Where in the World is APF with Dr. Daniel Moriarity
Welcome to “Where in the World is APF”, our recipient highlight series where we catch up with our grant, scholarship, and award recipients all over the world!
Today, we’re speaking with Dr. Daniel Moriarity, who received a 2020 Visionary Grant for the project with Dr. Marin Kautz, “Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in late Adolescents Following Childhood Maltreatment are Mediated by Enhanced Acute Stress Responsivity.”
Dr. Moriarity also received a 2020 COGDOP Graduate Student Scholarship for the project, “A Test of the Immunocognitive Model Using a Reward-Salient Stress Task.”
Can you give us an update on your career and research since being awarded a Visionary Grant in and COGDOP Scholarship 2020?
Since being awarded the APF Visionary Grant and APF COGDOP Scholarship, I have graduated with my PhD from Temple University and completed a joint postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA and Stanford. Starting January 2025 I will open the Precision Psychopathology and Dynamic Immunopsychiatry lab at the University of Pennsylvania where I will be an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Clinical Psychology area.
In what aspects has your APF-funded research impacted your career as a researcher and your contributions to the field?
APF funding has been instrumental in my ability to develop an independent program of research during my training by allowing me to design projects that extend past the resources immediately available to me in my mentors’ labs. This has been critical for both my professional development and thinking programmatically as well as demonstrating my readiness for an independent research career.
Have you received subsequent funding, awards or other significant accomplishments since receiving your APF grant?
Yes, in addition to my postdoctoral fellowship and faculty position, I have been awarded an NIMH funded F32 that builds off of my APF-funded research and was awarded the UCLA Chancellor’s Award for Postdoctoral Research (an award celebrating the top 8 postdoctoral fellows across UCLA). Additionally, a manuscript testing the primary aim of my APF-funded research was recently accepted as a Stage 2 Registered Report in the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science.
How did your APF-funded research positively influence or make significant contributions to the field of suicide prevention and awareness?
Dr. Marin Kautz and my APF Visionary grant incorporates several malleable intervention targets such as inflammation, threat sensitivity, and reward sensitivity into a multi-level model of risk and resilience for suicidal thoughts and behaviors in individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment. This work will contribute to holistic integration of early life adversity, cognitive traits, and biology in our understanding of suicidality and how it can be prevented.
How have you used the outcomes / How do you plan to use the outcomes from your APF-funded research to inform future projects or initiatives?
The outcomes of these projects have been essential in publishing during graduate school and my postdoctoral fellowship. This data has also served as crucial pilot data for my next grants, including the F32 that funded my post-doctoral fellowship and allowed me to develop new mental health resources for college students at UCLA. Just this year I presented a talk at the Association for Psychological Science on the dynamic associations between social experiences and suicidality using my F32 data- informed by my initial experiences working with similar data in my APF-funded projects.
Want to contribute to projects like this and create impact with psychology? Donate to APF today!
Topics: Suicide Prevention Where In The World Is APF
Discover More
The Next Chapter for APF: The Official Launch of Direct Action
In this blog post, APF’s CEO Dr. Michelle Quist Ryder and Head of Philanthropy Faith Anderson reflect on the evolution of our newest Philanthropic Initiative, Direct Action. They explore how this effort is helping accelerate the journey from discovery to impact, creating new pathways for evidence-based approaches to improve lives, strengthen communities, and address pressing societal challenges.
Psychological science has the power to improve lives. Researchers, practitioners, and community leaders are constantly developing evidence-based solutions to some of society’s most pressing challenges, but these solutions can only create impact when it reaches the people and communities they were designed to serve. As communities face increasingly complex challenges, the Direct Action Philanthropic Initiative represents our long-term commitment to moving proven solutions beyond research settings, and into the hands of those who need them most.
Psychology & Philanthropy In Action with Dr. Amy Hyoeun Lee: Community-Partnered Implementation
We’re catching up with Dr. Amy Hyoeun Lee, who received a Direct Action Visionary Grant for the project: Task-Shifting for Equitable Trauma-Focused Care: Community-Partnered Implementation of STAIR with Caregivers. This work builds on an established community partnership with Dr. Lee’s Lab for Youth Trauma Recovery and S.T.R.O.N.G. Youth, a local organization in Long Island specializing in youth gun and gang violence prevention.
APF Direct Action: Making Community Impact through Corporate Philanthropy
Longtime APF supporter, psychologist, corporate leader, and Direct Action Cabinet Co-Chair Dr. Jana Martin explores the evolving role of corporate philanthropy, and why investing in psychology matters now more than ever.