Two doctoral students at The University of Texas at Austin have received awards from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health to assist in their academic research.

Tierney Ahrold Lorenz of Austin and Katherine Sanchez of Dallas each received the Francis Fowler Wallace Memorial Dissertation Award, which awards up to $1,500 to students conducting dissertation research related to mental health. Only doctoral students attending the university may apply, according to the benefactor's directive.

Lorenz, a graduate student in the Department of Psychology, is seeking her doctoral degree in clinical psychology. She is evaluating the effectiveness of exercise in combating the side effects of antidepressant medication on sexual functioning. Lorenz is recruiting 52 women to follow an at-home strength training and cardiovascular exercise program to combat sexual problems associated with antidepressants. Lorenz believes her project has the potential to dramatically improve treatment of people with depression or other mental illness.

Sanchez, a doctoral student in the School of Social Work, is a licensed clinical social worker. Her dissertation is focused on the integration of primary health and behavioral health care in Texas and the U.S. Her research includes evaluating improvements in mental health of consumers who received integrated health care at the Peoples Community Clinic in Austin, which participated in a three-year integrated health care initiative funded by the Hogg Foundation. Sanchez also is studying the role of the social worker as an essential component of a consumer-centered treatment team.

The Hogg Foundation advances mental wellness for the people of Texas as an impactful grant maker and catalyst for change. Foundation grants fund mental health services, policy analysis, research, and public education and awareness projects in Texas. The foundation was created in 1940 by the children of former Texas Governor James S. Hogg, and is part of the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement at The University of Texas at Austin.

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