Professor First Recipient of APPA’s Breslau/Murphy Award.

Professor Receives Inaugural APPA Breslau/Murphy Award
Jaimie Gradus is the first recipient of the American Psychopathological Association’s Breslau/Murphy Award, which honors mid-career investigators for their research contributions and mentorship.
Jaimie Gradus, professor of epidemiology, has been named the winner of the 2025 Breslau/Murphy Award by the American Psychopathological Association (APPA). Established this year, the Breslau/Murphy award honors mid-career investigators who make significant contributions to both psychopathological research and the mentorship of the next generation of mental health scholars.
Named after two former APPA award recipients, Naomi Breslau and Jane Murphy, the award honors those who, like its namesakes, have served as role models for the field. Breslau and Murphy were female scientists who dared climb the academic ladder at a time when men dominated nearly all domains of scientific inquiry. Breslau is remembered for the important progress she made in advancing the field’s understanding of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, while Murphy is revered both for her epidemiologic research on psychiatric disorders as well as the attention she paid to the influence of culture and social class on psychopathology.
“It is such an honor to be the first recipient of an award named after two incredible women scientists. I am so appreciative of all the women scientists who paved the way for someone like me to have a slightly easier path, and it’s my greatest hope to do that for the women who will come after me,” says Gradus, who directs both the Center for Trauma and Mental Health (CTMH) and Epidemiology PhD program at SPH. Through her research and teaching activities, Gradus works with many aspiring scholars. Her overarching philosophy as a mentor, she says, is to know her mentees well enough to aid them in finding their own individual path. She always strives to do whatever she can to help her students move forward in their chosen pursuits.
Established in 1910, the APPA is one of North America’s longest standing organizations focused on psychopathology research and the scientific investigation of disorders of human behavior. The organization sponsors a yearly conference to highlight advances in the field and foster discussion leading to the identification of future research priorities.
Gradus will receive the Breslau/Murphy award at the APPA’s 2025 Annual Meeting, titled “Social Determinants of Psychopathology: Bridging Etiologic Research and Translation to Improve the Lives of Patients and Populations,” on March 6 – 8 in Boston. She will then deliver a presentation on the question of how psychiatry should define traumatic experiences and disorders based on findings from her research career to date.
Comments & Discussion
Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.