The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences celebrated the service and achievements of its faculty and staff during the 2022 Annual Celebration.

For the second year in a row, the event, which drew more than 100 attendees, was held virtually. During the celebration, six faculty and staff were honored with special awards.

Service Achievement Award

• Edward Hunter, Ph.D. 

Psychiatry Staff Service Award

• Stacie Stolz (Strawberry Hill Campus)
• Laura Childers (Marillac Campus)
• Charlotte Iannaci (Main Campus)

Collegiality Award

• Tyler Droege, Psy.D. (Psychology)
• Shilpa Sachdeva, M.D. (Psychiatry)

The Service Achievement Award, one of the department’s highest honors, is presented to an individual who demonstrates professional excellence through research, teaching or clinical service and/or clinical contributions that are above and beyond. The Staff Service Award recognizes individuals who display professional excellences in service, sharing or collegiality, while the Faculty Collegiality Award is given to one psychologist/doctoral researcher and one physician who cultivates cooperative relationships with colleagues and shares authority.

Nominated and chosen by department faculty and staff, honorees received plaques to mark the occasion. 

The department also recognized the service anniversaries of faculty and staff at KU Medical Center as well as personnel at The University of Kansas Health System.

William Gabrielli, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the department, also provided remarks during the hour-long event. In addition to paying homage to the distinguished history of the department, he recognized both the accomplishments and challenges in the past year, while encouraging everyone to keep working for a better future.

“The topic of today's talk is, ‘For those that come after us,’ and the rest of that title is, ‘Believe, hope, engage and be kind.’ It all starts from humble beginnings in 1905, and it also starts with a belief in something special, and that belief is that mental health is health and mental healthcare is healthcare,” Gabrielli said. “It’s not always true that we believe mental health is health, and it’s not even true today that all people believe that mental healthcare is healthcare. But it’s an important belief that has driven the success of our department over 117 years.” 

The annual celebration was Jan. 25. It was organized by the department’s Professional Development Committee.