Under the microscope: thoughts and perspectives of the recipients of CPA's first annual President's New Researcher Awards

Canadian Psychology, Feb 1999 by Asmundson, Gordon J, Norton, G Ron, Norton, Peter J

Abstract. The 1997 recipients of the inaugural Canadian Psychological Association President's New Researcher Awards were Stephane Bouchard, Brian J. Cox, and Steven Taylor. The research emphasis of all three award-winners is in the area of anxiety disorders. The three "New Researchers" were interviewed about factors influencing their development as researchers, graduate training of future scientist/practitioners, and the current state and future directions in psychological and anxiety disorders research. This paper presents their brief biographies and outlines their views on the aforementioned issues.

In 1996, the Canadian Psychological Association created the President's New Researcher Award, to recognize the research contributions of outstanding recent Canadian graduates. This award is open to CPA members who are at most five years removed from a graduate degree and have made a significant contribution to psychological knowledge in Canada. A panel consisting of the CPA President, Past President, President-Elect, and the Chair of Scientific Affairs chooses recipients. Each year a maximum of three awards are conferred.

The inaugural (1997) recipients of the CPA President's New Researcher Awards were (in alphabetical order) Stephane Bouchard of l'Universite du Quebec a Hull, Brian J. Cox of the University of Manitoba, and Steven Taylor of the University of British Columbia. All three have made important contributions to the body of psychological research in Canada, mostly in the area of anxiety disorders. At the time of writing, Bouchard, Cox, and Taylor had collectively produced 169 book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals, an impressive volume of publications when one considers that they are at most five years post-doctorate.

The PsycLIT database indicates that since 1990 there has been an increase in published articles on anxiety disorders authored by Canadian researchers. Specifically, panic disorder articles senior-authored by Canadian researchers climbed from 3.8% of all such articles in 1990 to 7.2% in 1996, with the apex occurring in 1994 at 12.7%. Social phobia articles from Canadians increased steadily from 7.7% in 1990 to a high of 21.2% in 1996, and posttraumatic stress disorder articles rose from 1.0% in 1990 to 4.0% in 1996, with a high of 5.0% in 1995. These increases are due, in part, to the research and influence of these three New Researcher Award recipients.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief biosketch of the award recipients and to present their views and perspectives on factors influencing their development as researchers, graduate training of future scientist/practitioners, and the current state and future directions in psychological and anxiety disorders research. Every effort was made to preserve the exact responses of each award recipients, although some editing was done. Bouchard, Cox, and Taylor reviewed the penultimate draft of this paper and have agreed that their opinions and views are accurately represented. Below we present the biosketch of each CPA President's New Researcher Award recipient, followed by their responses to the questions posed.

Stephane Bouchard

Stephane Bouchard was born in Quebec City in 1966. His post-secondary education was completed at l'Universite Laval, where he received a Bachelor's degree in 1989, a Master's in 1990, and a Ph.D. in 1995. He conducted his Master's and Ph.D. research under the supervision of Janel Gauthier. In 1995 he received an award from the Union of Graduate Students at Laval University for the best Ph.D. thesis across all faculties. Bouchard then completed internships in the United Kingdom, at Maudsley Hospital with Isaac Marks and at Oxford University with David Clark. Then he undertook an internship, followed by a post-doctoral research position, at the Centre de Recherche Universite Laval Robert-Giffard under Michel Mazaide. He currently holds the position of Professor in the Department of Psychoeducation at l'Universite du Quebec a Hull and is a member of the Committee of Scientific Affairs of the CPA.

He is a reviewer for 6 journals and funding agencies, and the author of 26 published papers or book chapters and 106 conference presentations. He is currently editing two French books, on research methods and on anxiety disorders. Bouchard also remains involved with patients at the Anxiety Disorders Clinic of the Centre Hospitalier Pierre-Janet, where he runs group treatments and supervises clinical internships. His main research activities are centred on: 1) the examination of the contribution of beliefs and self-efficacy in the treatment process of cognitive-behavioural therapy and pharmacotherapy of anxiety disorders, and 2) the generalizability of cognitive-behaviour therapy to patients who are excluded from clinical trials and outcome studies.

Brian J. Cox

Brian Cox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1964 and obtained his B.A. (Hons.) degree from the University of Winnipeg in 1986. He did his graduate studies at York University in Toronto with Norman Endler and earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 1993. During that time, he helped to establish an anxiety disorders clinic with Richard Swinson at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry where he worked as a staff psychologist. He also held an academic appointment in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. In 1994 he accepted a term position as a faculty member in the Clinical Psychology Training Program at the University of Manitoba. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Manitoba and heads the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Research Group in the Faculty of Medicine.