September 4, 2026
Jamie Hanson, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and a Research Scientist at Pitt’s Learning Research & Development Center, has received the 2026 Bethany Reeb-Sutherland Mid-Career Award from the International Society for Developmental Psychology (ISDP) for his research examining the neural circuitry children and adolescents use to learn about their environments. This work has shown that early adversity confers risk for different forms of psychopathology through specific alterations in brain circuits supporting reward and socio-emotional processing.
The ISDP is an international organization founded in 1968 for the purpose of encouraging research on the development of behavior in all organisms including humans, with special attention to the effects of biological factors operating at any level of organization. Each year, this accolade is given in memory of Bethany Reeb-Sutherland, an investigator in the field of Developmental Psychobiology who passed away during her time as treasurer for the ISDP in 2020.
The award is granted to a mid-career researcher with a maximum of 15 years post-degree, with a record of academic accomplishments and independent, significant and sustained contributions to the field. The winner receives a $700 cash award, engraved plaque, and an invitation to give a special presentation of their work at the ISDP’s annual meeting.
Before coming to Pittsburgh, Hanson received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in a degree program that integrated developmental psychology, the neuroscience of emotion, public policy, and biostatics. He also completed a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Developmental Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as in the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University.
Written by Amanda Buchman