Leritz awarded national fellowship for memory research

Betsy Leritz, a doctoral student in the University of Florida College of Health Professions’ clinical and health psychology department, has received a National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Mental Health.

The fellowship is awarded to students who have the potential to become productive, independent investigators. Leritz received an annual award of $26,015 for two years to support her doctoral training and research.

In her research, Leritz will examine how different forms of memory are affected by surgery to relieve seizures in patients with epilepsy in the temporal lobe of the brain. A secondary goal of her research is to gain more understanding about aspects of human memory. In particular, she will be studying how damage to the brain impacts conscious versus more subtle, unconscious memories. Leritz’s work will be conducted under the mentorship of Russell Bauer, Ph.D., a professor of clinical and health psychology.