FSU psychology alumnae awarded highest honor for early-career scientists by U.S. government

Two Florida State University College of Arts and Sciences alumnae have earned the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers who have already conducted impactful research in their respective fields.

Department of Psychology alumnae Amanda Raines and Elizabeth Tighe were both awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers by former President Joe Biden in January 2025.

First awarded in 1996, the PECASE recognizes early-career scientists who show exceptional potential for leadership, innovation, and connecting research to societal impacts.

“Being selected by former President Biden for this award is an honor and a privilege that feels particularly poignant as a psychologist,” Raines said. “This award emphasizes the importance of psychology as a science and the value that we are now placing on mental health. With this recognition comes a responsibility to continue addressing the pressing challenges facing our society through my work.”

Raines, a three-time FSU psychology alumna who earned her doctorate in clinical psychology in 2016, is currently a clinical investigator at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Louisiana State University, part of the LSU School of Medicine. Raines' research, currently funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, seeks to identify and examine transdiagnostic risk and maintenance factors for anxiety and to develop novel interventions that can be used to prevent and treat anxiety.

Through a grant from the South Central Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center in 2018, Raines published a treatment manual targeting anxiety and related disorders through the identification and elimination of safety aids, which are cognitive and behavioral strategies aimed at avoiding or alleviating anxiety. While useful in the short term, repeated use of these behaviors in the long term contributes to the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders. This treatment manual was selected by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense’s practice-based implementation network as the 2023-2024 pilot implementation project.

“Each year, the department’s practice-based implementation network seeks to promote evidence-based practices that, if adopted, will close the gap between science and practice and improve the lives of service members, veterans, and their families,” Raines said. “I was an integral part of the implementation project, helping to train military providers on the delivery of this safety aid reduction treatment at Military Health Services locations throughout the United States and overseas.”

This manual was based on unpublished research by Raines' graduate mentor Brad Schmidt, psychology department chair and director of the Anxiety and Behavioral Health Clinic, who worked with Raines in the ABHC during her time at FSU.

“Amanda was one of the hardest-working students in the psychology program and has rapidly become one of the leading researchers at the Department of Veterans Affairs,” Schmidt said. “Being selected for such an award indicates that both Raines and Tighe are already making a difference in their research and their service to the country. The department is incredibly proud of both individuals’ accomplishments so far!”

Tighe earned her doctorate in cognitive psychology from FSU in 2015 and conducted research with her adviser Chris Schatschneider, Department of Psychology professor and associate director of the Florida Center for Reading Research. Currently, her research on reading development, adult literacy, and individual differences in reading comprehension skills is funded by the Department of Education.

“For me, the award represents years of dedication and perseverance to my collective body of research,” Tighe said. “The PECASE shines a light on adult literacy, a historically underfunded field in which there is a critical need for evidence-based research to support educational outcomes for these adults.”

After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Arizona State University, Tighe took a position at Georgia State University where she is currently an associate professor of psychology and assistant director of the Adult Literacy Research Center. In addition to teaching, Tighe manages GSU’s Adult Language, Literacy, and Learning Lab, which conducts interdisciplinary research on adult literacy by connecting theories and methods in psychology and education.

“I recently led a project in which my lab team designed a seven-week pilot study to teach spelling rules and morphological knowledge, or the understanding of word structure and word formation’s smallest unit of meaning such as prefixes and suffixes, to adults with reading challenges,” Tighe said. “We are currently working on publishing our findings, which suggest significant improvements in morphology, vocabulary, and comprehension skills as well as in adults’ self-reported reading strategies.” 

Tighe was shown the importance of industry recognition by her postdoctoral mentor at Arizona State University Carol Connor, who is also a former FSU psychology faculty member and herself a 2006 PECASE winner.

“I remember seeing the photo of her and former President George W. Bush on her office wall and thinking how amazing it would be to win an award like that,” Tighe said. “I would love for this award to inspire future generations like Carol did for me.”

To learn more about the FSU Department of Psychology and its research, visit psychology.fsu.edu.