Doctoral Candidate Awarded FSU Doctoral Student Research and Creativity Award
Beren Crim Sabuncu, a doctoral candidate with the FSU College of Social Work, was awarded a 2026 Doctoral Student Research and Creativity Award in the Social and Behavioral Science disciplinary category at Florida State University. The FSU Celebration of Graduate Student Excellence event brought together many fellowship, grant, and award winners from across campus in April 2026.
Sabuncu's interdisciplinary scholarship bridges psychology, social work, epidemiology, and public health to drive innovation in population health. Her research uses advanced analytics to examine how acute and chronic stressors shape lifelong behavioral health and health outcomes. Specifically, her work centers on the comorbid impacts of trauma on medical and care adherence among aging sexual and gender minority demographics. Beyond identifying population-level vulnerabilities, her work is positioned to translate data into scalable, culturally responsive interventions.
"Crim brings practice experiences, including crisis counseling, survivor advocacy, and field placement supervision," wrote her co-major professors, Dr. Casey Xavier Hall and Dr. Frankie Wong, in their letter of support. professors, in a letter of support for the research and creativity award. "This practice experience, including ongoing crisis counseling, contributes to a deep understanding of the population that she works with as well as the social and health concerns Crim seeks to address in her research."
Since coming to Florida State, Sabuncu has coauthored 14 peer-reviewed publications. She led a multinational, multidisciplinary team in a systematic review of safety planning practices, whose results were published in the Journal of Family Violence. Sabuncu also led the first-ever review of sexual and gender minorities' infant feeding practices, which is currently under review for the Maternal and Child Health Journal.
Her scholarship has made meaningful contributions towards understanding the health outcomes among men who have sex with men living with HIV/AIDs, especially within the context of aging and other comorbidities. "This "study of work contributes to a limited and growing literature on aging with HIV and addresses critical gaps related to minority stress, behavioral health, and engagement care," she explained.
She has also been able to share her work through 20+ symposia and presentations at national and international conferences, including a symposium at the AIDS Impact conference in Morocco and a paper presentation at the International Congress on Psychology in Prague, Czech Republic.
Groundbreaking Dissertation Work
Her dissertation, titled "All Illnesses are metaphors: Intimate partner violence, SAVED syndemic and ART adherence among men who have sex with men fifty or older," is among the first research projects of its kind to examine distinct forms of intimate partner violence in this demographic. Her prospectus was awarded the 2026 Dianne F. Harrison Doctoral Award for the best prospectus within the College of Social Work.
Alongside her research as a graduate assistant with the FSU Center for Population Sciences for Health Empowerment, Sabuncu is a dedicated educator and collaborative leader. She teaches undergraduate courses and volunteers to mentor emerging researchers through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP).
"It is clear to us that Crim is a thoughtful educator dedicated to the learning of every student in her courses," Dr. Hall and Dr. Wong added, highlighting her capacity to mobilize talent across the academic community.
Her scholarly work has been recognized through a variety of other fellowships, scholarships, and awards. Sabuncu is a fellow in the Consortium on Analytics for Data-Driven Decision-Making. She is an Association of Nurses in AIDs Care HIV and Aging scholar, for researchers demonstrating a commitment to research, practice and policy for older adults living with HIV. This is particularly notable as the program most often recognizes scholars in the medical field.