All meetings scheduled at the Sonesta Hotel White Plains, New York
America’s Think Tank for Mental Health
www.ourgap.org
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Our recent gathering in White Plains came just in time. The interval between our fall and spring meetings was filled with distressing news: terrible wildfires in Los Angeles, irrational, impulsive, and destructive edicts from Washington, and wars raging worldwide. In an unkind and wisdom-starved world, it was wonderful to be in a room filled with humane, life-affirming, and wise people.
GAP OFFICERS:
President
Robert P. Roca, M.D. rroca2@jhmi.edu
President Elect
Sy A. Saeed, M.D. saeeds@ecu.edu
Secretary
David A. Sasso, M.D. david.sasso@gmail.com
Treasurer
Gail E. Robinson, M.D. gail.robinson@utoronto.ca
Past President
Calvin R. Sumner, M.D. docsumner@gmail.com
Wisdom may be one of the most underrated resources in our world these days. It doesn’t grab headlines, generate clicks, or drive advertising revenue. But it underlies successful decisionmaking in our lives as individuals and is at the foundation of enduring, resilient institutions. Dilip Jeste, a geriatric psychiatrist and former APA President, is one of the most resonant voices in conversations about wisdom. He undertook a scientific study of wisdom and distilled it to a handful of core capacities, including empathy, emotional regulation, self-reflection, acceptance of divergent values, and tolerance of uncertainty. These qualities were evident at every turn in White Plains in April: in the Board meeting, the Friday morning business meeting, the meetings of the steering committee, and I know in the individual committee meetings as well. They were particularly evident during spirited and civil discussions about how GAP might best respond to ambient threats to our colleagues and patients and our efforts to help them. People spoke passionately and respectfully, mindful of the diversity of viewpoints, sensitivities, life experiences, and circumstances of our members, fellows, and guests. Many response options were proposed, and there will be opportunities to consider these over the next few weeks and months. However, one option is immediately available: individual committees may develop their commentaries on important issues in their areas of special expertise and endeavor to publish them in venues where they might have an impact. Informing to have an impact—that’s how GAP can make a difference. That’s why I was so excited to review and approve a statement from the Committee on Professionalism and Ethics about the deleterious effects of extreme uncertainty on mental health. They aimed to publish it someplace where they would, in their words, “not be preaching to the choir.” They succeeded: it was published recently as a letter to the editor of the Washington Times. Imagine 10 or 20 or more statements coming out of GAP committees on issues within their special expertise and appearing in a range of venues where people with diverse viewpoints might view them.
One important activity at the meeting was a review of the findings of our most recent audit, which looked at our standing at the end of 2023. There were two main takeaways, neither of (continued...)
which was a surprise: (1) we have a very healthy “total assets” figure on our balance sheet, which is a source of fundamental strength and (2) a very high proportion of these assets are “restricted” by the Board for specific purposes, primarily the support of the fellowships, and are not available to fund operations under routine circumstances.
This is a structural problem that needs to be solved to guarantee the vigor of GAP in the years to come. One way to solve it is to balance our budget every year (i.e., annual expenses not to exceed annual revenue from dues, meeting registration, etc.) so that we do not need to use our reserves for operations. This will require that we find additional sources of revenue and/or reduce expenses. This is a project for the months leading up to the creation of our 2026 budget at the fall meeting. Another way to solve this problem is to build our unrestricted net assets. One way to do this is to attract new unrestricted donations.
At the meeting, we took a step in this direction by creating, at the suggestion of David Adler, the Frances Roton Bell Executive Director’s Fund, an unrestricted fund in Frances’ honor. It has already attracted at least $35K in pledges from Board members and others. More on this later. Another way to build our unrestricted reserves is to “unrestrict” a fraction of our restricted funds, a move permitted by a 2/3 vote of the Board. At the spring meeting, the Board voted unanimously to allow us to “unrestrict” 10% of the principal of the restricted funds
on a one-time basis. This decision harmonizes well with our decision to add a 10% administrative charge to all future restricted gifts. The Board also voted to allow us to use for general operations any investment income over that required to fund the fellows. These moves will increase our unrestricted net assets right away.
In the meantime, our purpose-specific fundraising efforts have continued to bear fruit. We recently received another substantial gift from the Cotswold Foundation – supplemented by John Looney—to create a Distinguished Guests Fund. This will allow us to invite distinguished individuals from other fields to attend GAP meetings for two years to contribute their perspectives to the work of GAP committees. In addition, we recently received very generous gifts from Keith Flaherty, MD, in honor of his mother, our beloved former President Lois Flaherty, who died in early May. His gifts will establish the Lois Flaherty Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship fund, which will support a Fellow assigned to the Adolescent Committee, and the Lois Flaherty General Fund, which will provide grants to committees to support dissemination of their work. Her obituary, written by Keith, is reproduced later in this Circular Letter. Alongside this is the obituary of another beloved GAP member and former president, the remarkable Malkah Notman. She died peacefully in early May as well.
In other news from the April meeting,
the IMG Committee was reestablished by a vote of the Steering Committee, and the Board voted to create, at the recommendation of Jacob Appel, a GAP Service Award to recognize an individual who has made extraordinary contributions to our organization. Also, the Finance Committee reaffirmed our recently adopted policy of including a 10% administrative charge to support GAP infrastructure for all purposespecific gifts, including the new gifts mentioned above.
Finally, speaking of extraordinary contributions to our organization, let me end by returning to the establishment of the Frances Roton Bell Executive Director’s Fund. As described above, this is the brainchild of David Adler, who recognized our debt to Frances for her extraordinary contributions to GAP over many decades and our need to create new sources of unrestricted funding to help shore up GAP’s operational finances. As noted above, the fund has already been seeded with over $35000 from a handful of Board members. The hope is that by the fall meeting, this sum will have grown to $100,000 and beyond. Donations can be made on the GAP website. Please do whatever you can to help us reach our target!
Have a great summer.
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL THREATS TO HEALTH FOR YOUTH. WHAT IS GAP’S ROLE?
In addition to discussing our opinions on the role that GAP should take as an organization, we in the Adolescent Committee examined possible actions we could take. We agreed that it is urgent to act quickly. We agreed to pursue the following projects, each one speaking about what we support rather than focusing on what we oppose. Jean suggested three parameters as perspectives for positive views: stress-inducing vs. stress-moderating factors and the importance of prevention, the economic advantage of prevention, and how considering human rights leads to better health throughout a community. We also discussed the differing impacts of different documents and blogs, Substack documents via Doctors in Dialog on the GAP Substack site, and op-eds in the news media.
1. Young mothers and their children. Jean will draft a blog describing the impacts of stress on maternal and infant health and functioning, how stresses can be mitigated, and how they are aggravated. This will include specific information about the U.S. context, such as the support that Medicaid offers these families.
2. The vulnerability of mental health in the adolescent years. Dan will write a document addressing support for mental health and stresses that challenge it for youth.
3. Medicaid and youth. Liwei will write a document describing the support that Medicaid offers youth.
4. We considered creating a resource of evidence for factors that support mental health in youth and factors that predict mental health problems. This could be used to distribute the information to legislators.
5. We discussed the possibility of collaborating with other GAP committees on projects that would support our values and raise their profile in the public view. Jean will contact the chair of the Systems Innovation & Transformation Committee, Wes Sowers, and Beth Haase, chair of the Climate Committee, to explore possible collaboration. We will also collaborate with the Media Committee and possibly the Planning, Marketing, & Communications Committee.
Jeanne Phillips was our guest to discuss how we might use her column to explore issues of health equity, specifically based on the experiences of young mothers in healthcare settings. She has generously offered to include a short invitation to women who had babies between the ages of 16 and 25 to share their stories with us. We would prepare a webpage, possibly
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COMMITTEE REPORTS
on the GAP website (to be determined), in which we would list a number of questions seeking narrative responses and then conduct a qualitative analysis of those responses.
2. Health equity paper
Stephan has begun four separate papers, a number of which involve research and have timelines of up to 6 months. She has developed an index of stigma in teen mothers’ policies that impact teen mothers’ treatment in the healthcare system using that index.
He will keep us informed of progress and will send out copies of his proposals for our consideration.
He is near completion of one paper on a review of health equity for young mothers and their children, which he and Jean will share with the committee shortly.
STIGMA AND THE DIAGNOSIS OF BPD IN YOUTH
Dan described the organization of this paper, in which he has made significant progress. The committee engaged in a very fruitful discussion of issues related to aetiology, treatment and prognosis of BPD in youth.
SUICIDE IN YOUTH
Liwei and Jean have discussed an approach that takes a developmental perspective on what might lead youth to attempt and/or complete suicide. For example, what are the origins of hopelessness and despair, anger, impulsiveness, etc.? The feasibility of postulating the mental state that leads to action was discussed. Factors increasing or decreasing the likelihood of acting were discussed. Liwei and Jean will continue work on the paper.
ART AS A THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION
We did not have time to hear from Beni, but we will schedule this as soon as we can.
AGING
Members attending: Bob Roca, John Beyer, Helen Kyomen Fellow attending: Laura VanDyck (Ethel Ginsberg Fellow)
PROJECTS:
HEALTHY AGING: ENHANCING BRAIN HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
Book proposal development is in progress with input from APPI staff, responding to the review process.
