Written by Gareth Treharne
At this year’s 14th Biennial International Society of Critical Health Psychology (ISCHP) in Galway in July, a range of outstanding critical health psychology scholars were recognised at the 2025 ISCHP Career Awards ceremony. Picture this: a lively university bar filled with conference delegates, many with a pint of Guinness in hand; the band was yet to arrive, so the dancing hadn’t started; the crowd dutifully gathered for the Oscars of critical health psychology.
The ISCHP Career Awards were founded in 2021 by outgoing ISCHP Chair Prof. Sarah Riley of Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand. Sarah has served as the Chair of ISCHP for the last 4 years and is now the Past Chair for the next 4 years. The idea behind the awards is to recognise the amazing work that is being done by critical health psychology researchers from early career to lifetime achievement. These awards sit alongside the Feminism & Psychology ISCHP Student Presentation Award.
Critical health psychology often gives voice to those in the margins. At the same time, critical health psychology research is often marginalised within academia because objectivism remains a powerful tool to normalise the status quo and gloss over health inequities. Recognising the outstanding work of leaders in critical health psychology, both emerging and established, is an important way to communicate to our peers in academia that critical health psychology has major impact.
The ISCHP Career Awards consist of four main categories: the Emerging Researcher Award; the Established Researcher Award; the Impact with Communities Award; and the Lifetime Achievement Award. Nominations are made by members of ISCHP or indeed anyone who wishes to. The awards are decided by the ISCHP Awards Committee, who consider the nominees’ contributions to research and to ISCHP. It’s not a tally of who receives the most nominations, and the number of awards in each category reflects how many similarly outstanding people are nominated in any category. Details of award winners from 2021 and 2023 are archived here: https://ischp.net/category/ischp-award-winners/.
And the 2025 winners are as follows
The 2025 ISCHP Emerging Researcher Award was won by:
- Dr. Siobhán Healy-Cullen of Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University.
The 2025 ISCHP Established Researcher Award was won by both:
- Prof. Virginia Braun of Waipapa Taumata Rau – The University of Auckland
- Assoc. Prof. Maria del Río Carral of Université de Lausanne – The University of Lausanne.
The 2025 ISCHP Impact with Communities Award was won by both:
- Assoc. Prof. Guido Veronese of Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca – The University of Milano-Bicocca
- Dr. Xavier Mabire of Université de Lausanne – The University of Lausanne.
The 2025 ISCHP Lifetime Achievement Award was won by both:
- Emeritus Professor Michael Murray of Keele University
- Professor Christine Stephens of Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University.
Emerging Researcher Award
This award is given to an outstanding early career researcher who obtained their PhD within the last 10 years (plus parental or equivalent leave if relevant). Winners will have published one or more articles in national or international journals and will have contributed to critical health psychology methodologically or theoretically, on a particular topic, or in a way that led to impact whilst still in the early stages of researching.
Siobhán Healy-Cullen
Siobhán is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand and presented about her postdoc research in her talk on “Perimenopausal ‘excuses’, feminist dilemmas, and the politics of menstruation tracking apps” at the conference. Before this project, Siobhán’s PhD at Massey University explored key stakeholder perspectives on understanding and responding to young people’s engagement with internet pornography and made the Dean’s List of Exceptional Theses. The nominator described Siobhán as an exceptional early career researcher whose work is making a significant contribution to critical health psychology. Siobhán has published prolifically in high-impact journals and has already been cited over 100 times. In addition to her scholarly contributions, Siobhán is an engaged academic citizen, contributing to ISCHP’s blog and editing the podcast, mentoring ECRs, and actively contributing to the wider academic community. The nominator described Siobhán’s work as innovative, rigorous, and socially engaged – hallmarks of a scholar poised to shape the future of critical health psychology.
Established Researcher Award
This award is given to an outstanding senior researcher who obtained their PhD more than 10 years ago. Winners will have published substantive books or a considerable number of articles in national or international journals and will have contributed to critical health psychology methodologically or theoretically, on a particular topic, or in a way that led to impact over a considerable period.
