APA Completes Its Science Advocacy Team
The APA science team is now fully staffed following the addition this spring of three advocates in the Public Policy Office (PPO) and a Research Ethics Officer in the Science Directorate. Each new staff person brings to APA a unique set of skills and experiences gained by working in both research and policy settings.
Arethea Coles became a PPO Legislative Assistant in April. Her duties include attending hearings, tracking legislation relevant to psychological science, and providing logistical support for special events. Coles will work with Patricia Kobor, the recently appointed Director for Science Policy, Elizabeth Baldwin, Geoffrey Mumford, PhD, and Paula Trubisky.
This will be the third position that Coles has held at APA. Initially, she worked as a Customer Service Representative, and then she served for 2 years as an Administrative Assistant for Government Relations.
Coles received a BS in Political Science and Theatre at James Madison University in 1989. Currently, she is working toward a certificate in Government Relations at George Washington University.
In June, Geoffrey Mumford, PhD, became a Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer in PPO. Dr. Mumford will serve as the primary APA liaison to the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Biological Sciences Directorate at the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Mumford's research portfolio is extensive. He has investigated the neuropharmacology of endogenous depression, the mechanism of action of caffeine and related compounds on rodent and human central nervous systems, and the efficacy of naltrexone in the treatment of alcohol dependence. In addition, Dr. Mumford has published several studies evaluating the abuse liability of novel sedative/anxiolytic drugs under development by the pharmaceutical industry.
Dr. Mumford is a member of the Food and Drug Administration's Advisors and Consultants Staff, which conducts periodic reviews of basic and clinical pharmacology research. He also retains an appointment as Assistant Professor with the Department of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, where he worked full-time before joining APA. In the future, he hopes to implement science advocacy training for young investigators at Johns Hopkins University and elsewhere as part of the postdoctoral training experience.
Dr. Mumford received a BA in psychology in 1983 and a PhD in pharmacology in 1991, both from Emory University.
Sangeeta Panicker joined the Science Directorate in March as Research Ethics Officer. Panicker replaces Stacey Cunningham who left APA last fall to teach science as a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho, Africa. Panicker will handle all ethical issues regarding human and animal research and will produce the electronic 'Animal Research Information Board.' She will also serve as the staff liaison to the Committee on Animal Research and Ethics (CARE).
Panicker has done research with both animals and humans. In the past, she investigated the brain mechanisms of rewards in rats. Specifically, she used a brain-stimulation model to evaluate the potential of newly synthesized compounds for their antiabuse potential in the treatment of nicotine, cocaine, and amphetamine addictions. Recently, however, she switched her focus to human neurochemical mechanisms involved in attention.
Panicker received an MA in clinical psychology from the University of Bombay in 1988 and an MA in psychopharmacology from the University of Cincinnati in 1992. She is currently completing her doctorate in cognitive neuroscience at Catholic University.
In late April, Paula Trubisky joined PPO as a Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer. She is responsible for tracking activities of the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, and AIDS research at NIH.
Previously, Trubisky was Special Assistant to the Executive Officer, Psychologist Felice Levine, PhD, at the American Sociological Association (ASA). At ASA, she concentrated on projects designed to help Congress, the Administration, and federal agencies prioritize funding for social and behavioral science research. This included designing nonpartisan policy briefings to advance the contributions of sociological research to the understanding of such issues as AIDS, public education, violence, urban policy, immigration, and social security. Trubisky also worked for the Fund for Research on Dispute Resolution, sponsored by the Ford Foundation, which supported research on conflict.
Trubisky's research has focused primarily on conflict and negotiation. She received a BS in psychology in 1986 and an MA in communication in 1989, both from Arizona State University.