Dlin/Fischer Clinical Research Award

The Dlin/Fischer Clinical Research Award recognizes significant achievement in clinical research and honors the best clinical research paper derived from abstracts submitted for presentation at the ACLP Annual Meeting. Individuals who submit the top-rated abstracts are invited to submit a paper to vie for the award.

Barney "Ben" Dlin, MD, FACLP

The award is named for Barney M. Dlin, MD, FACLP (Academy president 1983-84) and H. Keith Fischer, MD, FACLP (Academy president 1975-76), corroborators on many research projects and papers.

Barney "Ben" Dlin, who passed away in December 2008 in his 90s, played a significant role in elevating the Academy into a leading psychiatric organization and made many important contributions to psychological aspects of both coronary artery disease and inflammatory bowel disorders.

Dr. Dlin wrote about his first job as a doctor in his autobiography, Country Doctor: A Memoir. As a result of his experience, he believed that "every student of medicine should spend time in rural practice...no matter what specialty is pursued." Thomas Wise, MD, FACLP, provides a tantalizing review of the book in the November-December 2001 issue of Psychosomatics.

H. Keith Fischer was 79 when he passed away in December 1995. He was a clinical professor of psychiatry at Temple University, where he'd been on the faculty for 50 years and where he started the first open psychiatric inpatient unit and the first art therapy program in Pennsylvania. In the January 1996 Academy Newsletter, his cohort Barney Dlin wrote a memorial that is reprinted here.

AWARD DETAILS

ELIGIBILITY

- Eligibility is by invitation only and limited to abstracts accepted for live Oral Paper presentation at the Annual Meeting.
- Presenting authors are not eligible if they have received the Dlin/Fischer Award within the previous four years.
- Finalists may accept or decline the invitation to compete.

SELECTION

- Finalists are given four weeks to submit:
  - A two-page paper expanding on their abstract (focused primarily on methods and results), or a published version of the paper if already published.
- Submissions exceeding the page limit will be returned for editing.
- Tables, figures, and references may occupy one additional page.
- Papers are reviewed and judged by the Research Subcommittee.

RECOGNITION

The recipient receives:

- Plaque presented at the Annual Meeting
- $300 honorarium

TIMELINE

- Eligibility is contingent upon submission by the Annual Meeting abstract deadline and submitting the invited two-page paper by July 30, 2026.

APPLICATION

The four to six highest mean-ranking oral paper abstracts will be invited to apply.

2025 Award Recipient

Shehzad Niazi, MD

“Impact of Depression on the One-Year Cost of Solid Organ Transplants: An Analysis of OptumLabs Data Warehouse Dataset of a Nationally Representative Sample”

Description:

In this study, Dr. Niazi and colleagues examine the impact of depression on post-transplant healthcare costs, demonstrating that depression is a meaningful and potentially modifiable contributor to increased one-year medical expenditures across multiple organ transplant types. The findings highlight the importance of integrating psychiatric care into transplant medicine to improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.