Anticipated Completion: A year after the book proposal is finalized.
AGING WITH GRACE
First manuscript draft in preparation for AJCP (invited to submit by Dr. Chip Reynolds, Editor of AJGP, who attended our AAGP symposium with the same title.
Anticipated Completion: Within 6 months
HEALTHY BRAIN AGING AND SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
Invited to develop this into a webinar/course by Dr. Badr Ratnakaran, Chair of the APA Council on Geriatric Psychiatry, the topic is being reviewed by the APA Learning Center.
Anticipated Completion: We will need to work with APA Learning Center to establish a deadline
WHY AND HOW TO USE ANTIPSYCHOTICS IN OLDER ADULTS
This topic is under discussion, prompted by guest Dr. Maureen Nash, who has been working on this issue with Oregon administrators; this may be a good symposium topic for future AAGP/APA.
Anticipated completion: Within a year
Anticipated Audience: Practicing Psychiatrists, Psychiatry residents, Training directors, Psychologists/other mental health and general public
Work Accomplished During Meeting:
Most of the projects incorporated concepts from positive psychiatry and lifestyle psychiatry to promote well-being and successful aging across the lifespan. An additional project concerned the use of antipsychotics in older adults who reside in non-nursing home settings.
Part of the meeting included discussions on the changing landscape and tenor regarding federal healthcare financing of multiple services, federal grants, etc., topics that emerged during the business meeting. These can impact the delivery of patient care and scientific progress on multiple levels.
Discussed sentiments were summarized in the draft: “To support all Americans in their efforts to establish healthy and safe communities, we advocate for a moratorium on further governmental cuts and changes in policies till there is thoughtful debate and discussion to (1) consider the consequences of the cuts and changes in policies and (2) plan for alternative strategies to address any problematic issues that may arise from the cuts and changes in policies.”
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COMMITTEE REPORTS
Plan for Between-meeting Work:
Plans are to meet monthly via Zoom to continue to work on current projects and consider new ones for development.
The Committee on Aging meets via Zoom once a month.
Focus for Next Meeting:
We will continue to work on current projects and consider new ones for development.
Ways Members Can Help:
Suggestions for guests and experts who can contribute/ consult to current and future projects would be appreciated.
ARTS & HUMANITIES
Members attending: Donald Fidler (virtual), Christopher Snowdy (virtual), Andrew Lustbader, Kenneth Weiss, Anish R. Dube
PROJECTS:
THE SHRINK AT A DINNER PARTY
Reviewed by Publications and approved.
AUTISM AND AMERICAN POLICING: A CALL FOR AWARENESS
Reviewed by Publications and approved.
THE ARTS IN THERAPY
In progress, anticipated by fall.
The committee would like both blogs to be published in Psychology Today.
Work Accomplished During Meeting:
Review of submissions in progress, approval of 2 of 3 articles. Discussion of future direction/projects.
Discussion of comments raised by GAP general membership in regard to the current political environment.
Plan for Between-meeting Work:
Article 3 (The Arts in Therapy) will continue to be revised and shared. Possible additional articles as movie and/or book reviews.
The committee has met 1-2 times since April 2023.
Focus for Next Meeting:
Maintain adequate membership and engagement within the committee. Continue to consider collaborative projects to work on and submit.
Ways Members Can Help:
We would appreciate guests to the committee who are interested in this subject matter.
CHILD PSYCHIATRY
Members attending: Dorothy Stubbe, Eunice Yuen, Gabrielle Shapiro, Bud Vana
Fellow attending: Melissa Peace
Guest Attending: Ivy Song
PROJECTS:
COMPETING WITH TIKTOK: HOW TO HELP GUIDE YOUTH THROUGH THE SOCIAL MEDIA MENTAL HEALTH DIAGNOSIS MAZE
The committee is responding to the review process.
Anticipated Completion: One month.
Anticipated Audience:
Practicing Psychiatrists, Psychiatric Residents
Potential Publishing: The committee would like the manuscript to be re-submitted to the current Pediatric Report.
Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Approved by the Publication Committee for publication prior to the first journal submission
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: CLARIFYING AUTISM SCIENCE IN THE WAKE OF RECENT PUBLIC STATEMENTS First draft in preparation, anticipated date of completion is 2 months.
Anticipated Audience: General public
Potential Publishing: The committee would like for it to be published in Psychology Today and AACAP News.
A CROSS-CONTINENTAL DISCUSSION ON TEENS’ DIGITAL REGULATION: PAST, NOW, AND THE FUTURE
The topic has been chosen, and the first draft is in preparation
The committee would like the manuscript to be published in AACAP News.
Will submit to the Publications Board for review
Work Accomplished During Meeting: Invitation of new GAP members
Discussion on new topics of projects
Update and review of submitted manuscript
Plans for Between-meeting Work:
Start working on projects as listed above. Send invitations to guest GAP members for the next meeting
Focus for Next Meeting:
Updates on the ongoing project
Updates on outcomes of invited guest members.
CLIMATE
Our group was Janet Lewis, Beth Mark, Beth Haase, Joshua Wortzel, fellow Julia Rothschild, Caroline Dumont in person, Emily Schutzenhofer, and the two guests remotely. Alex Yoon was able to attend on Saturday after a recent medical problem prevented her from fully participating.
We welcomed new guests: Casey Patnode, a third-year resident at U. Washington Seattle who will help with the curriculum study and has experience in this area, and Amelia Gallitano, a senior neuropsychiatric researcher who is interested in climate and heat. As they were both new guests, unfamiliar with GAP, and able to attend for only a few hours, we are not proposing them for membership at this time.
Like many committees, the GAP committee has been significantly concerned with the actions of the Trump administration in:
1. Authoritarian efforts to suppress opinion and deny personal rights and safety by unjustly denying employment, privacy, and legal process to those they dislike.
2. Active destruction of decades of programs involved in health, the health of the environment, and progress to mitigate global warming that is the bedrock of health and mental health.
A good 50% of our time at this meeting went to the articulation of this and a document on the psychological tools of authoritarianism, which we hope will become a blog but also support resistance to current Federal control of thought and freedom.
We are also working on:
1. The second beta testing of a curriculum on climate change and mental health for the research study that we will launch in 3-4 weeks. The fellows have agreed to help us with this quite soon.
2. The continued refinement of what we will study and how we will study it for our parent-child climate communication study.
3. The final revision of our paper on future thinking and the need for using this model in psychiatric practice.
We hope to begin testing the curriculum with residency training directors in 2 months and to have an IRB submission for the parent/child study by June.
COLLEGE STUDENT
Members attending: Brunhild Kring (chair), Raj Patel
Not attending: Helene Keable, Alexandra Ackerman, Ludmila de Faria, Ryan Flanagan
1. Since our last meeting in November 2024, the College Student Committee has successfully published two manuscripts:
a. The Psychological Fallout of the Covid-19 Pandemic on College Students
Kring B, de Faria L, Ackerman A, Menon M, Peluso F; with the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, College Student Committee. The Fallout of the COVID-19 Pandemic on College Students. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2025 Apr;27(4):155-160. doi: 10.1007/ s11920-025-01587-8. Epub 2025 March 14. PMID: 40085363.
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COMMITTEE REPORTS
b. Coping with the Problematic Effects of Social Media. Strategies to Deal with Social Media Use by Ryan Flanagan. https://www.psychologytoday. com/us/blog/psychiatrys-think-tank/202501/copingwith-problematic-effects-of-social-media
2. Comprehensive Mental Health Treatment for College Students. The Value of Psychiatric Residents in College Counseling Services.
Review and editing of manuscript/blog post by Patricia Mathelier and Brunhild Kring. Manuscript submitted to the GAP Publication Committee for review and edits;
3. Young Men in Crisis: Unique Challenges in Modern Society.
Review and editing of manuscript/blogpost by Raj Patel. The manuscript requires further edits and rewriting; Raj will complete the next draft by April 28, 2025.
4. Save the date: Zoom meeting on Tuesday, July 15, from 4:30–6:00 p.m. Join the meeting at https://nyushc. zoom.us/j/2456711470?omn=99406258487, Meeting ID: 245 671 1470
1. Brainstorming about proposals for new papers:
a. How does the mental health crisis of young men influence women?
b. Emerging trends on campus: How do staff and students in Institutions of Higher Education react to the criticism of universities, travel and visa restrictions for international students, and the paucity of post-graduation job opportunities? Analysis of self-censorship.
CONSULTATION-LIAISON
Members attending: In-person: Aaron Pinkhasov, MD (Acting Chair), Ramotse Saunders, MD, Damir Huremovic, MD, Remote: Paulo Sales, MD
Guests Attending: In Person: Seema Qureshi, MD, Director of CL Psychiatry, Mt. Sinai (expert in Lifestyle Psychiatry & scenario development); Remote: Rajvee Vora, MD, Chair, Psychiatry at Woodhull Hospital (expert in psychiatric de-escalation & policy development)
PROJECT INFORMATION:
BEHAVIORAL EMERGENCY IN GENERAL HOSPITAL—EVIDENCE-BASED MANAGEMENT ALGORITHM
Manuscript Type: systematic literature review article, Intermediate Length.
