Parky Lau 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 Parky Lau, MA, of the Clinical Psychology PhD program at Toronto Metropolitan University.  

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. Parky’s project investigates how to increase access to evidence-based sleep treatments and support sleep health in adolescents through a personalized teen sleep app. 

Upon receiving the award, Parky said, “I am extremely grateful to be the recipient of the National Register of Health Service Psychologists’ 2023 Morgan T. Sammons Doctoral Student Award. It is my sincere hope that the funding from this project helps to further understanding of how we can increase access to and knowledge of effective sleep health interventions to adolescents through DOZE—an evidence-based teen sleep app. Because adolescence represents a period of vulnerability for sleep challenges, there is significant value in 1) determining strategies to make evidence-based sleep treatments accessible to the community and 2) increasing knowledge translation efforts to bridge the gap between sleep science and those the research serves. I extend heartfelt gratitude to the review board for their encouraging feedback and to Dr. Colleen Carney—this project would not be possible without their unfailing support and excellent mentorship.”  

“Congratulations to Parky on receiving the 2023 Morgan T. Sammons Doctoral Student Award,” commented Daniel M Elchert, PhD, who is CEO of the National Register. “Parky’s impactful project will contribute to our knowledge about how health service psychologists can support healthy sleep patterns in adolescents.” 

Parky Lau, MA, is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University under the supervision of Dr. Colleen Carney. His research identifies ways to improve outcomes and access to behavioral sleep treatments and how these interventions may have far-reaching beneficial effects on health beyond a sleep lens. In particular, his dissertation examines how to increase accessibility of behavioral sleep medicine to adolescents through an evidence-based sleep app (dozeapp.ca). The work is conducted in collaboration with private schools across Canada to support how to best disseminate and implement the app within a broader adolescent community. To increase public access to the remarkable research in sleep science, Parky is passionate about knowledge translation and has conducted talks to employees at Employment and Social Development Canada, older adults at the LIFE Institute, and adolescents at high schools. Parky has also presented at multiple national conferences, authored book chapters, and published research in the field of behavioral sleep medicine. At Toronto Metropolitan University, he has been significantly involved in university affairs, such as the research ethics board and the graduate council, and he was a recipient of a teaching award for his contributions to supporting undergraduate learning.  

Parky 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 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.