Martina Fruhbauerova Named 2024 Morgan T. Sammons Doctoral Student Award Winner

Photo of Ms. Fruhbauerova

The National Register of Health Service Psychologists is proud to present the 2024 Morgan T. Sammons Doctoral Student Award to Martina Fruhbauerova, MS, of the Clinical Psychology program at the University of Kentucky.    

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 project. Martina’s project evaluates a mechanism-focused, single-session intervention designed to directly target hopelessness and negative perceptions of social connectedness among individuals hospitalized for suicidal thoughts and behaviors in a Lexington community inpatient unit. 

Upon receiving the award, Martina said, “I am deeply honored to receive this recognition for my work, which reflects an innovative, responsible, and ethical vision for the future of suicide prevention. This award not only acknowledges the importance of advancing suicide intervention research but also provides invaluable financial support to ensure the successful completion of my study, benefiting both the participants and the broader field. I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to contribute to pushing forward suicide prevention research.”  

“Congratulations to Martina on receiving the 2024 Morgan T. Sammons Doctoral Student Award,” commented Andrew P. Boucher, CEO of the National Register. “We are proud to support her project and look forward to hearing more about the results.” 

Martina Fruhbauerova, MS (she/her), is a fifth-year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. candidate at the University of Kentucky, mentored by Drs. Shannon Sauer-Zavala and Julie Cerel. Her research focuses on suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs), targeting underlying mechanisms to develop transdiagnostic, personalized interventions for STBs in the context of comorbid mental health problems. As a first-generation college student, Martina was a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, which prepared her for a career in research. During this time, she interned at the University of Washington Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress (UWCATS), completing her honors thesis under Drs. Lori Zoellner and Elizabeth Marks, supported by the Mary Gates Research Scholarship and the Psychology Undergraduate Honors Research Development Award. She later joined the Center for Suicide Prevention and Recovery (CSPAR) at UW, where she worked as a research assistant and coordinator on three randomized clinical trials with Dr. Katherine Anne Comtois. Beyond her commitment to advancing suicide prevention research, Martina is also passionate about advocacy and has served in leadership roles such as APA Graduate Students Member-at-Large, KPAGS co-chair, and Suicide and Self-Injury SIG co-leader. Her goal is to integrate research, advocacy, and policy to develop impactful interventions for suicide prevention. 

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

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.  

###  

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

1200 New York Ave NW, Ste 800
Washington DC 20005

p: 202.783.7663

f: 202.347.0550

Endorsed by the National Register