Potential Publishing: Transcultural Psychiatry; Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry; World Cultural Psychiatry Journal; International Journal of Social Psychiatry
Anticipated Completion: Fall 2025 (final manuscript by January 2026)
Potential Publishing: Health Communication
Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Late-stage guidance during manuscript production and submission.
Work Accomplished During Meeting:
• Develop an evidence-based Behavioral Emergency Incident Management Algorithm for adult & geriatric in-patients in general hospitals.
• September 2025—Create evidence tables and initial GRADE summaries.
• October 2025—Begin manuscript drafting and visual design.
• January 2026—Complete manuscript and submit for publication.
Focus for Next Meeting:
• Review PubMed search yields and begin dual screening of titles/abstracts.
• Distribute and refine data extraction form to all scenario leads.
• Assign early evidence synthesis tasks by scenario.
• Outline visual mapping plan for algorithm.
Ways the Publications Board Can Help:
• Identify a statistician for any planned meta-analytic components.
• Finalize consensus development method (Delphi vs. Nominal Group).
• Engage a graphic designer for visual formatting of the algorithm and tables.
• Recruit leads for ethics & implementation sections.
• Share any recent references, guidelines, or hospital protocols relevant to assigned scenarios.
CULTURAL
Members attending: Roberto Lewis-Fernandez, Francis Lu, Neil Aggarwal, Kenneth Fung Fellow Attending: Sasini Bentanto
PROJECT INFORMATION:
TOWARDS A CULTURAL CONTEXTUAL FORMULATION
The first draft was mostly completed.
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COMMITTEE REPORTS
Anticipated Audience: Psychiatrists, Psychiatry Residents, Psychologists & other mental health
Potential Publishing: Transcultural Psychiatry; Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry; World Cultural Psychiatry Journal; International Journal of Social Psychiatry
Anticipated Completion: 3 to 4 months
A PIECE ON THE STATUS OF CULTURAL PSYCHIATRY IN LIGHT OF FEDERAL DEVELOPMENTS
The topic is under discussion, and the title is undetermined at this time
Anticipated Completion: Unclear at this time
Work Accomplished During Meeting:
Discussion of the impact of recent policy changes around DEI and implications for cultural psychiatry and global mental health
Potential ideas for blogs/papers discussed:
1.) Culture & DEI—what it is and isn’t (e.g., DEI becoming described as illegal and immoral) and relationships among DEI
2.) Promotion of options for social justice
3.) Address underlying issues of divisiveness versus compassion/perspective-taking
4.) Wordlists that may be related to consequences, cultural perspective of language and lexicons, relationship with power and meaning potential to be weaponized/healing
Cross-Committee meeting with Social Justice Committee to explore potential collaboration on DEI-related issue
Discussion of work-in-progress paper on cultural contextual formulation (CCF)
Issues regarding the future of DSM and the role of culture
Plan for Between-meeting Work:
Continue with paper preparation on cultural contextual formulation (CCF) to address issues raised
Meeting once virtually between in-person meetings
Focus for Next Meeting:
Update on CCF Paper
Update on DEI blog/paper
GENDER & MENTAL HEALTH
Members attending: Natalie Feldman, Shelby Powers, Sophie Grigoriadis, Zara Brown (via Zoom)
A COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF PAID MATERNITY LEAVE AND REDUCTIONS IN POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY
Anticipated Audience: Psychiatrists, Psychiatry Residents, Psychologists/other mental health, training directors, general public
Work Accomplished During Meeting:
Finished editing paper. We have met 4 times since April 2023.
Plan for Between-meeting Work:
New project looking at risks to women of psychedelic treatment. Reviewing any suggestions from the Publication Committee review
Focus for Next Meeting:
Reviewing any suggestions from the publication committee review. Starting a new project as described above.
LGBTQ+
We found it very helpful to develop a deeper shared understanding of what is happening and how it impacts us all. It is clear that we are all trying to figure out what to do—personally, professionally, socially/politically—and we are managing a lot of grief and anxiety. And yet, I think through the conversation we had on Friday, we are also thinking about how we do our part as a committee to both make GAP take a stand to defend scientific advancement in psychiatry and access to psychiatric services and continue producing quality work that can help improve LGBTQ+ mental health. In this, there is hope.
Again, we want to welcome our new Fellow Steven warmly and hope that the travel gods will be kinder in November so Steven can be with us.
Also, welcome again to our new members, Kelly and Tony!!
We are very excited that Andy and Tiziano are our new co-chairs and will be leading us for the next chapter.
One of the discussions in the Steering Committee was whether GAP should join statements published by other organizations. Some of the ones proposed were:
There is also a possibility of drafting an all-GAP statement or having all committees band together to make collective statements. Mary gave a great idea to add:
WE
ARE GAP Science. Diversity. Ideas. Dialogue.
Equity is in the banner on our home page.
A separate idea that came up in the Steering Committee was to remove the names of individuals from the GAP website.
In terms of work products: We will work with Jeanne (Dear Abby) to send out a request for letters. Something like The Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry is asking for stories from LGBTQ+ individuals or their loved ones about how the recent anti-transgender federal Executive Orders and other federal actions have impacted their lives. These psychiatrists hope to use these stories to educate their field and the broader public about these impacts.
We would need a form, an email address, and a safe mailing address.
We also discussed writing a Psychology Today blog titled “Make Us American Again” in an effort to rehumanize all the people, the people that are being attacked, and have a discussion on how this will impact their and everyone’s mental health. We need to make sure this does not get confused with a xenophobic piece. Discuss pushing people to the margin. The folks who volunteered for this project are Tiziano, Mary, Steven, Jack, Marlin, Kelly, and Flavio. Anyone else who is interested should join.
We also discussed adapting our FOCUS article on working with families into a Psychology Today blog.
An interesting new SubStack project involves a recorded interview or conversation. It could be in the format of an interview with an expert, a discussion among 2–3 colleagues, or anything else. This interview will then be transformed into a brief article that will include links to resources, etc. Some of the ideas we discussed are
• An interview of Joanne and Omar, or a conversation between Joanne and Omar on LGBTQ+ asylum seekers
• A discussion with Tony on what it is like for psychiatrists and therapists to care for people with enormous fear and anxiety about the present situation and experiencing the
same fear while trying to make our patients feel better. How can we use this to demonstrate how to build resilience, keep going, and stay engaged in what is meaningful? Self-care.
• If he is willing, an interview with Marlin. One possible topic is to talk about the current moment in LGBTQ+ history in the context of our history.
• Again, if willing, ask Marlin to interview Mary about her decision to become a priest and think about the role of faith in the LGBTQ+ community.
• A discussion with David Baron on transgender kids in sports.
MILITARY & VETERANS
DOD AND VA PSYCHIATRY IN THE CURRENT ENVIRONMENT: WHAT ROLE MIGHT OUR COMMITTEE PLAY?
We define ourselves as a nonpartisan think tank that leverages deep experience in military and Veterans’ mental health treatment and policy to support service members, Veterans, their families, and the nation. Discussion and actions will be based on scientific findings, clinical expertise, and policy experience. Our goal is to formulate, collaborate on, and promote practical solutions to current and emerging challenges within the scope of Psychiatry. Foci include:
DEFINING AND OPTIMIZING FORCE READINESS FROM A MENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVE: INDIVIDUAL, FAMILY, AND PUBLIC HEALTH PERSPECTIVES
Action Item: Develop a submission for an AMSUS (The Society for Federal Health Professionals) symposium session on Force Readiness to be presented at the March 2–5, 2026 meeting.
ANTICIPATING AND PLANNING FOR THE MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES OF LARGE-SCALE COMBAT OPERATIONS WITH A NEAR PEER COMPETITOR
Action Item: Blog and/or presentation (APA, AMSUS, and/or the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS)
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COMMITTEE REPORTS
RECOMMENDATIONS ON POSSIBLE MERGER OF DOD AND VA HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS
Action Item: Blog or presentation (APA, AMSUS, and/or ISTSS) in a SWOT format on the pros and cons of such a merger.
ENSURE THE NATION’S CAPACITY TO RESPOND TO DISASTERS
Action Item: Continue to develop cross-conversation with GAP’s Committee on Disasters, Trauma and Global Health and, possibly, with the Uniform Services University’s National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health ( https://ncdmph.usuhs.edu/), including the possibility of inviting speakers from one or both groups to join us at our November 2025 Committee Meeting.
PREPARING FOR WAR DURING PEACETIME: THE ROLE OF THE COMMITTEE IN HELPING TO OVERCOME THE NATIONAL TENDENCY TO FORGET THE LESSONS OF WAR
As we engage in “future planning” on a key national security issue, we must pay attention to the tendency for health systems and the public to forget key lessons learned during past conflicts.
Action Item: Develop a presentation on Military Medical History focusing on preserving the mental health readiness of Military and Veteran health systems to meet the challenge of future conflicts. The Army Navy Club of Washington, D.C., was suggested as the first site for this presentation. Known for its exceptional library and scholarly discussions on subjects relating to the military and naval services, the Army Navy Club would be an ideal setting to engage thought leaders in a balanced discussion. The core aim of this project is to define the properties of an efficient military/Veteran mental health care system and lay out the challenges and opportunities in continuously improving such a system.
