Faye Belgrave, Ph.D., receives distinguished leadership award from American Psychological Association
By Jena K. Gray
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) professor, Faye Belgrave, Ph.D., receives the 2018 Psychology and AIDS Distinguished Leadership Award from the American Psychological Association (APA) in recognition of her commitment to community-engaged research, collaborative partnerships and evidence-based training focused on HIV/AIDS prevention and intervention science at the national and international levels.
Faye Belgrave, Ph.D. is a VCU professor of health psychology, the director of the Center for Cultural Experiences in Prevention (CCEP), and the co-director of the Culture, Race and Health transdisciplinary core with the Institute for Inclusion, Inquiry and Innovation (iCubed).
The Psychology and AIDS Leadership Award recognizes distinguished leaders in the field who have made substantial contributions in one or more of the following areas: policy/advocacy, research, service provision, and teaching/mentoring.
Dr. Belgrave’s current project, Building Capacity for Substance Abuse and HIV Prevention among African American Young Adults, funded by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), aims to strengthen the capacity of community organizations and VCU to provide HIV and substance abuse prevention programs and services in the Richmond region.
This project is a continuation of The Raise 5 Project funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention to reduce HIV risk and substance abuse among African American students attending VCU. Her current project, Building Capacity, extends this work beyond VCU to Virginia Union University and other community sites in the Richmond region.
Her work with the VCU Center for Cultural Experiences in Prevention (CCEP) intersects with her ongoing work in the Culture, Race and Health transdisciplinary core through VCU iCubed in that, “the goals and missions are similar.”
“The work through CCEP and VCU iCubed intertwine in that the focus is on health disparities among minority communities and several affiliate faculty serve both CCEP and iCubed,” shares Faye Belgrave, Ph.D.
Dr. Belgrave sees this prestigious award as another avenue and opportunity to inform the public about HIV prevention and the importance of testing.
“Even though we don’t hear about HIV/AIDS in the news as often as we did 10 years ago, HIV/AIDS rates of infection continue to indicate epidemic levels, particularly in African American and also Latino communities,” states Dr. Belgrave.
“We still need to address the issue full on and educate each other about the continued prevalence of high health disparities in African American communities.”
About VCU Center for Cultural Experiences in Prevention (CCEP)
The Center for Cultural Experiences in Prevention (CCEP) at Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Psychology, was established in 2001 to conduct research and provide innovative, evidenced-based programs and interventions to reduce health disparities and promote healthy youth, families and communities. Learn more about CCEP by visiting ccep.vcu.edu.
About American Psychological Association (APA)
APA is the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States, with more than 115,700 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students as its members. For more information about APA, visit: www.apa.org.
About VCU Institute for Inclusion, Inquiry and Innovation (iCubed)
iCubed at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a cutting edge institute focused on catalyzing collaborative connections between the university and the community at large through innovative academic and research programs. Our transdisciplinary core teams collaborate with key community members in order to develop holistic solutions to 21st century urban challenges within the Commonwealth. For more information about iCubed or to apply to one of the transdisciplinary core teams, please visit: icubed.vcu.edu.