Zanjbeel Mahmood Named 2020 Morgan T. Sammons Doctoral Student Award Winner

The National Register of Health Service Psychologists is proud to present the 2020 Morgan T. Sammons Doctoral Student Award to Zanjbeel Mahmood of the San Diego State University/University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology. This award comes with a $10,000 stipend.

This award, named in honor of the National Register’s current Executive Officer, is presented annually to a currently enrolled student in good standing in an APA- or CPA-accredited doctoral program in psychology. This award supports an original research project that advances our understanding of the effectiveness of psychological interventions and their contribution toward improved patient outcomes.

The National Register’s Awards Committee was extremely impressed with Ms. Mahmood’s plan to use the $10,000 award stipend to support her dissertation study, which aims to utilize wearable technology to assess the efficacy of a multi-modal neuropsychological and lifestyle intervention in reducing risk factors for cognitive decline in older adults.

Upon receiving the award, Zanjbeel said, “I am deeply humbled to receive the doctoral student award from the National Register. This award will support my dissertation study, which will leverage consumer wearable technology to examine the efficacy of an integrated neuropsychological and lifestyle intervention, i.e., Motivationally Enhanced Compensatory Cognitive Training, in improving physical activity and sleep as risk factors for cognitive decline in individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment. Results hold potential to reduce the public health burden of age-associated cognitive decline, underscoring the significant role clinically informed psychological research can play in improving the quality of health service delivery and patient outcomes.”

Zanjbeel is a fourth-year doctoral student in the SDSU/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, with a focus in neuropsychology. Her research converges at the intersection of neuropsychology and rehabilitation science, focused on examining the neurocognitive and functional consequences of neurodegenerative disease and severe mental illness. In particular, she is interested in characterizing the mediators and moderators that hold potential to reduce functional disabilities of disease. Zanjbeel is also interested in leveraging cutting-edge technology (e.g., biosensors, wearables) and advanced statistical models within her research to develop integrated cognitive and behavioral interventions to promote brain health and improve patient outcomes. Her work has been presented at both national and international conferences and published in several peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, Alzheimer’s & Dementia, Schizophrenia Research, and Health Psychology.

Zanjbeel has been banking credentials through the National Register since 2020.

This announcement will also be featured in the National Register’s Journal of Health Service Psychology.

About the National Register of Health Service Psychologists

The National Register of Health Service Psychologists was established in 1974 and is the largest credentialing organization for psychologists and psychology doctoral students. We are an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving healthcare by identifying psychologists who meet specific education and training standards, and by verifying these professionals to consumers, healthcare organizations, and regulatory bodies. The National Register currently credentials 10,000 Health Service Psychologists and has approximately 3,500 psychology doctoral student and postdoctoral trainee members of its Associate Program. For more information, visit www.nationalregister.org.

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For more information about this announcement, contact the National Register at 202.783.7663.