THE RISK/BENEFIT RATIO OF ASKING THE QUESTION: “HAVE YOU OR SOMEONE YOU CARE ABOUT SERVED IN THE MILITARY?” IN CIVILIAN (NON-VA) HEALTH CARE SETTINGS
The committee debated the relative value of identifying Veterans and those who care about them in non-military and non-VA settings—especially if those settings are not prepared to act effectively on the patient’s response to the question. We also considered whether there was value in asking if “someone you care about served in the military?” Touted benefits include:
(1) Helping civilian clinicians become aware of the services available to service members, Veterans, and their families
(2) Helping service members, Veterans, and their families
gain access to needed support leading to better outcomes
(3) Helping civilian clinicians better understand the unique needs of service members, Veterans, and their families.
Action Item: Blog and/or Presentation ((APA, AMSUS, and/or ISTSS) reviewing data available from current “Ask the Question Campaigns” at the state level (e.g., New Hampshire) and SAMHSA’s Technical Advisory efforts in collaboration with VA (also known as the Governor’s and Mayor’s Challenge programs (https://www.samhsa.gov/ technical-assistance/smvf/challenges).
PSYCHEDELIC-ASSISTED PSYCHOTHERAPY: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND COMMITTEE RESPONSES
The committee reviewed the recent FDA decision to decline approval for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy based on concerns about efficacy and safety. We also discussed the VA’s plan to study MDMA coupled with prolonged exposure psychotherapy for PTSD. The potential promise of psychedelics in psychiatric treatment cannot be ignored, but neither can questions such as: (1) When and how such treatments can and should be accessed or (2) When would it be safe to return a service member to duty after such treatment? All agree that there is a need for novel treatments for PTSD, depression, substance use, and other mental disorders. The committee will continue to monitor progress in this field and consider how best to translate emerging findings within DoD and VA settings.
NEUROPSYCHIATRY
Members: Barbara Schildkrout, Chair
During the spring meeting, the committee chair met with others on Zoom.
ONGOING PROJECTS INCLUDE:
– Journal Article–“Ethical Consideration in the Use of Prescribed At-Home Ketamine”
– Working on revising the initial draft, which should be ready to submit to the Publications Board before the next meeting.
– An Article for Psychiatric Times–“Do You Know the Diagnosis? Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex (D-MER)”
– Working on the first draft, which is half done. It will be ready to submit to the Publications Board before the next meeting.
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COMMITTEE REPORTS
We discussed future projects, including an article about myxedema psychosis.
We plan to meet regularly, about every 6 weeks, on Zoom between now and November.
PLANNING, MARKETING, & COMMUNICATIONS
Attending: Steve Sharfstein (Acting Chair), Jack Bonner, Seth Powsner, Umadevi Naidoo, Mary Barber, Marketa Wills (Guest) Absent: Laura Roberts, Saul Levin, Harsh Trivedi, Bob Boland
On this beautiful spring day in New York, we welcomed Marketa Wills, Medical Director and CEO of APA, as a Guest to our committee. She appreciated the invitation and was eager to learn about GAP, its history and current challenges, and its close relationship with APA. She told us about her journey to APA leadership and her adventures in the first year of her tenure. We went around the room, introduced ourselves to Marketa, and gave an update. For the committee itself, we noted the resignations with sadness and appreciation of Harvey Ruben and Lois Flaherty due to illness. John Looney, our Chair, could not attend due to illness, so Steve Sharfstein stepped in as chair for this meeting. We missed John and wished him a speedy recovery. We missed the others and hope to see them all in November.
Amy Franklin, GAP’s Public Relations Consultant, updated us on her activities since November and her expectations for the next 6 months. She described the formation of the GAP Social Ambassadors Initiative, which consists of a team of selected GAP fellows who will help create a GAP presence across social platforms such as X, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Increasing GAP’s social media presence and influence is a major goal over the next 6 months. She described the launch of the Doctors in Dialogue Substack, an editorial platform to foster reflective conversations in psychiatry, which now has 342 subscribers (36 outside of psychiatry) and 3000 views since the first post. She continues to promote GAP through Psychology Today blogs and other media outlets.
Conservation and climate protection are major concerns for our committee, but we deferred the discussion to the November meeting with John Looney, who was absent. The Dear Abby Award presentation with Jeanne Phillips present was presented at this meeting to Jonathan Metzl. His talk was well received. The next Dear Abby award will be in 2 years, and next year, the committee will
solicit suggestions from the membership and other GAP Committees for April 2027.
Uma Naidoo updated the committee on her plans to form a new GAP Committee on Nutritional, Lifestyle & Metabolic Psychiatry. She will update the committee’s mission and plans to invite 2-3 guests for the November meeting.
Frances has informed her that if she has 1-2 guests, she can host a meeting at the fall meeting.
We then spent the rest of the meeting discussing fundraising. Although GAP has a decent reserve of over a million dollars, these funds are mostly restricted and of little use for its operations. The Finance Committee and the Board voted to unrestrict 10% of these funds to deal with the immediate shortfall in operations and aggressively pursue other ideas to deal with the operational shortfall. At the committee, we discussed ways to decrease the costs of the meeting and add sponsors for the banquet, formation of a new fund in honor of Frances Roton with $50,000 already pledged, which would offset the cost of her office, launch the Cotswold/Looney Distinguished Fellowship in November and per the suggestion of John Looney invite George Abercrombie and his wife Elin in November as the first Distinguished GAP Fellow.
Other ideas were discussed, as well as new approaches to fundraising.
Uma Naidoo and others are exploring the option of GAP hosting a fundraiser at the next meeting—tentatively on Thursday so other events are not disrupted. The purpose would be to raise funds for GAP, which could subsidize some of the annual fees and attract new, younger faculty to join by invitation. It would also support interesting events such as a GAP culinary psychiatry cooking class. Three cooking classes are being held at APA this year.
PROFESSIONALISM & ETHICS
Members attending: Ted Fallon, Karen Greenberg, Randy Howe, Jon Van Loon, Robert Nesheim, Madeline Teisberg Fellow attending: Pablo Romano
MEDICAL AID IN DYING: VULNERABILITY, COERCION, PROTECTION VS. ACCESS, EQUITY, AND JUSTICE (WORKING TITLE)
Fast Track: First draft mostly completed.
Anticipated Completion: To Publication Board June 2, 2025
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COMMITTEE REPORTS
Anticipated Audience: Psychiatrists, Psychiatry residents, Psychologist/other mental health, training directors, and other policymakers
Potential Publishing:
JAMA Network Open, J of Nervous & Mental Disease, American J of Bioethics, J of Medical Ethics, J of Clinical Ethics, J of Palliative Medicine
Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Review, edit, and consider word count and journal recommendations.
Work Accomplished During Meeting:
Edited full Medical Aid in Dying draft, evaluated data
Wrote op-ed article, later published as Letter to the Editor in Washington Times on 5/29/25 as “Policies Must Increase Stability and Meet People’s Needs”
Incorporated Fellow into Committee Plan for Between-meeting Work:
Get an op-ed published as a Letter to the Editor
Major edit on Medical Aid in Dying article, which is to be submitted to Pub Board
Number of Virtual Meetings Since April 2023: Roughly a dozen.
Focus for Next Meeting:
New projects, including a possible one on Interaffectivity— i.e., shared affective space and mirror neurons.
PSYCHIATRY & COMMUNITY
Members Attending: Michael Flaum, Dwight Kemp, Caitlin Stork, Curtis Adams, Samuel Jackson (virtual) Fellow attending: Alexander McClanahan, Lala Forest Guest attending: Keris Myrick (virtual)
PROJECT INFORMATION:
FILLING THE GAP: SUBACUTE INPATIENT UNITS FOR PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS WITH SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS
Anticipated Completion: July 2025. Final draft near submission.
The committee wants the manuscript published in the Psychiatric Services State Mental Health Care column.
Work Accomplished During Meeting:
This meeting was devoted to working towards the completion of three manuscripts above.
Focus for Next Meeting:
We aim to have each of the three manuscripts above submitted by the fall in-person meeting. The anticipated focus for the next meeting will be a discussion of the direction of the next project or projects.
PSYCHIATRY & LAW
Members Attending: Jacob M. Appel, Peter Ash, David Cash, Susan Hatters-Friedman, Rick Deborah Giorgi-Guarnieri, Beesh Jain, Rick Martinez, Phillip Resnick, Renee Sorrentino
Fellow attending: Jinit Denai
Guests attending: Ryan Hall
Visitor attending (part-time): Ronald Goldman
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COMMITTEE REPORTS
PROJECT INFORMATION:
A series of articles on bias in forensic psychiatry. Multiple titles TBD.
Anticipated Completion: Spring 2026/Fall 2026
Status: Projects Assigned; development ongoing
Anticipated Audience: Practicing psychiatrists, Psychiatry residents, other mental health professions.
Work Accomplished During Meeting: The Committee discussed progress on the project and reviewed the answers to a series of vignettes distributed between meetings. Amy Franklin also visited the committee to discuss ways to publicize previous web-based resource projects.
Plan for Between-meeting Work: Committee members will continue to conduct research and write their articles.
Focus for Next Meeting: During the next meeting (Fall 2025), the committee will begin to review members’ writing endeavors.
