We are delighted to announce the inaugural Jack and Nancy Westman Lectureship in Family and Community Psychiatry, which will be presented Thomas Dishion, Ph.D., as part of the University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds on Wednesday, September 24, 2014 at 10:30 AM. The lecture will be held in the Garden Level Auditorium within the Rachel Upjohn Building at 4250 Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor.

About The Jack and Nancy Westman Lectureship in Family and Community Psychiatry:

Jack C. Westman, M.D. is a Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and president of Wisconsin Cares, Inc., an organization that promotes public policies to enhance the well-being of childrearing families. Dr. Westman received a BS, MD, and MS from the University of Michigan and was an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School before joining the University of Wisconsin in 1965.

Nancy K. Westman received a B.A. from the University of Michigan and devoted her volunteer life to supporting the well-being of young persons and their families. She was co-chair of Project Understanding, a Mississippi-Wisconsin program that began in 1968; treasurer of Canyon Scholars, a Mexican-U.S. scholarship program for Tarahumara Indians that began in 1999; and treasurer of the Bethel Parish Shop.

The Westman’s endowment gift to the University of Michigan Medical School was inspired by their lifelong commitment to child advocacy, family well-being, children’s and parents’ rights, and public policy. This annual lectureship was established to promote interest in the actual life circumstances of young people – the families, neighborhoods, and communities in which they live.

About Dr. Dishion’s Lecture:
“Translational Research on Family Interventions for Child and Adolescent Problem Behavior: From Developmental Research to Community Change”

Thomas Dishion, Ph.D.
This lecture will provide an overview of a 30 year program of research that began with longitudinal research on the development of antisocial behavior in children and adolescence, and has progressed to the prevention and treatment of various forms of problem behavior in childhood and adolescence. The model building approach to translational research will be highlighted as it applies to explaining individual difference in child and adolescent problem behavior, and most recently, as a guide to implementing interventions found to effectively prevent and treat antisocial behavior. Future directions in translation research are suggested, including the integration of biology, the brain and environmental factors in affecting public health benefits to children and families.

Dr. Dishion’s expertise is in translational research on relationship dynamics associated with child, adolescent and young adult mental health and competence. His research focuses on peer family and romantic relationship dynamics underlying the development of psychopathology and competence. His work uses various methods including longitudinal studies, observational and social neuroscience techniques such as high-density array EEG. Dr. Dishion’s intervention research involves the design and testing of empirically supported interventions such as the Family Check-up, and identifying intervention strategies that are potentially harmful to youth development.

B.A. in Philosophy, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1977
M.A. in Behavior Science, University of Oregon, 1980
Ph.D. in Child Clinical Psychology, University of Oregon, 1988
Research scientist at the Oregon Social Learning Center, 1988 to 2000
Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Oregon, 1997 to 2011
Professor of School Psychology, University of Oregon, 2008-2011
Founding Director of the Child and Family Center, 2000-2011
Professor of Psychology, Arizona State University, 2011-present