11/4/09 - The University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford is pleased to announce that Alesia Hawkins, PhD, will be joining the faculty as director of research in the department of family and community medicine (DFCM). In addition to her work in the DFCM, she will further develop research in the department of psychiatry and will build a clinical practice.
Hawkins earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Northern Illinois University in 2007 and completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Medical College of Georgia/Veterans Affairs Medical Center Consortium. She completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, a division of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). She has received grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Medical University of South Carolina. Her research involves the study of family and interpersonal violence and subsequent mental health consequences. Her research also focuses on addressing mental health disparities among ethnic minority and impoverished communities.
She has published many articles, papers and posters and has affiliations with the Georgia Psychological Association, Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, Association of Black Psychologist, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) and the American Psychological Association. Hawkins was the recipient of the National Institute of Mental Health – Navigating Your Way Through a Successful Research Career Travel Award, the American Psychological Association’s National Culturally Informed Evidence Based Practices Travel Award and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies - Child Maltreatment and Interpersonal Violence Student Research Award, among others.
The University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford has served the area since 1971 as a regional academic health science center. The University clinics are located in Belvidere, Mt. Morris, Rockton and Rockford.