PSYCHIATRY & MEDIA
Members attending: Carol Bernstein (co-chair), Jack Drescher (co-chair), Jeffrey Freedman, Thomas Ungar
Fellow attending: Jonathan Chevinsky
Guests attending: Adjoa Smalls-Mantey, MD, Amy Franklin (GAP Publicist)
Work Accomplished During Meeting:
1. Introduction of new member (Thomas Ungar), new fellow (Jonathan Chevinsky), and first-time guest (Adjoa Smalls-Mantey).
2. Discussion following the GAP Business Meeting of how GAP might, can, or should speak up in current turbulent times as a group (issuing policy statements which are presently not a GAP approach), as committees (which are allowed to take scholarly position statements) or as individuals who do not have to identify as GAP members in public positions.
3. Discussion of GAP’s blog on PsychologyToday.com, which has over 170K hits to date since September 2022; Barbara Schildkraut will be leaving the blog subcommittee, and there was a discussion of inviting new reviewers to the blog subcommittee of the Publications Board.
4. Discussion of GAP’s Substack postings began in March and was set up by Amy Franklin. The site is referred
to as “Doctors in Dialogue.” It is a work in progress, and we will experiment with various subjects and approaches. The first was Dr. Drescher’s interview with Grant Brenner, MD, who co-chairs the GAP Committee on Disasters, Trauma, and Global Health, about the Disaster Response Model developed by their committee. The second post was a conversation between Drs. Jacob Appel and Matthew Erlich address the crisis of staffing shortages in behavioral health care settings. The site has almost 400 subscribers and over 3K views to date. The process is relatively simple: conversations are recorded on Zoom, transcribed and edited, and reviewed by Ms. Franklin, the discussants. The GAP President then approved Dr. Drescher before being posted. Rather than a media training at the meeting on Saturday morning, members were invited to have a Doctors in Dialogue conversation that would be recorded or watch one being recorded. Ultimately, Dr. Drescher interviewed Dr. David Baron about his international work with young athletes experiencing “sports burnout.” Approximately 30 people attended, and many volunteered to participate in this project.
5. Dr. Drescher and Amy Franklin met with the new GAP Fellows the day before to discuss a Social Media Ambassadors project with them. In essence, on a trial basis, it amplifies the presence of GAP on the internet through their own social media connections and posting to existing and future GAP accounts on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook. This would be a voluntary activity, and in exchange, the volunteers would receive mentorship from Dr. Drescher, Amy Franklin, and other members of the Media Committee. Melissa Peace, the GAP Fellow on the Child Committee, agreed to be the point person between the Media Committee and the Fellows, and the Meda Committee Fellow, Jonathan Chevinsky, agreed to serve as one of the ambassadors.
6. The committee discussed the financial issues and challenges faced by GAP that were raised in the morning’s Business Meeting. Dr. Drescher expressed the belief that the work of the Media Committee is synergistic with seeking outside funding as GAP’s having a wider audience and recognition would increase the likelihood of finding donors willing to fund GAP activities, i.e., funding a committee project as the LGBT committee did more than a decade ago when the Gill Foundation provided $10K to fund their development of a training syllabus for psychiatric residents on LGBTQ+ mental health issues (https:// www.aglp.org/gap/)
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COMMITTEE REPORTS
7. Following the morning vote by the membership present to amend the GAP bylaws to sunset the longstanding Plenary Committee, the work of planning future plenaries has been delegated to the Media Committee. Dr. Drescher will ask Frances Bell to provide a list of past plenaries.
8. The discussion about the November 2025 plenary included the possibility of a panel to discuss the impact of current administration policies on scientific research, expression, and thought. One GAP member will reach out to Harvard President Alan Garber, a physician; Dr. Bernstein will reach out to Barry Scheck, founder of the Innocence Project; and Dr. Drescher will seek out the participation of a political journalist. There was some discussion of including psychiatrists who may be taking active roles in the current environment, and several names were mentioned and may be followed up on.
9. The role of the GAP Fellows in committees was discussed. Some committees have their Fellows take a leadership role over their two-year stay and become the first or second authors of a paper the committee works on. The Media Committee’s former Fellow, Ashvin Sood, MD, did an early blog on PT on “Countering Tik-Tok Misinformation about Mental Health,” which has been the most viewed blog, having garnered more than 20K views to date. Dr. Chevinsky expressed some interest in writing a blog as part of his committee experience.
10. The committee invited Dr. Smalls-Mantey to join us if she was interested, which she was. The next morning, she was voted in as a new member of the Steering Committee.
Plan for Between-meeting Work: Drs. Drescher and Bernstein will continue to work on the blog subcommittee. Dr. Drescher and Amy Franklin will continue to work on the Substack postings.
Focus for Next Meeting: Planning future plenaries; evaluating the Substack experiment.
PSYCHIATRY & RELIGION
Attending: Margaret Bishop-Baier MD (virtual), Brian Fallon MD, Salman Majeed MD, Keith Meador MD, Joseph Merlino MD (virtual), Jenifer Nields MD (virtual), Michael Norko MD, MAR (chair), James Phillips MD (virtual), Andy Stone (virtual), and guest Jeanne Phillips
PROJECT INFORMATION:
FAITH COMMUNITIES AND THE WELL-BEING OF LGBTQ+ YOUTH
Publication on the importance of faith communities in efforts to reduce suicide and other negative mental health outcomes for LGBTQ+ youth. Project leader: Dr. Norko
The Second Edition of the booklet is now available for free download on the GAP home page. One thousand copies of the 2nd Edition have been printed and are available from the GAP Office and Dr. Norko. The re-design and printing costs for the Second Edition were sponsored by a generous grant from the APA Foundation (APAF) of $2,500. Dr. Norko has recently drafted a Toolkit for faith communities to use, consisting of a fact sheet, a PowerPoint and script for a short introductory video (15-20 minutes), a facilitator’s guide, and a flyer template.
Work Accomplished During Meeting: The group discussed the Toolkit and offered suggestions for revisions.
Plan for Between-meeting Work: Dr. Norko will revise the Toolkit and then share it with the LGBTQ+ Committee for their comments. After any further revisions, the Toolkit will be sent to the Publication Board for review. The plan is to make the Toolkit and booklet available on the GAP website. The APAF is also willing to help promote the Toolkit with their faith partners once it is completed.
DEAR ABBY RELIGION-SPIRITUALITY AND MENTAL HEALTH SURVEY
Project leaders: Dr. Saunders, Dr. Norko, Dr. Meador
Fast track: journal articles
Potential Publishing: J Sci Study Religion, J Rel & Health, and JNMD
Anticipated Audience: practicing psychiatrists, psychiatry residents, training directors, psychologists, and other MHPs Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Not yet.
Work Accomplished During Meeting: Reviewed the current status of the project. We continue to focus on two papers that do not require additional funding: 1) Description of people who identify as spiritual but not religious (SBNR) but also say they are affiliated with a religious tradition in terms of religious practice and beliefs (Dr. Norko is the lead on this paper; he will work on this manuscript once the Toolkit is completed); and 2) Religion-spirituality and mental health, comparing respondents who identify as religious but not spiritual, SBNR, both religious and spiritual, and neither religious nor spiritual (Dr. Saunders to take the lead. He will be working on a Data Use Agreement between
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Yale and Columbia so that he can analyze the data in his current institution). The plan begins with a qualitative analysis of individuals who identified as SBNR and noted that they belong to an SBNR community. We will explore the free text responses to subjects’ descriptions of those communities and compare mental health outcomes for SBNR subjects who did and did not say they belonged to an SBNR community. Later possible papers include spiritualreligious practice during COVID and LGBTQ+ and mental health/religion-spirituality. Dr. Saunders has also contacted the Union Presbyterian Seminary in Virginia; they are interested in funding a project on child spirituality based on contacting individuals from the original study who agreed to be contacted.
Plan for Between-meeting Work: First draft of paper #1 by November 2025; initial review of text responses for paper #2 by November 2025.
BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAYS ON MENTAL HEALTH ATTRIBUTES OF MAJOR RELIGIOUS FIGURES
Project leader: Dr. Phillips
Fast Track: series of journal articles
Potential Publishing: The “Un-diagnosing St. Joan” manuscript was published in JNMD in 2023 (211(8):559-65); a reply to a letter to the editor was published in JNMD in 2024 (212(8):455).
Work Accomplished During Meeting: No practical work to report on the biographical essay on Nelson Mandela or the project of heroic achievements of “saints” with mental disorders to illustrate that mental disorders do not prevent being creative, effective activity. Anton Boisen and the “living human document” are possible examples of the latter.
Plan for Between-meeting Work: Dr. Phillips to continue work on Nelson Mandela.
KING SAUL AND PTSD
Project leader: Dr. Stone
Fast track: An analysis of whether there are merits to diagnosing King Saul.
Potential Publishing: TBD
Ways the Publications Board Can Help: not at this time
Work Accomplished During Meeting: Dr. Stone noted that he contacted Harold Kudler of the Military & Veterans Committee to discuss possible collaboration on the PTSD aspects of this project (This historical example may have merit in use with veterans returning home from war; for
example, the work of eternalsoldier.org.) They have not yet had an opportunity to discuss it.
Plan for Between-meeting Work: Dr. Stone to follow up with Dr. Kudler.
