Kate Shirley, Ph.D., a trainee in the Postdoctoral Fellowship Training Program, has received this year's Student Award from Psychologists in Public Service (Division 18 of the American Psychological Association). The award recognizes a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow who demonstrates exemplary commitment to public service psychology and underserved populations.

“I'm honored to receive this recognition,” Shirley said. “My training at Brown took me from behavioral medicine during internship to working alongside veterans experiencing serious mental illness and housing insecurity during my fellowship. Those experiences shaped the way I think about both clinical care and research. I'm grateful to my mentors, supervisors, colleagues, and especially the patients I've worked with for showing me what public service in psychology really looks like.”

In her postdoctoral fellowship at the Providence VA Medical Center, Shirley works with veterans experiencing serious mental illness and homelessness, providing recovery-oriented mental health care in the Psychosocial Rehabilitation & Recovery Center and integrated behavioral health services through the Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team. Her research focuses on evidence-based cognitive rehabilitation interventions and reducing barriers to care.

Upon the conclusion of her fellowship in September, Shirley plans to take a clinician-scientist position with the VA Portland Health Care System in Portland, OR.