows Committee

Congratulations to our new SCCAP Fellows: 

• Diane Chen PhD
• Robin H. Gurwitch, PhD
• Christopher A. Kearney, PhD
• Barbara A. Mowder, PhD
• Kenneth H. Rubin, PhD
• Jenelle R. Shanley, PhD
• Jonathan Woods Weinand, PhD.

The Fellows Committee unanimously agreed that they had made outstanding and extraordinary contributions to the field of child and adolescent mental health. Bravo!

In addition, we recommended five of our members for Initial Fellow Status, and they will be announced at the APA Conference in August.

SCCAP Fellow status is a valued honor and recognizes outstanding contributions, with national impact, to Psychology overall and to SCCAP specifically. As Fellows Chair I am taking opportunities to showcase some of our wonderful SCCAP Fellows. This month we introduce Dr. Rhonda Boyd, who became a Fellow on January 1, 2024 and is already participating as a member of the Fellows Committee.

Dr. Rhonda C. Boyd is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Additionally, she is a researcher at CHOP Policy Lab and a member of the National Scientific Council on Adolescence. She is the Associate Director of the CHOP’s Child and Adolescent Mood Program in the outpatient clinic where she practices as a licensed psychologist specializing in the evaluation and treatment of youth with depression and suicide risk. She has served as a Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on multiple federal grants including those from the National Institutes of Health and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Specifically, she has conducted several studies examining maternal depression and its impact on children, particularly focused on Black families and has developed and adapted interventions for urban, diverse families with maternal depression in multiple settings, such as community, mental health, and primary care. More recently her work has shifted to include youth suicide prevention. Currently, she is a Co-Investigator for two Practice-Based Suicide Prevention Research Centers funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. Additionally, she participated in the workgroup for the Congressional Black Caucus Emergency Taskforce on Black Youth Suicide & Mental Health which resulted in the influential “Ring the Alarm” report, as well as participated with the development of the “Suicide: Blueprint for Youth Suicide Prevention” report. Dr. Boyd was on an advisory committee for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention which developed a suicide prevention education program for Black and African American communities (LETS Save Lives) that has been launched in 2024 into communities across the US. Her research and expertise have been highlighted in several media outlets such as US News Report, Black Channel Network and Teen Vogue.

If you are interested in becoming an SCCAP Fellow, you are encouraged to apply!  Applications for the 2025 cycle are not due until December 1, 2024, so you have plenty of time. Please be aware you’re your APA dues must be up-to-date and membership current at the time of application. For information on requirements, please visit the SCCAP website (https://sccap53.org/membership/). I will be at the APA Conference and happy to talk!