“LIVING IN FEAR”/“WE HAVE
TO TALK”
Project leader: Dr. Majeed, joined by Drs. Stone and Merlino
Fast Track: Originally written as an OpEd piece about antiMuslim attitudes/behaviors/violence
Anticipated Audience: general
Potential Publishing: Psychology Today blog.
Ways the Publications Board Can Help:
Submitted to Board 4/14/21. A revised version, prepared in response to the Gaza war and society’s need to be able to talk to one another about difficult subjects, was submitted to the blog subcommittee in December 2023.
Work Accomplished During Meeting: Discussed feedback regarding the blog and how to proceed.
Plan for Between-meeting Work: Dr. Norko will confer with Dr. Appel regarding the previous blog feedback.
PSYCHEDELICS, RELIGIOUS/SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES, AND MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES
Project Leader: Dr. Majeed, joined by Drs. Stone and Merlino
Fast Track: Originally written as an OpEd piece about antiMuslim attitudes/behaviors/violence
Anticipated Audience: general
Potential Publishing: “Doctors in Dialogue” Substack, Psychology Today blog
Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Not at this time.
Work Accomplished During Meeting: Discussed the Substack podcast as Amy Franklin and Jack Drescher presented in the general membership meeting. The three members of our group are interested in pursuing a recording with Amy on the topic of islamophobia and antisemitism. This idea was discussed preliminarily with Amy Franklin, who is also interested.
Plan for Between-meeting Work: Dr. Majeed will draft a one-page proposal describing the potential podcast discussion and share it with the others. We will then send it to Amy Franklin and plan for the podcast recording.
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MENTAL HEALTH OF CLERGY
Project leader: Dr. Merlino
Dr. Merlino is interested in recent developments in the mental health needs of clergy. He plans to propose to his Bishop the creation of an anonymous survey in REDCap or Qualtrics that would promote more open responses and provide data for a paper on the subject. Our committee would help analyze the results and offer a potential action plan.
Fast Track: journal article
Anticipated Audience: practicing psychiatrists, other MHPs, clergy
Potential Publishing: TBD
Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Not at this time.
Work Accomplished During Meeting: No updates on this project.
Plan for Between-meeting Work: Dr. Merlino to propose the idea to the Bishop.
MINISTRY TO PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC PAIN AND ILLNESS
Project leader: Dr. Fallon
Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Not at this time.
Work Accomplished During Meeting: Dr. Fallon reported that he and Dr. Nields had led a local parish group in monthly meetings through the Peace in the Storm Project, a ministry devoted to people experiencing chronic pain and illness.
Plan for Between-meeting Work: Drs. Fallon and Nields will consider possible projects developing out of this ministry.
Focus for Next Meeting: Follow-up as noted above.
PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
Members attending: David Adler, Jeffrey Berlant, Mary Brunette (virtual), Lisa Dixon, Matthew Edwards, Matthew Erlich, Michael First, Nicole Kozloff, Samuel Siris (virtual), Rachel Talley Fellow attending: Daniel Cohrs (virtual)
PROJECT TITLE:
The committee is working on a new project for peer review publication and a blog.
HOW TO WORK WITH DIAGNOSTIC UNCERTAINTY
and a blog of one or more of our recent peer-reviewed publications in 2023-4.
Status: The first draft is in preparation.
Anticipated Completion: During 2025
Anticipated Audience: Practicing psychiatrists, Psychiatry residents, training directors, psychologists/other mental health and general public
Potential Publishing: The committee wants the manuscript published in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases and Psych Services.
Work Accomplished During Meeting: We tried to process and support each other during these difficult political times. As a result of the administration’s assault on research, it became clear that we could not complete one of our current projects: Whither the Future of Psychiatric Research?
A decision was made to put this project on hold and undertake a new project building on our all-but-accepted Psych Services Paper: Integrating Social Determinants of Health into Clinically Informed Formulations: The Need for a Biaxial System in the DSM and Psychiatric Practice. The current working title for which we completed the paper outline is Working with Diagnostic Uncertainty. We also are considering one or more blogs for our previous several publications. We welcomed our new Adler Fellow of our Committee, Daniel Cohrs.
Plan for Between-meeting Work: The next meeting will be scheduled via Zoom to continue working on our projects.
Focus for Next Meeting: Continue work on our various projects
PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
Attending: Lawrence Gross, Janet Pine, Amir Garakani, Calvin Summer, Kevin Kennedy; Zoom attendance: Jeanne Alexander and David Mintz
We are nearing completion of our current paper, which we plan to submit to AJP after Publication Board approval. We are planning a Zoom call in early June. We also discussed the political situation and GAP response.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
PSYCHOTHERAPY
Members attending: Andrew Gerber, Katherine Kennedy, Daniel Knoepflmacher, Eric Plakun, Brendan Ross, Jeffery Smith, Margaret Cheng Tuttle
Fellow attending: Brendan Ross
Guests attending: Ana Ozdoba, MD, Anne Ruble, MD Via Zoom: Meiram Bendat JD PhD, Consultant and Mental Health Parity Expert
Joe Feldman, CEO of Cover My Mental Health
PROJECTS:
We are starting several different writing projects on a range of topics that will be potentially applicable to a variety of audiences. Various subgroup topics include the role of Psychotherapy Distinction Tracks in training, more equitable access to intermediate levels of care, an “Augmented Y Model,” a Peer Supervision Model; what the loss of SAMHSA means, and time-saving tips for dealing with psychotherapy denials.
Anticipated Completion: We hope to have one or two articles published by our next meeting in November.
Anticipated Audience: Practicing Psychiatrist, Training Directors, Psychologists/other mental health, General Public, Early Career Psychiatrists
The committee wants it published in Psychiatric News, Psychology Today, and Psychiatric Times.
Work Accomplished During Meeting: We heard excellent presentations from our consultants, Joe Feldman (denials of psychotherapy services and medical necessity criteria) and Meiram Bendat (mental health parity). We discussed the new GAP podcast effort, Psychiatric News, and Psychiatric Times. We shared updates on the upcoming GAP CoP/ Psychotherapy Caucus networking event at the APA in Los Angeles and discussed managing a new dedicated financial account within GAP. Progress was reported on Meiram and Kiki’s article and a recent meeting organized by Jeffery that focused on how upcoming ACGME guidelines on psychotherapy training might affect residency programs. An idea also emerged for a “Match-Up Database” to support early career psychiatrists (ECPs) and the role of psychotherapy distinction tracks in raising the bar for training. The development of an insurer “scorecard” (red/yellow/green) by organizations like Inseparable was mentioned. The group also discussed the following topics: the use of AI in psychotherapy as an augmenting, not primary, tool; how to assess therapist effectiveness; the lack of consumer advocacy (PsiAN is working to address this gap); concern over growing attacks on critical thinking and academic medicine and the need to unite around shared
values; how to engage religious organizations in mental health and psychotherapy efforts. We spent time organizing around several topics that we plan to write about, e.g., the role of Psychotherapy Distinction Tracks, more equitable access to intermediate levels of care, an “Augmented Y Model,” a Peer Supervision Model, the loss of SAMHSA, and time-saving tips for dealing with psychotherapy denials. We finished our day by welcoming Ana Ozdoba and Anne Ruble as new CoP members!
Plan for Between-meeting
Work:
• Luncheon Meeting at APA for those CoP members in attendance
• In-person Networking event at APA on 5/18/25 in LA— in coordination with the APA Psychotherapy Caucus
• Online meeting June 30
• Online meeting in September, date TBD
• Smaller workgroup meetings as needed for various writing projects
We meet virtually between meetings, usually 3 to 4 times/ year; since April 2023, we have met virtually as a full group 7 times. Project subgroups have met more frequently.
Focus for Next Meeting:
• Follow-up on current efforts and writing projects
• Two candidates for committee membership may attend
RESEARCH
Members Attending: Mariam Rahmani, Douglas Kramer, Gordon Harper, John Beahrs, Claudette Beahrs Fellow attending: Sean Lynch Guest attending: Mohamed Jasser
JAACAP CLINICAL PERSPECTIVES ON HOW TO LOOK AT THE CHILD IN THEIR CONTEXT RATHER THAN AS AN INDIVIDUAL OR IN ISOLATION.
Status: Topic chosen.
Potential Publishing: The committee would like for it to be published in JAACAP. We may ask the Publication Board to review it before submission.
Work Accomplished During Meeting:
• Drs. Rahmani, Jasser, and Lynch agreed to work on the JAACAP clinical perspectives article. They will start in June.
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COMMITTEE REPORTS
• Discussion on ACGME and ABPN requirements for GAP that have evolved over time
• The committee provided feedback on the book chapter written by Dr. Rahmani (under Dr. Kramer’s guidance) for Dr. Gogineni’s (family committee) book.
• Discussion on ethics of individual committees vs. GAP as an organization responding to the current political climate esp., its effects on mental health Plan for Between-meeting Work:
• Dr. Lynch to apply for IRB for his survey study
• Drs. Rahmani, Jasser & Lynch to work on JAACAP article
• Dr. Rahmani to wrap up the family therapy book chapter
• Look into whether Dr. Beahr’s psychotherapy textbook can be made available on the GAP website
Some members have met in smaller groups at least once since the Fall 2024 meeting
Focus for Next Meeting:
• Update on the JAACAP article
• Update on members’ presentation at AACAP, etc.
