Tia Tyndal Named 2023 Morgan T. Sammons Doctoral Student Award Winner

The National Register of Health Service Psychologists is proud to present the 2023 Morgan T. Sammons Doctoral Student Award to Tia Tyndal, MA, of the Clinical Psychology PhD program at the Catholic University of America.  

This award, named in honor of the National Register’s third Chief Executive Officer, is presented annually to a currently enrolled student in good standing in an APA- or CPA-accredited doctoral program in psychology who are student members of the National Register Associate Program.  

The National Register’s Awards Committee honors the recipient of this award with a $5,000 stipend to further the development of a clinically oriented research project. Tia’s project evaluates the use of the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) framework to serve African American youth who are suicidal at critical points of care. 

Upon receiving the award, Tia said, “I am deeply honored and humbled to be selected as a recipient of the 2023 Morgan T. Sammons Doctoral Student Award from the National Register of Health Service Psychologists. Words cannot fully express my gratitude for the support for this important dissertation work aimed at improving access to evidence-based suicide-specific interventions for African American youth. This funding will support my research addressing the gap in care for Black youth during a time when the suicide rate is increasing within the African American community by examining CAMS, an evidence-based suicide-focused therapeutic framework, to help individuals understand and manage their suicidal thoughts and behaviors.”  

“Congratulations to Tia on receiving the 2023 Morgan T. Sammons Doctoral Student Award,” commented Daniel M Elchert, PhD, who is CEO of the National Register. “We know from the National Center for Health Statistics that adolescent suicidality is at an inflection point. Tia’s impactful project will contribute to our knowledge about how health service psychologists can support African American youth with suicidal thoughts and behaviors.” 

Tia Tyndal, MA, (she/her) is a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the Clinical Psychology PhD program at the Catholic University of America under the mentorship of Dr. David Jobes. Her research aims to increase the accessibility of evidence-based suicide interventions for diverse and underserved populations, particularly for African American and LGBTQIA+ youth. She has collaborated on research leveraging technology for novel research designs, such as an innovative mental health application for use in emergency departments with high suicide-risk populations, as well as helped design and implement research identifying key performance elements for suicide-specific interventions. Previously, she has worked on suicide intervention research across several sites including the Florida International University Center for Children and Families, the Nock Lab at Harvard University, and the Duke University Center for the Study of Suicide Prevention and Intervention. Tia is a McNair Scholar, a Leadership Alliance alumni, and a Francis C. Sumner awardee. Currently, she is a psychology doctoral intern at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles with a concentration in Adolescent Medicine. She has a specific interest in suicidal and self-injurious behaviors, complex trauma, gender health, and comorbid medical and psychological diagnoses. In addition, she has served in various leadership and mentorship roles working to support and advocate for marginalized students both within and beyond her academic community. 

Tia has been banking credentials through the National Register since 2023.  

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 nonprofit credentialing organization for psychologists and psychology doctoral students. The National Register is 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 5,000 psychology doctoral student and postdoctoral trainee members in 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.