Maria del Río Carral
Maria is an Associate Professor at Université de Lausanne – The University of Lausanne in Switzerland having studied at the Universities of Fribourg, Geneva, and Lausanne. The nominator noted that Maria has made a meaningful contribution to critical health psychology through her theoretically rich work, which spans three main areas: i. Understanding health practices as socially embedded and embodied; ii. Exploring how digital cultures shape health narratives and identities; and iii. Developing innovative qualitative methodologies such as a multi-modal method to analyse YouTube videos about health and illness. Across these three themes, Maria brings a critical lens to health issues around embodiment, gender, and social practices, always with attention to context and complexity. Maria has been involved in ISCHP and critical health psychology research for many years, contributing to organising the conference in 2009 and 2011, and presenting widely at ISCHP conferences. She is also a co-founder of EQuiP – the Association of European Qualitative Researchers in Psychology, which is aimed at spreading qualitative research across Europe. The nominator noted that Maria’s presence is generous, thoughtful, and encouraging – especially towards early career researchers, and that Maria embodies the spirit of ISCHP and of this award
Virginia Braun
Ginny is a Professor of psychology at Waipapa Taumata Rau – The University of Auckland in Aotearoa New Zealand where she studied before completing her PhD at Loughborough University in the UK. Ginny is most well-known for her work developing the analytic approach of reflexive thematic analysis along with Victoria Clarke. Their 2006 article now has over a quarter of a million citations according to Google Scholar and is one of the 10 most cited articles ever. This is an outstanding achievement in itself, but behind the numbers Ginny works tirelessly providing training on thematic analysis and continues to produce inspiring research such as her talk on “Deconstructing young people’s everyday meaning-making around stress and stress management in Aotearoa New Zealand” at the conference. Ginny has published over 250 articles, chapters, and books, as well as developing websites and resources on thematic analysis that contribute to critical health psychology both methodologically and theoretically. The nominator highlighted that they “haven’t come across a single publication from Ginny that did not spark reflection or encourage me to be brave and resist hegemonic constructs of health, the body, eating, sexuality, gender, power, and more.” The nominator summed it up by saying Ginny deserves the ISCHP Established Researcher Award due to her involvement in ISCHP, academia, and this world.
Impact With Communities Award
This award is given to an outstanding researcher, health professional, community worker or person in a similar role at any stage of their career. Winners will have used critical health psychology approaches to effect change with communities, either through critical research methodologies, health service user advisory work, or significant consultation activities relating to health.
Guido Veronese
Guido is an Associate Professor of clinical psychology at Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca – The University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy. The nominator emphasised that Guido is held in high esteem for his transformative work embodying research as a radical act that is rooted in solidarity, resistance, and collective care. Guido presented about the complicity of psychology in colonial violence at the conference with passion and a commitment to making a difference. The nominator noted that Guido’s work challenges the extractive logic of mainstream psychology through decolonial, participatory methods that centre the voices and agency of oppressed communities. In Palestine and Gaza, he has engaged with families and practitioners under military occupation, co-creating paths for collective healing and resistance. In Niger, he has developed projects with forced migrants grounded in equity, human rights, and shared authorship. In South Africa, he has critically engaged with post-apartheid health systems through alliances with local activists and practitioners. The nominator also noted that Guido is not a distant academic – he is present, accountable, and committed. He has contributed meaningfully to ISCHP through scholarship, mentorship, and activism. The nominator summed it up by saying Guido fully embodies the spirit of this award for his ethical clarity, political commitment, and transformative practice.
Xavier Mabire
Xavier is a Junior Lecturer in the Institute of Psychology at Université de Lausanne – The University of Lausanne in Switzerland and continues to develop projects rooted in care, inclusion, and social justice, particularly with groups minoritized based on gender, sexuality or health conditions. He completed his PhD in 2020 at Université Lumière Lyon 2 in France on psychosocial issues related to the advent of pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention. Xavier’s work integrates critical health psychology with strong collaborative methods. He has contributed to impactful projects on issues such as PrEP and HIV prevention in France, COVID-19 in Colombian communities, COVID-19 among LGBTQ+ PrEP users in Brazil, health of transmasculine people in France, and psychedelic-assisted therapy in Switzerland. The nominator noted that Xavier’s tireless commitment to working with and for marginalised voices makes him a truly inspiring figure and embody the values of this award and of community-engaged research.
