March 30, 2010
A St. John’s psychology professor is among the top scientists
invited to be a founding member of a National Institutes of Health (NIH)
“college” that reviews application grants by leading
researchers.
Elizabeth Brondolo, Ph.D., Professor of
Psychology, accepted the invitation to join the new
College of CSR Reviewers, whose members will review promising
grant applications in their individual fields. Serving for two
years, Dr. Brondolo will review a maximum of 12 grant applications
per year.
“It’s a big honor for one of our scientists to be asked to join
this newly formed NIH ‘college’ of reviewers,” said
Jeffrey Fagen, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Dean of St.
John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. According to
Antonio Scarpa, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Center for Scientific
Review (CSR), membership in the College of CSR Reviewers is
reserved for “senior respected members of the scientific community
with a strong commitment to peer review.”
In another recent honor, Dr. Brondolo was selected to chair the
Committee on Health Disparities Committee in Division 38 of the
American Psychological Association. The Division is dedicated to
eliminating ethnic and racial disparities in physical and mental
health.
Social influences on health are a major area of scholarly interest
for Dr. Brondolo. She and her students at St. John’s conduct
research in “the psychophysiology of interpersonal conflict,”
including the health effects of racism and ethnic discrimination.
Their research has been funded by agencies such as the
American Heart Association; the NIH; and the National Heart, Lung and Blood
Institute.