NSF Fellowship

Sarah Lichenstein Selected for NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Sarah Lichenstein and her mentor, Dr. Shirley Hill

Sarah Lichenstein, a graduate student in the University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry?s Behavioral Genetics Research Program, has been selected by the National Science Foundation to participate in its Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). Ms. Lichenstein is pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. Under the mentorship of Shirley Hill, PhD, Director of the Behavioral Genetics Research Program and Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Human Genetics, Ms. Lichenstein is studying the neurobiological basis of addiction. She will present findings from her research at the upcoming annual meetings of the Society for Biological Psychiatry and the Research Society on Alcoholism in June 2013. In addition to her work in the Behavioral Genetics Research Program, she is an active member of the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), a joint venture between the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University investigating the cognitive and neural mechanisms that give rise to biological intelligence and behavior.

As part of the NSF Fellowship, Ms. Lichenstein will receive an annual stipend of $30,000 for three years and an allowance of $10,500 for tuition and fees, opportunities for international research and professional development, and the freedom to conduct her own research. The goal of the program is to prepare NSF Fellows to become experts in their field of study who can contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based Master's and doctoral degrees at accredited institutions in the United States. Applications were reviewed by panels of disciplinary and interdisciplinary scientists, mathematicians, and engineers and other professional experts in graduate education.