Previous Award Winners

2024	Jose R. Maldonado, MD, FACLP, FACFE Assessing the Diagnostic Accuracy of the Stanford Proxy Test for Delirium (S-PTD) in a Critically Ill Population
2023	Jennifer Knight, MD, FACLP Integrated Care: Implementation Strategies at an Academic Medical Center
2022	Nancy Byatt, DO, MS, MBA, FACLP The Program In Support of Moms (PRISM): Results of a cluster randomized controlled trial of two active interventions addressing perinatal depression in obstetric settings
2021	Vishal Ahuja Impact of co-locating mental and behavioral health providers with primary care providers and specialists on patient outcomes
2020	Christian Goans, MD The Columbia Suicide Rating Scale is Insensitive to Suicide Risk After Emergency Department Visit
2019	Juliet Edgcomb, MD High Risk Phenotypes of Suicidality following Medical Hospitalization
2018	Gen Shinozaki, MD, FACLP Prediction of Patient Outcomes Associated with Delirium by Novel Bispectral EEG Device
2017	O. Joseph Bienvenu, MD, PhD Anxiety, Depression, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms after Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A 5-year Longitudinal Study
2016	Jesse Fann, MD, MPH, FACLP Impact of a Telehealth Intervention on Common Comorbid Conditions of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Active Duty Service Members: A Ramdomized Controlled Trial
2015	Eliza M. Park, MD End-of-Life Experiences of Mothers with Advanced Cancer: Perspectives of Widowed Fathers
2014	José R. Maldonado, MD, FACLP, FACFE Prospective Validation Study of the Prediction of Alcohol Withdrawal Severity Scale (PAWSS) of a New Scale for the Prediction of Moderate to Severe Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome
2013	Per Fink, MD, PhD, DMSc, FACLP Multiple Medically Unexplained Symptoms and Somatoform Disorders Vastly Increase Sick Leave and Work Disability in Primary Care Patients. A Ten-year Follow-up Study
2012	Dimitry Davydow, MD, MPH PTSD and Depressive Symptoms, Alcohol Use, and Cognitive Impairment Three Months after Medical-Surgical Intensive Care Unit Admission
2011	Peter A. Shapiro, MD, FACLP Psychiatric Evaluation of Potential Heart Transplant Candidates as a Predictor of Post-Heart Transplant Mortality
2010	Wayne J. Katon, MD, FACLP Comorbid Depression Is Associated with an Increased Risk of Dementia Diagnosis in Patients with Diabetes: A Prospective Cohort Study
2009	Lisa Seyfried, MD Predictors of Suicide in Older Patients with Dementia
2008	Kenneth Larsen, DMin, PhD A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study of Perioperative Administration of Olanzapine to Prevent Postoperative Delirium in Joint Replacement Patients
2007	Hochang B. Lee, MD Longitudinal Association Between Cluster B Personality Disorders and Incident Cardiovascular Diseases Among Community Residents
2006	Per Fink, MD, PhD, DMSc, FACLP A Two-Year Follow-up Study of Hypochondriasis/High Anxiety in Primary Care
2005	James R. Rundell, MD, FACLP Somatoform-Spectrum Diagnoses Among Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom Personnel Medically Evaculated from the Theater of Operations
2004	Jose R. Maldonado, MD, FACLP, et al Postoperative Sedation Can Dramatically Alter the Development of Delirium After Cardiac Surgery
2003	Graeme C. Smith, MD, FACLP; Thomas Trauer, PhD Prospective Psychosocial Monitoring of Living Kidney Donors Using the SF-36 Health Survey: Outcome at 4 and 12 Months
2002	Matthew J. Bair, MD, et al Impact of Pain on Depression Treatment Efficacy
2001	Mary Ellen Olbrisch, PhD; James L. Levenson, MD, FACLP; et al Psychosocial Evaluation of Organ Transplant Candidates: Comparative Surveys of Process Criteria & Outcomes 1989 and 2000
1999	Mary Amanda Dew, PhD; Andrea DiMartini, MD, FACLP; et al Patterns and Predictors of Risk for Depressive and Anxiety-Related Disorders During the First Three Years After Heart Transplantation
1998	Jesse R. Fann, et al Psychiatric Illness and Healthcare Utilization in an HMO Population with Traumatic Injury
1997	Peter A. Shapiro, MD, FACLP, et al Depression After Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery: Effect on Six-Month Outcome
1996	Wayne J. Katon, MD, et al Cost Effectiveness of Collaborative Intervention to Improve the Primary Care Treatment of Major Depression
1995	Constantine G. Lyketsos, MD, et al Changes in Depression as AIDS Develops
1994	Wayne J. Katon, MD, et al Collaborative Management to Achieve Treatment Guidelines: Impact on Depression in Primary Care
1993	Hans Steiner, MD, FACLP Repressive Adaptation in Youth Is Accompanied by Unrecognized Cardiac Arousal in Normal Adolescents
1992	William S. Breitbart, MD; S. Passik, PhD; et al Suicidal Ideation in AIDS: The Roles of Mood, Pain, Social Support, and Disease Status
1991	Mark W. Ketterer, PhD, et al Noctural Awakening, Sleep Latency, and Snoring in Males Undergoing Coronary Angiography and Age/SES Matched Controls
1990	James Rundell, MD, et al Methods Employed by and Length of Knowledge of HIV-Seropositivity of HIV-Infected Suicide Attempters Mary Alice O'Dowd, MD, et al More Suicidal Ideation in ARC and HIV+ Patients Than in AIDS Patients Attending a Psychiatry Outpatient Program