• Update on survey study.IRB
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Members present: Kenn Ashley, Hugh Cummings, Jane Gagliardi
1. The committee’s Membership Survey was distributed at the General Membership Meeting.
2. Discussion of the current political situation.
3. Review of blog on Belonging by German Velez.
a. It was agreed that many interesting ideas/concepts were presented, but the scope was too large for the blog format, and the focus was narrow for a blog or expansion for the article.
b. The blog editing plan is postponed until German is available to discuss.
4. Met with the Cultural Psychiatry Committee to discuss collaboration on the blog and article. We agreed to further meetings to move the projects forward.
5. The meeting with Technology and Psychiatry was postponed until German could attend, as he is the committee’s lead on AI and Social Justice.
6. Discussion on blogs and articles from the committee relating to the current political situation and Social Justice from a psychiatric perspective:
a. Who is the intended audience?
b. How do you engage with people with different views/values?
c. What is the intended outcome?
d. How to achieve intended goals?
e. Utilize storytelling.
f. Focus on commonalities.
g. Use empathy and reassurance.
7. Offering ways for people to care for themselves might be most helpful during these times.
a. use of a mindful quote or practice to help people feel better
8. Hugh agreed to begin work on an article focusing on the writings of Amartya Sen, author of “The Idea of Social Justice.”
SYSTEMS INNOVATION & TRANSFORMATION
Present in Person: Wes Sowers, Julie Ranz, Hunter McQuistion, Mardoche Sidor, Anna Skiandos
The committee met in the morning, and time was taken for committee members to update the group on their work and personal lives, as is our custom.
We spent the morning discussing the proper response to the abuses of the current regime, particularly the assault on science and psychiatry as one element of that. We agreed to spend the remainder of our time together to draft an Action Paper focused on Psychiatry, the threats it faces, and our obligations to respond.
The result of that effort is included below. We have agreed to submit this to the publications committee before determining other ways to disseminate this statement:
THE MENTAL HEALTH DISASTER: A CALL TO ACTION
A mental health crisis in the United States has been building for years and has now reached disastrous levels.
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Although more insidious than a sudden and catastrophic natural disaster, events of recent decades—economic crisis, the COVID pandemic, racial strife, international conflicts, climate change, and sociopolitical polarization—have compounded to create a deep and evolving traumatic impact on the population.
The term “disaster” is used intentionally because, like sudden destructive natural calamities, these events have had a major impact on our communities, depleted resources, disrupted relationships, and caused overwhelming casualties.
Psychiatry is at a critical juncture. We are witnessing the rise of authoritarianism: the erosion of scientific truth, the subjugation of public health and social services to political agendas, and the spread of ideologically driven, irrational policies that threaten the foundations of American democracy.
We do not speak out of abstraction or alarmism but from historical memory and present urgency. Already, scientific inquiry is being restricted, with funding withheld and research censored. We fear that psychiatry may again be turned against those it is meant to protect.
Psychiatry wields unique power over liberty, autonomy, and dignity. That power can be misused—especially under authoritarian regimes—if we fail in our ethical vigilance.
History is filled with chilling examples: in Nazi Germany, psychiatrists played a central role in the T4 program, selecting individuals with mental illness for extermination under the pretense of medical necessity. In the Soviet Union, the fabricated diagnosis of “sluggish schizophrenia,” characterized by vague or absent symptoms, was weaponized to confine political dissidents under the guise of treatment. In South Africa, the apartheid government used mental health institutions to suppress political dissidents and withhold psychiatric care from black citizens. These were not isolated abuses but systematic betrayals of medicine and justice in which psychiatry was repurposed to serve state oppression.
We refuse to return to an era in which our field has been used to stigmatize and suppress. In the face of political coercion, neutrality is not an option. Psychiatry must be
a force for preserving dignity and autonomy—for individuals, communities, and society.
We call on our colleagues and the entire mental health workforce to engage with your communities. Reject the erosion of civil liberties. Resist the political misuse of our institutions. Challenge the threats to our Constitution’s integrity. Uphold ethical boundaries—advocate publicly and unapologetically for science, equity, and democracy.
History demands our conscience. The present requires our resistance. The future depends on our courage.
TECHNOLOGY & PSYCHIATRY
Members attending: Victor Buwalda (Virtual), Mark D’Agostino (Virtual), Anita Everett, Steven Hyler, John Luo (Virtual), Aida Mihajlovic, William Narrow, Ujjwal Ramtekkar, Sy Saeed, Manish Sapra.
The virtual reality blog project, led by Aida, has been completed and published in Psychology Today.
PAPER ON AI AND SOCIAL JUSTICE.
The topic has been chosen but is still under discussion in collaboration with the committee on social justice. We have previously agreed to collaborate with the Social Justice Committee on a paper about AI and social justice, focusing on the harms and benefits of AI in healthcare. The paper will also consider the differences between various proprietary AI models and the availability of tools to detect bias, how to make clinicians aware of these biases, and tools available, or in development, for detecting such biases. We planned to meet with the Social Justice Committee again at this meeting, but due to several of their members not being available, we decided to instead meet virtually at another time yet to be scheduled. It has not yet been determined where it will be published.
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COMMITTEE REPORTS
PSYCHIATRIC TIMES SPECIAL THEME ISSUE ON USING TECHNOLOGY IN MENTAL HEALTH
The topic under discussion. We await a response from Psychiatric Times regarding when PT will likely have sufficient space to accommodate this theme issue. We also discussed other potential journals/publications for this theme issue.
BOOK PROJECT: USING TELEPSYCHIATRY FOR VULNERABLE POPULATIONS.
Book proposal accepted by APPI. GAP now has the book contract. Chapter authors were selected, and the first chapter draft submission deadline was established.
Anticipated Completion: The chapters’ first drafts will be completed within 12 months from the book contract. Book manuscript due to APPI no later than October 15, 2026 (18 months from execution of the book contract). The book will be a practical guide informed by the current best evidence and will consist of 15 chapters, an introduction, and a preface.
Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Peer review and feedback
Work Accomplished During Meeting:
Welcome and Approval of the Agenda: Sy welcomed everyone and introduced the new fellow, Katie Hanss, who joined the committee virtually. The committee members then introduced themselves, sharing their backgrounds and interests in technology and psychiatry. The meeting started with discussing what was happening nationally and expressing concerns about national issues. We focused on the role of mental health professionals in the current political climate. We discussed the need for advocacy in areas where we can have a significant impact, such as mental health and technology. We also discussed the importance of maintaining objectivity and focusing on evidence-based practices. We considered the potential impact of political changes on our field and the need to prepare for future challenges. The committee was encouraged to discuss and mature this topic for its recommendation to the steering committee.
Committee Membership Changes: Alexis Chavez is leaving GAP and will not be serving as a committee member effective this meeting. Jorge Petit has requested to transfer
from the Administration and Leadership Committee to our committee. The committee members supported this transfer and had Jorge on our committee.
Psychiatric Times Special Edition on Mental Health Technology: We await a response from Psychiatric Times regarding when PT will likely have sufficient space available to accommodate this theme issue. We also discussed other potential journals/publications for this theme issue.
Collaboration with the Social Justice Committee: We have previously agreed to collaborate with the Social Justice Committee on a paper about AI and social justice, focusing on the harms and benefits of AI in healthcare. The paper will also consider the differences between various proprietary AI models and the availability of tools to detect bias, how to make clinicians aware of these biases, and tools available, or in development, for detecting such biases. We planned to meet with the Socia Justice Committee again at this meeting, but due to several of their members not being available, we decided to instead meet virtually at another time yet to be scheduled.
Mental Health Tech Product Guidelines: We focused on the need for quality and safety guidelines for developing and deploying mental health technology products. The participants discussed the lack of rigorous scientific evaluation of these products and the issue of data privacy. We also discussed the need for a seal of approval for mental health apps and the possibility of creating a framework for evaluating these products. The conversation ended with a discussion on the potential for the committee to provide guidelines and cautionary information to the public.
Mental Health Apps Regulation Discussion: The team discussed the marketing and regulation of mental health apps, particularly those claiming to be digital therapeutics. We noted that many apps are not clinically validated or FDA-approved/cleared and that the current regulatory process is not stringent enough. The team considered writing an opinion piece or blog to raise awareness about the issue and propose better guardrails for the industry. We also discussed the need for guidelines on digital therapeutics, specifically focusing on digital interventions that can improve clinical conditions.
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COMMITTEE REPORTS
We considered publishing a scientific paper on the current state of app evaluation and the lack of scientific validation for many apps. The team also discussed the potential for a website with links to useful information, including articles they have authored.
Committee Future Projects: We discussed other potential future projects of the committee. Here is a list of topics that we had previously discussed as potential future projects:
• Current State Analysis: Identifying gaps in knowledge and evaluating new technologies.
• Standard of Care for Technology-Assisted Psychiatry: Ensuring technologies meet the highest clinical standards.
• Web Portal Development: Building a clinic-ready repository of information and tools for clinicians.
• Consumer Guidelines: Protecting privacy and safety in digital mental health tools.
• AI in Psychiatry: Exploring the potential of wellness apps and the future of AI in research.
