VCU news

By Sian Wilkerson

Virginia Commonwealth University’s Fantasy Lozada has received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers – the highest honor given by the federal government to those early in their careers – for her research into understanding the development of emotion and emotion-related processes among African American youth and families.

The PECASE program, established in 1996 during the Clinton administration, recognizes innovative and far-reaching developments in science and technology, and it highlights the importance of science and technology for the nation’s future.

“This award recognizes the promise, innovation and necessity of putting our science in conversation with community, and making it more of a bidirectional process and partnership that both supports communities while advancing science,” said Lozada, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Psychology in VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences.

“I am completely humbled and honored by this award, but receiving this honor is more than just a recognition of my work,” she said. “It is a recognition of the importance of telling the stories of the Black and Brown communities with whom I partner and serve; a recognition of my students who work tirelessly with me to tell these stories; a recognition of the Black and Latine scholars who paved the way and opened the doors for me; and a recognition of all the ways in which my family (especially my husband, Dr. Mychal Smith), friends, mentors and colleagues have poured into me. This honor is a testament to the villages that raise me and sustain me.”

“The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers represents the highest honor granted by the U.S. government to exceptional scientists and engineers in the early stages of their careers,” said Fotis Sotiropoulos, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “Professor Lozada’s groundbreaking work in empowering African American youth by fostering emotional competencies that build resilience against racism is truly transformative and at the forefront of her field. This prestigious recognition is a testament to her extraordinary contributions, and I am deeply honored to call her a colleague at VCU.”

In 2021, Lozada received a National Science Foundation CAREER award to investigate the development of emotion regulatory flexibility among African American middle school youth and to understand how parents’ emotion and racial socialization are associated with ERF. Her five-year project, “Understanding Emotion Regulatory Flexibility among African American Adolescents,” conceives of ERF in the context of both the experience of racial discrimination and in the navigation of various racial and cultural contexts.

The project conceptualizes ERF as an “emotional code-switching” competence developed by African American youth through learning to navigate multiple cultures, and it uses various measures of emotional code-switching skill through self-report and observations combined by physiological measurements. Lozada and her team worked with a community advisory board of African American parents, youth and community leaders based in Richmond to review and revise their measurement protocols to reflect the lived experiences of African American families. They will also partner with youth service providers to create workshops that will support families, schools and organizations in creating emotionally supportive spaces for African American youth.

Lozada is among nearly 400 awardees this year in the PECASE program. The recipients are employed or funded by 14 participating agencies: the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Interior, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, the intelligence community, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution.

"Dr. Lozada's groundbreaking research on the emotional experiences of Black and Brown communities is truly impactful," said P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D., vice president for research and innovation. "Her work not only sheds light on the profound impact of systemic racism on emotional development but also provides crucial insights for creating more equitable and supportive environments for these populations. I am incredibly proud of Dr. Lozada and her commitment to advancing social justice through rigorous scientific inquiry and congratulate her on this well-deserved recognition of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers."