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Applying Neuroscience to Mental Illness
Emory University psychologist to share brain research in Distinguished Scientists Lecture Series

Scott O. Lilienfeld, the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Psychology at Emory University in Atlanta and visiting professor at the University of Melbourne in Australia, will present “The Brave New World of the Brain: Promises and Perils for Understanding Mental Illness” at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 22 in Laurie Auditorium on the campus of Trinity University.

The event is part of Trinity’s Distinguished Scientists Lecture Series and is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis; tickets or reservations are not required.

Lilienfeld is especially interested in the application of scientific thinking to psychology. In his talk, he will examine the increasing influence of neuroscience on psychology, particularly clinical psychology. He also will discuss the potential of neuroscientific discoveries to transform the classification and treatment of mental disorders while noting concerns about the dangers of focusing unduly on a single level of analysis in explaining psychopathology. Lilienfeld will delineate potential perils in the premature application of brain-based discoveries to mental disorders.    

Lilienfeld is editor of the journal Clinical Psychological Science, associate editor of Archives of Scientific Psychology, and president of the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology. He is also a consulting editor for, and frequent contributor to, Skeptical Inquirer magazine. He has published more than 350 manuscripts on personality disorders (especially psychopathy), dissociative disorders, psychiatric classification, pseudoscience in psychology, and evidence-based practice. He has also authored or co-authored 14 books, including 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology.  

Lilienfeld has received multiple early career and lifetime awards for his work, particularly for integrating psychology across subdisciplines. He also has received extensive press coverage in The New York Times, Washington Post, and other outlets and has appeared on CNN, ABC’s 20-20, and the CBS Evening News, among other television stations.

He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Cornell University in 1982 and his doctorate in psychology (clinical) from the University of Minnesota in 1990. He completed his clinical internship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinics (University of Pittsburgh) from 1986-87. He was a faculty member at the State University of New York at Albany from 1990-94, when he joined the faculty at Emory.

The Trinity University Distinguished Scientists Lecture Series is made possible by the Walter F. Brown Family of San Antonio. For more information, contact Trinity’s Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing at 210-999-8406.

Susie P. Gonzalez helped tell Trinity's story as part of the University communications team.

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