• Emerging Technologies: Developing guidelines and safeguards for cutting-edge technologies like VR and augmented reality.
• EHR Improvement: Addressing clinical needs in the design of electronic health records.
• Pain Points in Technology Integration: Identifying and resolving barriers to seamless technology adoption in clinical practice.
Other business: Sy announced the need for more members on the publication board and encouraged interested individuals to express their interest.
Sy also discussed the financial challenges faced by the organization, including the high cost of meetings and the need for increased dues or registration fees. He also mentioned the organization’s endowment and the Board’s decision to charge administrative fees on grants.
Ways Members Can Help: We invite and welcome collaboration with other committees, especially on topics described in this report from our committee.
WORK & ORGANIZATIONS
The Committee on Work and Organizations was pleased to welcome our fellow members and has been thinking about various ways to collaborate with other groups and participate in things like Doctors in Dialogue. We discussed the role of high trust vs low trust dualism and its role in innovation. Our forthcoming work will discuss ideology traps and cancel culture in the workplace, as well as the rise of identitarianism and what it means for workers’ communities.
Doctor Uma Naidoo has formed a new GAP Committee to bring forward the integration of Nutritional, Lifestyle, and Metabolic Psychiatry. Grounded in current research and clinical innovation, the committee will examine how dietary patterns, physical activity, sleep, microbiome science, metabolic factors, and more impact mental health across the lifespan. It aims to build upon current evidence-based recommendations, foster educational initiatives, and inform psychiatric care models that integrate whole-person approaches to mood, cognition, and emotional resilience. The committee brings together leaders in psychiatry with expertise in nutritional neuroscience, lifestyle medicine, lifestyle psychiatry, and obesity medicine to shape the future of preventive and integrative psychiatric care.
Richard Zhang, MD, one of our new Fellows, has had a blog published by the American Psychiatric Association Foundation on his GAP meeting experience and the APA-GAP historical connection. Here is the link to the article: https://www.apaf.org/media-events/blogs/deeplyshared-roots-a-spotlight-on-the-apa-gap-connection/
IN MEMORIAM
LOIS T. FLAHERTY, MD
1942–2025
Lois Talbot Flaherty died on May 11, 2025, at age 83, after living with lung cancer for six years. She was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 28, 1942, while her father, Theodore Talbot, was a physician at the U.S. Veteran’s Hospital in Outwood, Kentucky. Her family returned to Staten Island, New York, after his Army service. She attended P.S. 45 and Curtis High School, an honors student like her mother, Jeanette Talbot, a generation before her. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1963 with a B.A. in English and received her M.D. from Duke University in 1968—one of seven women in her class. She completed her adult psychiatry residency at Georgetown University (’68–’71) and child psychiatry residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital (’71–’73). She joined the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where she remained until 1993. Then, as she and her husband, John T. Flaherty, M.D., moved between the Philadelphia and Boston/ Cambridge areas, she became faculty at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University. She directed her career toward the large underserved population of Baltimore as Director of Child and Adolescent Services at the Walter P. Carter Community Mental Health Center from 1977 to 1992. Reflecting her love of training the next generation of psychiatrists, she was the Director of Training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Maryland from 1981–86 and Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry from 1983–1992. Never fully retired, she volunteered as an instructor and research mentor for psychiatry fellows at the renowned Cambridge Hospital program until recently. Of her many contributions to her field, the founding of the Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland in 1992 was exemplary of her legacy. This program rose to national prominence, leading to her appointment as Chair of the Advisory Board of the National Center for School Mental Health from 1995 to 2005 and as a board member ever since. Recognizing her foundational work in this area, she was presented with the Sidney Berman Award for the School-Based Study and
Treatment of Learning Disorders and Mental Illness by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in 2023, the same year in which she published her last scholarly work entitled: “The Kids are not OK: Challenges and Opportunities in School Mental Health.” She served many leadership roles at a national level in the societies representing her field. She became president of the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry (ASAP) in 1995 and the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry in 2007. She was honored as a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in 2012 and the ASAP in 2015. She served as editor-in-chief of Adolescent Psychiatry, the official publication of the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry, for a remarkable 22-year term (1999-2021).
Lois and John met at a Wellesley-MIT mixer. They jointly applied to medical school, accepting admissions offers at Duke and marrying that fall. Lois had three sons during medical school and residency, taking just one year off from her studies/training. They would admit patients together while living in trainee housing adjacent to Johns Hopkins Hospital. They moved from Baltimore after 15 years to be closer to their sailboat on the Chesapeake Bay, and then they moved five more times for John’s career in biotech/pharma and to be close to their two granddaughters. They traveled widely and enjoyed spending time in the mountains of Colorado and the family retreat in New Hampshire. John passed away in 2015. In recent years, she devoted her scholarly abilities to assembling her ancestry, including grandparents who emigrated from Romania and England, and an early American settler on outer Long Island, who used his fishing boat to harass British naval vessels during the Revolutionary War.
She is survived by her loving and admiring family, including her sons John, Mark (Lisa) and Keith (Mira Kautzky); granddaughters, Hazel and Ruby; her sister, Joan Prival (Michael); brother, Ted Talbot (Angelika); brother-in-law, Paul Flaherty (Judy, deceased 2024); and her devoted partner of the last nine years, Dr. Richard Sarles, who was her longstanding colleague in psychiatry.
Her life will be celebrated at St. Cecilia’s Church, 18 Belvidere Street in Boston, on June 7 at 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, donations can be directed to the Lois Flaherty Adolescent Committee Fellowship Fund of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry at https:// www.ourgap.org/pay-dues-or-donate.
IN MEMORIAM
MALKAH T. NOTMAN, MD (1927–2025)
Doctor Notman— who served as GAP president (1997–1999), and was a Professor at Harvard Medical School, former President of the American College of Psychoanalysts, former President of Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, Psychiatrist for over 55 years— passed away on May 3, 2025, at age 97.
A tenured Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, Dr. Notman’s influence extended across the fields of psychiatry and psychoanalysis for more than half a century. She served in numerous leadership roles, including President of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, President of the American College of Psychoanalysts, Councilor-at-Large of the American Psychoanalytic Association, and President of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry. She also chaired the Education Committee and served as President of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. In recognition of her enduring contributions, the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society awarded her its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.
Born in New York City in 1927 to Eastern European immigrants, Dr. Notman entered the University of Chicago at just 16, studying psychoanalysis with Bruno Bettelheim and physics with Enrico Fermi. During World War II, she volunteered in Fermi’s lab for the Manhattan Project. Though her father hoped she would become a research scientist, Dr. Notman pursued medicine, graduating from Boston University School of Medicine when few women were admitted to medical schools. Dr. Notman trained in psychiatry at Boston State Hospital and Beth Israel Hospital, later completing fellowships at the National Institute of Mental Health and the Henry Murray Center at the Radcliffe Institute. Her early clinical work included serving as a consulting liaison for obstetrics and gynecology at Beth Israel and providing psychiatric care to students at Wellesley College. She joined the faculty at Cambridge City Hospital (now Cambridge Health Alliance), where she would later become the first and only woman to serve
as Chair (Interim) of the Department of Psychiatry from 1991 to 1995. During this time, she guided the department through significant transitions amidst the rise of managed care and demonstrated exceptional leadership and advocacy within the hospital and Harvard Medical School.
A prolific writer and editor, Dr. Notman’s scholarship centered on adult development, gender and identity, and the psychological dimensions of women’s reproductive lives. She co-edited the foundational three-volume work The Woman Patient and the influential Physician Sexual Misconduct with longtime collaborator Dr. Carol Nadelson. Her research and clinical work often bridged feminist thought and psychiatric practice, leading to innovations in care for survivors of sexual trauma and the founding of the Rape Crisis Intervention Program at Beth Israel Hospital.
Beyond her professional roles, Dr. Notman was a passionate mentor, particularly to women in medicine. She modeled how to balance intellectual ambition with motherhood and advocated for women’s voices in academic and clinical settings. As her colleague, Dr. Cathy Schen, wrote, “She was a brilliant scholar and a fierce advocate of women. She encouraged junior female faculty in their scholarship and helped them navigate department politics and advance their careers.”
In her later years, Dr. Notman remained actively engaged in writing, teaching, and mentoring. She continued to practice psychiatry well into her 90s and was widely admired for her intellectual vigor and dedication. In 2025, the Cambridge Health Alliance established the Malkah Notman Award to honor faculty scholarship on women’s mental health—a fitting tribute to her enduring impact.
Outside her professional life, Dr. Notman was an avid hiker, traveler, and lifelong learner. She climbed to Camp 1 at Everest at age 60 and Machu Picchu at 70. A lover of books, oil painting, and nature, she brought the same curiosity and discipline to her personal interests as she did to her work.
She is survived by her three children, Naomi Notman Butterfield, Laura Notman, and Evan Notman, and four grandchildren. Her husband, Dr. Ralph R. Notman, predeceased her in 1993.
A memorial celebration of her life will be held on June 27 at the Harvard Loeb House from 2–4 p.m.
Dr. Malkah Notman’s contributions to psychiatry, psychoanalysis, and the advancement of women in medicine leave a lasting legacy. She will be remembered as a brilliant clinician, scholar, teacher, and trailblazer.
