Gabriel DeLong and Liza Hinchey, two fourth-year doctoral students in counseling psychology in the College of Education, were selected to receive a Thomas C. Rumble Fellowship. Awarded by the Wayne State University Graduate School, the fellowship aims to optimize the performance of doctoral students by providing support for and establishing expected outcomes at each stage of the training process. The fellowship provides a stipend of $20,000 for the academic year, a tuition scholarship that provides payment of 7.5 to 10 credits for each of the fall and winter semesters and subsidized medical, vision and dental insurance.

Black men who have sex with men have been largely left out of the conversation about body image while still being objectified based on race specifically. In response to this, DeLong’s research seeks to reduce body image dissatisfaction among Black men who have sex with men by developing and evaluating the efficacy of a short-content video series that combines evidence-based interventions with the culture-specific needs voiced by members of the community. His mentor is Assistant Professor Sarah Kiperman.

DeLong — a therapist and the manager of the Project Support Lab, collaborative research team led by Kiperman that seeks to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ youth — has worked with adolescents, emerging adults and young adults on issues including depression, anxiety, life changes, sexuality and body image concerns. He is also one of 10 recipients to receive an inaugural $10,000 award from Mental Health Advocates of Tomorrow, a fund created to support wellness champions who are committed to ensuring BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities have access to empathetic therapists.

DeLong enjoys watching movies, exploring restaurants with friends and spending his spare time with his husband, Mark, who works in higher education.

Liza Hinchey's current research focuses on understanding the relationships between trauma, psychosocial processes (e.g., stress and social interactions), and neuroendocrine function (e.g., Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis related processes), as well as investigating psychosocial rehabilitation models for promoting recovery in persons with serious mental illness. Her dissertation specifically aims to determine the impact of subjective perceptions of potentially traumatic events on HPA axis function.

Hinchey is also one of 15 doctoral students who received a Summer Dissertation Award, which provides summer support to advanced doctoral students who work full time on their dissertations during the summer and plan to defend within the academic year. Her faculty mentor is Associate Professor Francesca Pernice.

Hinchey, a psychotherapist in private practice in Shelby Township, is passionate about yoga, travel, coffee and spending time with her four younger siblings.