St. John’s Psychology Professor Invited to
Join NIH Peer Review Committee
The National Institutes for
Health (NIH) has honored a St. John’s psychology professor with
an invitation to join a peer review committee that evaluates
scientists’ applications for grants from the National Heart, Lung
and Blood Institute, a division of NIH.
Elizabeth Brondolo, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, will join the
Clinical Trials Review Committee of the National Heart, Lung and Blood
Institute (NHLBI) for a four-year term as a standing member.
The committee comprises experts in heart, lung and blood diseases,
as well as biostatisticians and other ad hoc reviewers. Dr.
Brondolo’s research includes the relationship between racism and
ambulatory blood pressure.
“The NIH invites accomplished scientists to be part of a peer
review committee,” said
Jeffrey Fagen, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology
and Dean, St. John’s
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “You become one of the
gatekeepers, helping to determine what science actually is
done.”
“It’s a great honor and a great responsibility,” said
Raymond DiGiuseppe, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Psychology.
“Members provide an important input on how the federal government
approves research studies in health behaviors — how the nation
spends its money on science.” Several Psychology faculty have
served on NIH review committees, he added, including Dr. Fagen and
William Chaplin, Ph.D.
To Dr. Brondolo, accepting the invitation is a form of public
service. “This is a way of giving back,” she said. “You use your
knowledge and experience to support a process that is so important
to conduct of science.”
This is the latest NIH appointment she has received this past year.
She was invited to join the new
College of CSR Reviewers, whose members evaluate grant
applications in their individual fields. She also was selected to
chair the Committee on Health Disparities Committee in Division 38
of the American Psychological Association. The Division focuses on
eliminating ethnic and racial disparities in physical and mental
health.
Social influences on health are a major area of scholarly interest
for Dr. Brondolo. She and her students at St. John’s conduct
research in “the psychophysiology of interpersonal conflict,”
including the health effects of racism and ethnic discrimination.
Their research has been funded by agencies such as the
American Heart Association; the NIH; and the National Heart, Lung and Blood
Institute.