Johanna Perez, postgraduate associate in the Yale Department of Psychiatry, has been selected to receive a 2026 CPA Travel Award for the Collaborative Perspectives on Addiction (CPA) Conference, sponsored by APA Division 50.
The competitive award is based on research presentation scores and is intended to help offset travel costs for attending CPA 2026, to be held April 30-May 2 in Kansas City, Mo. Each award includes a $350 stipend.
Perez will present the poster, "Race-based traumatic stress in relation to substance use and depression among people of color."
She is a member of the Study of Trauma, Addiction, and Recovery (STAR) Lab at Yale School of Medicine. Her research interests focus on marginalized communities, examining how cultural identity shapes resilience and how systemic inequities affect treatment outcomes. She is particularly committed to community-engaged research that informs culturally responsive interventions.
Melissa Schick, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry, is the PI and director of the STAR Lab.