UW School of Social Work professors Amelia Gavin, BASW program director, and Rona Levy, associate dean for research, were elected Fellows of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare for 2023.
Gavin and Levy are two of 14 individuals selected to receive this honor which recognizes their distinguished accomplishments as scholars. They will be inducted at a ceremony on January 13, 2023, in Phoenix, Ariz., during the 27th annual conference of the Society for Social Work and Research.
“This national recognition is a validation of our School’s impact and excellence in research,” said Michael Spencer, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, School of Social Work. “We are proud to celebrate Amelia’s and Rona’s outstanding scholarship achievements to accelerate social change and advance greater equity.”
Amelia Gavin’s work on health disparities explores how cultural, social and structural contexts factor into different health outcomes, particularly among racial and ethnic groups. She has partnered with several interdisciplinary institutions, including the Maternal and Infant Care Center at the University of Washington Medical Center where she investigated etiological pathways leading to preterm and low-birth weight infants. She is a co-investigator on a UW Global Health-funded intervention studying ways to decrease maternal racial and ethnic health disparities through home-based monitoring of blood pressure, stress, depression and safety.
Rona Levy’s research centers on the psychosocial aspects of health, including women’s health issues, chronic pain, the intergenerational transmission of illness behavior, childhood and adult obesity prevention and treatment, and behavioral medicine. She has received several major National Institutes of Health grants for studies on children and adults. Levy is a fellow of the American Pain Society, American Psychological Association, American Psychological Society, Society of Behavioral Medicine, American Gastroenterological Association and American College of Gastroenterology, among others.
Fellows inducted into AASWSW are selected through a rigorous process that addresses excellence in scholarship and practice. The nomination recognizes an individual’s distinguished accomplishments as scholar, practitioner or policy leader dedicated to achieving excellence in high-impact work that advances the social good.