Professor Wins CSU Faculty Research Award

Cynthia Crawford, a professor of psychology at Cal State San Bernardino, has been named the recipient of the 2015 California State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB). Crawford, who has been at CSUSB since 1996, received the award for her research, publication and support for student researchers. In the letter notifying Crawford of the award, Susan M. Baxter, CSUPERB executive director, wrote, “The committee, chaired by Dr. Michael Goldman (San Francisco State University), is recognizing your outstanding research accomplishments and publication record in the biomedical neuroscience and psychopharmacology fields, your enviable federal funding track record, your influential mentoring capabilities, and your support for student researchers throughout your career at CSU San Bernardino.” Robert Ricco, chair of the CSUSB psychology department, praised Crawford for her exceptional work. “This is a huge accomplishment, because it is a system-wide award and the competition is considerable when you think of the various biotechnology fields and the outstanding researchers working in those fields,” Ricco said. “In Dr. Baxter’s message, she referred to Cynthia’s candidacy as ‘undeniable.’ We are truly proud of Cynthia.” “I am honored to win this award. It is very gratifying to be recognized by peers in the CSU system,” Crawford said. Crawford is also the recipient of the 2014 CSUSB Outstanding Professor award for her scholarship, teaching and commitment to students. She is an authority in the use of animal models to study addiction and has published more than 65 papers in prestigious journals, such as “Neuroscience,” “Behavioral Brain Research,” “Hippocampus,” “Synapse,” “Psychopharmacology,” “Brain Research,” “Developmental Neuroscience” and “Behavioral Neuroscience.” She was also praised for including her students in her research. Student authors appearon her publications more than 100 times. Crawford has taught a wide range of courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including Developmental Psychobiology, Drugs and Behavior,Addiction and Recovery, Learning and Motivation, Biological Psychology, Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Experimental Psychology: Biological, Behavioral Neuroscience, Advanced Biological Psychology, Introduction to Psychopharmacology and Clinical Psychopharmacology. In addition,Crawford has an impressive recordof being awarded grants from the National Institutes of Health, many of which support her students, Ricco said. Crawford secured NIH funding for the CSUSB Diversity Drug Abuse Research Program and the Minority Drug Abuse Research Program, serving as director for each, as well as being associate director of the university’s Minority Access to Research Careers Program. Also, Crawford recently secured a Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement Grant. Crawford has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Washington University in St. Louis. She received her master’s and doctoral degrees, both in behavioral and neural studies, from the University of Kentucky.