LSU Health’s Osofsky Presented Lifetime Achievement Award by ZERO to THREE

October 29, 2021

ZERO to THREE, the nation’s leading early childhood development nonprofit dedicated to ensuring all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life, presented one of two Lifetime Achievement Awards to Joy Osofsky, PhD, Paul J. Ramsay Endowed Chair of Psychiatry and Barbara Lemann Professor of Child Welfare at LSU Health New Orleans. The award honors Dr. Osofsky’s influence on the early childhood field and the lives of babies and toddlers worldwide. ZERO to THREE leadership “gave” Dr. Osofsky the award in a moving virtual presentation on October 26 during the 2021 Annual Conference.

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According to ZERO to THRE, the annual award recognizes individuals who have made substantive contributions to improving the lives of infants, toddlers, and their families; this year ZERO TO THREE recognized two of the most prominent academics in the field.

Board President Dr. Paul Spicer remarked, “These extraordinary leaders have shown throughout their careers that our work extends far past the university classroom and has a real-world impact on the lives of children and their families. We are all beyond grateful to both of these remarkable innovators, and we are proud to honor them with this special award.”

Dr. Osofsky’s award reads, “Pioneering leader. . .Inspiring clinician and mentor. . .Visionary and innovator in serving vulnerable children and families. . .You create safety for children experiencing trauma.”

Dr. Osofsky, who directs the Harris Center for Infant Mental Health Center at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, also serves as co-principal investigator for the National Child Traumatic Stress Network Center, Terrorism and Disaster Coalition for Child and Family Resilience.

She has been widely recognized for her recovery work after disasters, along with violence intervention with children, families and law enforcement. She served as clinical director for Child and Adolescent Initiatives for Louisiana Spirit after Hurricane Katrina. In 2007, she received the Sarah Haley Award for Clinical Excellence by the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies for that work, and in 2010, the American Psychiatric Association awarded her a Presidential Commendation for leadership in mental health recovery after Katrina. Dr. Osofsky was also co-principal investigator for the Mental and Behavioral Capacity Project following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. She created and directed programs on violence prevention in families, worked with children exposed to violence and trained law enforcement for childhood mental health guided interventions.

Dr. Osofsky is past president of Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families and the World Association for Infant Mental Health. In 2014, she was recognized with the Reginald Lourie Award for leadership in infant mental health and outstanding contributions to the health and welfare of children and families.

“From her work with NOPD and school children exposed to violence in the streets of New Orleans, sharing her expertise with the Columbine community in 1999 and assisting the New York City Health Department after 911, to her most recent work with mental health professionals to help children cope with COVID-19 in Hong Kong, New York City, and indeed the world, the number of lives Dr. Osofsky’s work has lifted is incalculable,” notes Dr. Steve Nelson, LSU Health New Orleans Interim Chancellor and School of Medicine Dean. “She is a credit to her university, city, state and nation, and we are so proud to call Dr. Joy Osofsky our own.”

You can watch the video award presentation below.

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