The following awards were presented at the 12th Biennial ISCHP Conference. This conference took place online across global hubs, due to the Covid-19 pandemic (23rd – 25th August, 2021).
The Emerging Researcher Award
This award is given to a researcher who obtained their PhD within the last 10 years and is recognised by colleagues as having contributed to critical health psychology – methodologically, theoretically, on a particular topic, or in a way that led to impact (including publishing in national or international journals).
This year, there are four recipients for this award:
Dr Jade Le Grice
Jade is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Auckland in Aotearoa New Zealand. Jade was a keynote speaker at this year’s ISCHP conference and is an outstanding researcher who has published widely within and beyond critical health psychology. Her methodological and theoretical contributions centre on combining feminist theory and mātauranga Māori, and she is leading the way for a new generation of Indigenous scholarship.
Dr Rochelle Burgess
Rochelle is a Lecturer in the Institute for Global Health at University College London. She has published widely internationally and has contributed to critical health psychology through her decolonising framings of issues including ‘resilience’ and ‘safe space’ as well as her consistent attention to social justice and health across a range of countries and contexts. Rochelle has also served as an international representative on the ISCHP Executive Committee for the past 6 years.
Dr Ally Gibson
Ally is a lecturer in the School of Health at Victoria University of Wellington in Aotearoa New Zealand. Ally has over 10 years’ experience conducting a range of qualitative research projects relating to health, illness, and the practice of medicine. Her work is interdisciplinary, bridging health psychology, the sociology of health and illness, and public health. She has served on the ISCHP Executive Committee for 8 years, starting as a student representative and most recently as an early career representative and Chair of the Conference Organising Committee.
Dr Andrea LaMarre
Dr Andrea LaMarre, who is a Lecturer in the Health Psychology Programme at Massey University’s Albany campus in Aotearoa New Zealand. She combines scholarship, activism and filmmaking together to produce outstanding critical work on eating disorders, especially with respect to improving access to treatment. She has an impressive CV that includes outreach activities/speaking engagements across a variety of platforms. Andrea has also been an active member of ISCHP, including serving on the Executive Committee for 6 year, starting as a student representative and most recently as an early career representative and a member of the Conference Organising Committee.
The Mid-Career Researcher Award
This award is given to a researcher who obtained their PhD within the last 10 years and is recognised by colleagues as having contributed to critical health psychology – methodologically, theoretically, on a particular topic, or in a way that led to impact (including publishing in national or international journals).
Dr Tracy Morison
Tracy is a Senior Lecturer in the Health Psychology Programme at Massey University’s Palmerston North campus in Aotearoa New Zealand. She has made a valued contribution to critical health psychology through her work on reproductive justice and development of theory and analysis around narrative-discursive methods. She is of the Editors of Feminism & Psychology, served as one of the ISCHP Blog Co-Editors for 3 years, and is currently the Treasurer on the ISCHP Executive Committee. In addition to these achievements, she is summed up in the following quote: “I have the utmost respect for how she manages to provide such tremendous support to her students while also balancing a full research/teaching schedule”.
The Lifetime Achievement Award
This award is given to a senior researcher with a significant number of years of doing work in critical health psychology who has contributed significantly to critical health psychology – methodologically, theoretically, on a particular topic, or in a way that led to impact, and is recognised by colleagues as an international leader in the field.
This year, there are two recipients for this award who both undeniably meet these criteria and have a long involvement in ISCHP, including organising conferences in their home countries and contributing to the wider work of ISCHP and the field of critical health psychology:
Emeritus Professor Kerry Chamberlain
Kerry worked for many decades in the School of Psychology at Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand before technically retiring recently. He was a founding member of ISCHP and was present at the first conference in 1999. He has given a vast amount of service to create ISCHP, maintain it and helping it to flourish. His publications have had a major impact and, in particular, those papers written with students and collaborators have helped them to gain the skills to go on further.
Professor Catriona Macleod
Catriona is Chair of Critical Studies in Sexualities and Reproduction at Rhodes University in Makhanda, South Africa. She has made enormous contributions to feminist health psychology in the area of sexual and reproductive health. Her work has had significant impact in local and international policy and programming such as informing the South African National Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Strategy Framework and the National Abortion Guidelines among many other things. Catriona has been an active contributing ISCHP member for many years, and organised the 2015 conference at Rhodes University.
The Impact with Communities Award
This award is given for being a researcher who is recognised by colleagues as using critical health psychology with communities to effect change, either through research, consumer advisory work or consultation.
Dr Brett Scholz
Brett is a Senior Research Fellow in the Medical School at Australian National University’s College of Health and Medicine. Brett has been leading the way in co-production of research, education, and policy underpinned by a critical health psychological approach to bringing about social change through redressing power imbalances. Most recently, Brett has overseen the collaborative development of an ICU triage process for COVID-19 with consumers, carers, and community in the Australian Capital Territory. This has involved engaging with community members represented by 26 organisations, including disability advocacy groups and Indigenous health services.