ACSILabs today announced that the Naturalistic Decision Making Association (NDMA) has established the Lia A. DiBello Award, honoring ACSILabs Chief Science Officer Dr. Lia DiBello. Introduced at the 18th International Conference on Naturalistic Decision Making (June 22–26, 2026, University of Virginia), the award recognizes best contribution to NDM efficacy — research showing the real-world impact of NDM methods on an organization. It joins the Gary A. Klein Award (NDM theory) and Robert R. Hoffman Award (NDM methodology), completing a three-award slate spanning theory, methodology, and applied impact. The honor reflects Dr. DiBello’s decades of work applying NDM research to accelerate learning and performance inside organizations.
The inaugural award was presented June 24, 2026, to Dr. Lygia Stewart, Professor of Surgery at UC San Francisco and Chief of General Surgery at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, for her paper “Expert Surgical Teams Significantly Improve Performance.”
