Social Work Faculty Receives 2026 Society of Behavioral Medicine Award
Dr. Amy L. Ai, a Florida State University (FSU) Distinguished Research Professor at the College of Social Work, was recognized by the Society for Behavioral Medicine (SBM) as a 2026 recipient of the society’s Cardiovascular Disease Group (CVD SIG) Kenneth E. Freedland Founder’s Award.
The award recognizes contributors to the CVD area, highlighting her research accomplishment at the 2026 SBM conference. Dr. Ai will receive an honorarium and is invited to give a brief oral presentation on her research related to CVD at the CVD SIG breakfast roundtable at 8 am on April 23, 2026.
“Being nominated for this honor by my colleague Dr. Paul Wink, Nellie Zuckerman Cohen & Anne Cohen Heller Professor in Health Sciences and Psychology Department, Westley College, was a pleasant surprise,” stated Dr. Ai. “I look forward to attending the conference together with so many eminent scholars doing important work in the areas of CVD and across behavioral medicine.”
Dr. Ai is a leading scholar whose research focuses on the intersection of aging, spirituality, trauma-related growth, and how behavioral health impacts CVD. Her research includes a variety of methods and measurements marked by interdisciplinary collaboration across the globe.
“I have been very impressed by her advancement and stellar contributions across fields such as positive psychology, medicine, mental health, aging, existential crises, and spirituality. At the broadest level, Dr. Ai is considered one of the world’s leading scholars working at the interface of these areas, especially as they relate to cardiovascular disease. She pioneered research in the intersection of positive psychology and open-heart surgery,” wrote her nominator, Dr. Paul Wink, professor emeritus of psychology at Wellesley College.
He added in her award nomination,“Within the global context, Dr. Ai’s work is viewed as an exemplar of interdisciplinary science, bringing theoretical originality and methodological sophistication to complex, multifaceted topics.”
She was also selected as an SBM fellow in 2023 and received an additional award from the society in 2024, receiving the Integrative Health and Spirituality Special Group Distinguished Scientist Award.
Dr. Ai’s scholarship has been recognized with many awards, fellowships, grants and other accolades. Dr. Ai’s dedication and scholarly contributions have been acknowledged by numerous awards, fellowships, grants, and accolades. She is a Barbour Scholar and was named a fellow of the American Psychology Association (four Divisions) in between 2007 and 2017, of the Association for Psychological Science, and of the Gerontological Society of America in 2004.
She was awarded Fulbright Distinguished Chair (2016-2017) and received the 2018 Health Psychology Contribution Award from the International Association of Applied Psychology. She received the 2021 Innovation Award from the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies. She became a fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare in 2020.