PHILADELPHIA — Renowned post-traumatic stress disorder expert Edna Foa, PhD received the 2015 Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award from the American Psychological Association (APA) for her contribution to the theory and clinical practice of psychology, specifically the research and treatment of anxiety disorders. Foa was presented with the award last week at the APA’s 123rd Annual Convention in Toronto.
Foa, a professor of Clinical Psychology in the department of Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and director of Penn’s Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety, is widely recognized as one of this nation’s major contributors to the study of psychological trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She is world renowned for developing prolonged exposure therapy, a treatment for PTSD in which patients revisit the traumatic event in order to achieve long-term healing.
“It is a great honor to receive this high honor,” Foa said. “I was also very surprised because among the 160 previous awardees, only five have been clinical psychologists. Traditionally this award is bestowed on basic researchers whose work is focused on areas such as memory and learning processes. I hope that the fact that I received this award represents a change in the view of clinical research by academic psychology.”
Foa is also known for her numerous illuminating clinical trials and her contributions to psychological theory and methods over the course of her long career. She has performed many clinical trials the results of which changed the conversation in the field about the treatment of anxiety disorders and set new methodological gold standards for conducting clinical trials. She has also contributed greatly to the understanding of the psychopathology and treatment of anxiety disorders with a focus on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Panic Disorder, and Social Anxiety Disorder.
The APA Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions is awarded to psychologists who have made distinguished theoretical or empirical contributions to basic research in psychology. Previous awardees include Dr. Carl Rogers, Dr. Harry Harlow, Dr. Albert Bandura, Dr. Noam Chomsky, and Dr. Peter Lang.
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Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
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