Lifetime Achievement Award
This award is given to an outstanding researcher who is recognised as an international leader in the field of critical health psychology. Winners will have published extensively and contributed consistently to critical health psychology methodologically or theoretically, on a particular topic, or in a way that led to impact over their lifetime. As this award is for lifetime achievement, it is typically awarded to those in the later stages of a career in academia or who have retired.
Michael Murray
Michael is now retired but remains a Professor Emeritus of Social & Health Psychology at Keele University in the UK. Michael studied at the University of Ulster and University of Stirling and then worked at Kings College London and the University of Ulster before moving to Canada. Michael hosted the first ISCHP conference called “Reconstructing Health Psychology” in 1999 at Memorial University Newfoundland in St John’s, Canada. He co-edited the first substantive book on qualitative health psychology in 1999 and has published over 200 articles, chapters, and books. After his time at Memorial University Newfoundland, Michael went on to be Head of School in the School of Psychology at Keele University in the UK. His research has focused on social representations of health using narrative methods and community-based approaches to challenge health inequities. He has also developed arts-based creative methods and forms of dissemination. Michael’s work has made a substantive contribution to critical health psychology and always been ahead of the curve. In his 2008 editorial on health psychology and the arts, he wrote: “the idea behind psychological research is to make a positive difference in the world. Well, that’s more likely to happen when research results appear in a form that engages people and gives them pleasure.”
Christine Stephens
Chris is a Professor of psychology at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand where she has been a co-leader of The Health and Ageing Research Team and worked in the health psychology programme. In 2024, Chris was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, the equivalent of an OBE. Chris has been at Massey throughout her academic career coming up to 40 years now having studied for her BA, diploma, MA, and PhD there as well as being a long-term staff member. Chris was at the second ISCHP conference in Birmingham in 2001 when the organisation was formed and has served as the organisation’s Treasurer, Vice Chair, and Chair. Her research has led the way in applying narrative methods and longitudinal methods. The main focus of her research has been meeting the requirements of the ageing population, and her work has directly informed supportive social policy and practice on issues around health, housing, work and retirement. Chris has published over 300 articles, chapters, and books, including her 2008 book “Health promotion: A psychosocial approach” in which she explained that “Rather than being the property and responsibility of individuals, health is best understood as being related to social, economic and political contexts.”
A special award – celebrating conference love
Carla Rice and Susan Dion
An additional award was announced at the ceremony – another brainchild of Prof. Sarah Riley. The award was given to Prof. Carla Rice and Prof. Susan Dion, who found love at an ISCHP conference and always bring love to the conferences they attend, including a workshop on the Worlding Difference platform at this year’s conference. The award is also a celebration of queer love at a time when some pockets of global politics seek to roll back human rights for queer folk and others who are marginalised and experience health inequities. Carla is a Canadian Research Chair in Feminist Studies and Social Practice and leads the Re•Vision Centre for Art and Social Justice at the University of Guelph in Canada. Susan (Potawatomi-Lenapé) is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at York University in Canada. Over the years, Carla and Susan have contributed numerous talks and workshops at ISCHP conferences as well as doing outstanding work in their research programmes on creative methods to advance equity and Indigenous matters in education, respectively.
Award winners were all gifted a book from the Feminist Companion to Psychology series (courtesy of Open University Press and organised by Prof. Sarah Riley). Further details of these books are available here: https://www.mheducation.co.uk/open-university-press/feminist-companions-to-psychology
This blog post is the ideal opportunity for me and the ISCHP Awards Committee to say a few thanks. Firstly, thanks to Chris Noone for organising such a well-run conference all the way down to assisting with the technical set up for the awards ceremony. Thanks also to Linda Liebenberg and Aron Harold Pamoso for assisting at the ceremony. This year’s ISCHP Awards Committee consisted of myself as chair along with Alif Bin Ibrahim, Brett Scholz, Jessica Tappin, and Sarah Riley – a big thanks to all of you. Most of us have served our full term on the Awards Committee so please keep an eye out for the call for committee members in 2027!