The Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) has selected John Brekke to give the 2011 Aaron Rosen Lecture at its 15th annual meeting in January, recognizing his career accomplishments in mental health services research.

"This is a very prestigious honor for only the most outstanding scholars," said Marilyn Flynn, dean of the USC School of Social Work. "It is highly appropriate that SSWR acknowledges John's cumulative achievements to advance the profession and society as a researcher and educator."

The award recognizes a leading social work scholar who has accumulated a body of significant and innovative scholarship relevant to practice, the research base for practice or effective utilization of research in practice.

Since 1989, Brekke has been the principal investigator on five longitudinal studies funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and one funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to improve community-based services for individuals diagnosed with severe mental illness.

The Frances G. Larson Professor of Social Work Research is currently a principal investigator on three National Institute of Mental Health grants, including a project that seeks to speed the use of evidence-based practices into community-based treatment for individuals with schizophrenia and another that examines the transformation of community-based mental health services at the levels of policy implementation, organizational change and consumer outcomes.

Earlier this year, he received a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator Award in Health Policy Research to study mental health system transformation in America.

SSWR established the Aaron Rosen Lectureship in conjunction with the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis to honor the lifetime achievement of Dr. Rosen and provide the SSWR membership with an annual scholarly lecture that will move the field forward in terms of the integration of practice and research.