Feb. 5, 2015 – Eric Garland, faculty at the University of Utah College of Social Work, has been elected to a distinguished fellowship in the National Academies of Practice (NAP) and the Social Work Academy as a Distinguished Scholar & Fellow. The high honor acknowledges Garland’s outstanding achievements and contributions to the field of social work.

Satya Verma, president of the NAP, and Carolyn Messner, chair of the NAP in Social Work, noted that Garland is a recognized leader in the profession of social work. As a distinguished fellow with the NAP, Garland will join an interdisciplinary team of exemplary health care leaders and practitioners from around the country who are working to influence national health policy, legislation and promote quality healthcare through advocacy, practice, education and research.

“Eric’s work has been and will continue to be a tremendous contribution to the fields of health and mental health,” said Hank Liese, interim dean of the University of Utah College of Social Work. “By investigating, developing and refining new approaches to treatment, he is quite literally saving lives. His election to the NAP is a well-deserved honor.”

Garland will be formally inducted into the NAP in April at the NAP Annual Meeting & Forum in Alexandria, Virginia.

More about Eric Garland

Garland is an associate professor and interim associate dean for research at the University of Utah College of Social Work, as well as the associate director of integrative medicine in the Supportive Oncology Program at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. He is a licensed clinical social worker and the developer of Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement, an innovative, evidence-based intervention for treating addiction, stress and chronic pain. Garland’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health.

About the National Academies of Practice

The NAP is a nonprofit organization founded in 1981 to advise governmental bodies on the nation’s healthcare systems. Distinguished practitioners and scholars are elected by their peers from 14 different health professions to join the only interprofessional group of healthcare practitioners and scholars dedicated to supporting affordable, accessible, coordinated quality health care for all.