A psychologist at The Miriam Hospital’s Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center has won an award for her research on the relationship between genetics and behavioral factors in both cardiovascular disease and type-2 diabetes.

Jeanne McCaffery, who is also a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, received the 2009 Bruce M. Selya Award for Excellence in Research from Lifespan, the Miriam’s parent company.

Selya, a judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the first chairman of the Lifespan board of directors, presented the award that bears his name at a recent ceremony.

Lifespan created the award in 1999 in recognition of Selya’s commitment to academic medicine. It is geared to independent investigators and is meant to enhance the visibility and role of research within the Lifespan community.

McCaffery’s most recent study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, identified biological factors that may contribute to weight loss maintenance, such as different brain responses to the sight of food. Earlier this year, McCaffery was lead author on a study that found genetic factors might predict depression in heart disease patients.

Her past research has included twin and family studies, genetic and environmental associations between depression and smoking behavior, environmental contributions of socioeconomic status to health behaviors and cardiovascular disease, and specific variants in DNA that predict physiological responses to psychological stress.

“Dr. McCaffery is a rising star in the Lifespan research community who truly personifies the spirit of this award,” Selya said in a news release. “She is obviously a skilled and effective researcher and teacher who has already accomplished much in her academic career. Her research contributions could someday play a major role in our battle against devastating illnesses like obesity, heart disease and diabetes that affect millions of Americans each year.”