Faculty News

Associate Professor Jaclynn Hawkins has received a three-year Innovative Transformational Research to Reduce Health Disparities and Advance Health Equity in Diabetes grant from the American Diabetes Association for her study, “Program AACTIVE (African Americans Coming Together to Increase Vital Exercise): A Combination CBT and Physical Activity Intervention for Black Men with Type 2 Diabetes.”

Professor Matt Smith spoke with Psychiatric News about how virtual reality can support job seekers with serious mental illness. To help patients prepare for a job interview, Smith developed a virtual reality interview training program informally known as Molly (the name of the virtual hiring manager). “Interviewing with Molly is a great representation of how online job interviews are currently playing out, so it could make trainees become even more skilled and confident.”

Earlier this fall, Smith’s findings on Molly was both on the cover story of Psychiatric Services and selected as an Editor’s Choice.

Dean Beth Angell has been appointed the Phillip Fellin Collegiate Professor of Social Work. Angell’s research focuses on behavioral health, particularly on serious mental illness and its intersection with substance abuse and criminal justice involvement. Some of the topics of her research studies have related to treatment seeking, treatment engagement and adherence; consumer-provider interactions and relationships; sources and consequences of stigma; and mandated or involuntary treatment.

Prior to joining the University of Michigan, Dean Angell held faculty positions at the University of Chicago Crown School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice and Rutgers University School of Social Work and the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research. From 2018-2022, she served as the dean and professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work.

Professor Emeritus Phillip Fellin's research interests include community organization; societal structures and processes; and mental health policy, programs and services; and school social work. He joined the University of Michigan faculty in 1965 and served as the school’s dean from 1971-1981. After his deanship, Fellin continued on the faculty as a professor of social work and director of school social work certification until his retirement in 1999.

A collegiate professorship is a University of Michigan advanced professorial title, which recognizes a national, or preferably international, reputation in research; a record of exceptional teaching quality and of innovation; and a history of service to the School, the university and the community.

Professor William Elliott III told Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts, that children’s savings accounts not only help families save for college, they can also instill them with hope and ambition. “Children’s savings accounts give people some grounds for believing they can change their future,” said Elliott.

Professor Luke Shaefer spoke with the New York Times about the ongoing effort to bring back the Expanded Child Tax Credit. The pandemic-era program, which sent monthly checks to most U.S. families with children, helped cut child poverty nearly in half during the program’s six-month run. Shaefer’s research found that hardships fell as soon as the payments started and rose as soon as they stopped.

Professor Rogério M. Pinto was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. The academy is an honorific society of distinguished scholars and practitioners dedicated to achieving excellence in the field of social work and social welfare through high-impact work that advances social good. Fellow status is among the highest professional accolades bestowed to social work scholars. The School of Social Work now has 13 academy members. Pinto is the Berit Ingersoll-Dayton Collegiate Professor of Social Work, a University Diversity Social Transformation Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Innovation in Social Work.

Pinto will be formally inducted in an online ceremony on January 14, 7-7:45 PM MST as part of the 2023 Society for Social Work and Research’s Annual Conference.

Professor Trina Shanks will serve on the Framing and Design Committee of U-M’s Inclusive History Project. This presidential initiative is designed to create a more accurate narrative about U-M’s history, with an initial focus on race and racism. “We cannot move forward as a university until we acknowledge those we’ve excluded in the past. We must have the courage to understand the lived experiences of all those in our community, past and present,” said U-M President Santa J. Ono.

Assistant Dean of Field Education and Clinical Associate Professor Dan Fischer was honored on Tuesday by the Michigan Medicine Department of Social Work for his work as “a formidable leader, mentor and social work pioneer.” The Social Work Social Justice Ground Rounds will be renamed The Daniel J. Fischer Social Justice Grand Rounds.

“It is a tremendous honor to have my name associated with the Michigan Medicine Social Justice Grand Rounds series. It was a very proud yet humbling day for me,” said Fischer. “Knowing that this Grand Rounds series will continue to support the professional development and social justice lens of social work students, staff and other health sciences student learners at the University of Michigan is extremely rewarding. I suspect the full impact of this won’t really set in for a while, but in reality this has never been about me. Rather, the Social Justice Grand Rounds series has always been about helping providers self-reflect, consider and understand the impact their words, actions, policies and systems of care have on the patients and families they serve, and to strive to create health care environments that are accessible and meet the needs of everyone.”

Social Justice Grand Rounds is the only structured event at Michigan Medicine that formally unites graduate students in social work, field instructors, clinical social work staff, faculty and community leaders in a collaborative effort to address social injustice by featuring an actual case or topic that is illustrative of injustice in health care, as presented by a student in field at Michigan Medicine.