Dr. Bernard Fuemmeler, 2001 graduate of the Clinical Psychology doctoral program at Oklahoma State University, returned to campus September 2019 to receive the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Arts and Sciences as well as the Center for Pediatric Psychology Distinguished Alumni Award from the Center for Pediatric Psychology. Dr. Fuemmeler is a Professor of Health Behavior and Policy, Endowed Chair in Cancer Research at Virginia Commonwealth University, and the Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Control at the Massey Cancer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Bernard Fuemmeler, 2001 graduate of the Clinical Psychology doctoral program at Oklahoma State University, returned to campus September 2019 to receive the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Arts and Sciences as well as the Center for Pediatric Psychology Distinguished Alumni Award from the Center for Pediatric Psychology. Dr. Fuemmeler is a Professor of Health Behavior and Policy, Endowed Chair in Cancer Research at Virginia Commonwealth University, and the Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Control at the Massey Cancer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University. In addition to meeting with faculty, Dr. Fuemmeler also visited with graduate students in Dr. Ashley Clawson’s Pediatric Psychology graduate course. He discussed his career trajectory and multidisciplinary training experiences, how he established his research agenda, and offered advice related to grantsmanship across each stage of training, with a particular focus on leveraging the use of available datasets.
During his visit, Dr. Fuemmeler presented a colloquium as part the ongoing Sol Goldman Colloquia series in which he highlighted the importance of multidisciplinary investigations of social, behavioral, and genetic determinants of chronic health outcomes. Specifically, Dr. Fuemmeler discussed the influence of several genetic and psychosocial factors on childhood self-regulation, and the evidence indicating childhood self-regulation to be a key risk factor for childhood obesity. Finally, Dr. Fuemmeler was honored at the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni dinner the evening of Friday September 27, 2019. Dr. Fuemmeler’s visit was greatly appreciated by faculty and graduate students. The Center for Pediatric Psychology looks forward to recognizing future honorees and their exemplary contributions to the field of pediatric psychology!