APA Honors Outstanding Contributions to Research, Patient Care

Psychiatrists, authors, politicians, and mental health advocates dedicated to improving life for people with mental illness were honored at APA's 2014 annual meeting in New York City in May.

Each year APA lauds a select number of individuals who have worked to improve the lives of people with mental illness in many ways, such as clinical practice, research, and advocacy.

These are the honorees and the awards they received, as listed in the program book of APA's 58th Convocation of Distinguished Fellows:

William C. Menninger Memorial Convocation Lecture:Vice President Joe Biden.

Special Presidential Commendations:Hannah Decker, Ph.D., professor of history at the University of Houston and adjunct professor of medical history in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston; Robert K . Heinssen, Ph.D., director of the Division of Services and Intervention Research at the National Institute of Mental Health; Patrick Kennedy, former U.S. Representative, author, and lead sponsor of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008; The Honorable Steve Leifman, associate administrative judge of the Miami-Dade County Court Criminal Division and Chair the Florida Supreme Court’s Task Force on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues in the Court; Steve and Connie Lieber, who initiated the NARSAD prizes with the Lieber Prize for Schizophrenia Research in 1987. They cofounded the Schizophrenia Research Center at Columbia University Medical School, the Neuroscience program at Williams College and the Lieber Institute for Brain Development at Johns Hopkins University; Linda Rosenberg, M.S.W., for her leadership and contributions to mental health services and policy through the National Council for Behavioral Health, her introduction of Mental Health First Aid to the U.S. and leading the National Council in training more than 150,000 citizens across the country; Skyland Trail, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that helps adults reach sustained recovery from mental illness through psychotherapy, medications, employment, social support, and medical care; Andrew Solomon, Ph.D., award-winning writer and lecturer on politics, culture, and psychology; Ann Marie T. Sullivan, M.D., Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health; E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., researcher, author, and founder of the Stanley Medical Research Institute and the Treatment Advocacy Center.

Distinguished Service Award:Carl C. Bell, M.D., clinical professor of psychiatry and public health at the University of Illinois School of Medicine and staff psychiatrist at Jackson Park Hospital’s outpatient family practice clinic, St. Bernard Hospital’s inpatient psychiatric unit, and the Psychosis Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago; David Fassler, M.D., clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont and clinical director of Otter Creek Associates; posthumously to Ivan K. Goldberg, M.D., author and founder of Psycom.net, which included his website, “Dr. Ivan’s Depression Central” and over 25 list serves for mental health professionals worldwide; Laura W. Roberts, M.D., Chairman and Katharine Dexter McCormick and Stanley McCormick Memorial Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine; Joel Yager, M.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado and professor of psychiatry emeritus at both the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of New Mexico.

Organizational Distinguished Service Award:The Jed Foundation, a nonprofit organization working to promote emotional health and prevent suicide among college students.

APA Human Rights Award:Jeffrey L. Geller, M.D., M.P.H., professor of psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Facility Medical Director of Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital.

APA Blanche F. Ittleson Award for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry:Boris Birmaher, M.D., Endowed Chair in Early Onset Bipolar Disease and professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

APF/Kempf Fund Award for Research Development in Psychobiological Psychiatry:Peter F. Buckley, M.D., dean of the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University and professor of psychiatry, pharmacology, and radiology at the Medical College of Georgia; Brian J. Miller, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior at Georgia Regents University.

APA/Lilly Resident Research Award:Nazanin Alavi, M.D., a PGY-3 psychiatry resident at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario; Philip Gerretsen, M.D., clinical-research fellow at the University of Toronto and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; Iman Parhami, M.D., M.P.H.; a PGY-2 psychiatry resident at the Delaware Psychiatry Residency Program; Mercedes Perez-Rodriguez, M.D., Ph.D., mood disorders fellow at Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Malathi Pilla, M.D., a PGY-2 resident in the psychiatry training program at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, Illinois; Trinadha Rao Pilla, M.D., a PGY- 5 resident in the combined internal medicine – psychiatry training program at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, Illinois.

APF Agnes Purcell McGavin Award for a Distinguished Career in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry:Paramjit T. Joshi, M.D., Endowed Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behaviora Sciences at the Children’s National Medical Center and professor of psychiatry, behavioral sciences, and pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine.

APF Agnes Purcell McGavin Award for Prevention:Michael S. Jellinek, M.D., professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School

APF Isaac Ray Award:Stephen J. Morse, J.D., Ph.D., Ferdinand Wakeman Hubbell Professor of Law, Professor of Psychology and Law in Psychiatry, and associate director of the Center for Neuroscience and Society at the University of Pennsylvania.

APF Jack Weinberg Memorial Award for Geriatric Psychiatry:Davangere P. Devanand, M.D., chief of geriatric psychiatry and professor of clinical psychiatry and neurology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University, co-director of the Memory Disorders Center, and co-director of the Late-Life Depression Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

APA Award for Research:David A. Lewis, M.D., UPMC Endowed Professor in Translational Neuroscience and chairman, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, director of the Translational Neuroscience Program, medical director, and director of research, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

APA John Fryer Award:Dee Mosbacher, M.D., Ph.D., psychiatrist, Academy Award nominated-filmmaker, and activist for women’s and gay rights.

APA Manfred S. Guttmacher Award:William H. Reid., M.D., M.P.H., a psychiatrist in private practice in Texas.

APA Adolf Meyer Award:Robert Freedman, M.D., department chair and professor of psychiatry and professor of pharmacology at the University of Colorado, Denver.

APF Administrative Psychiatry Award:Paul Jay Fink, M.D., who was a professor of psychiatry at Temple University School of Medicine and a nationally recognized expert on youth violence and its prevention. Dr. Fink passed away on June 4, 2014.

APF Simon Bolivar Award:Roberto Lewis-Fernández, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center, director of the New York State Center of Excellence for Cultural Competence, and the Hispanic Treatment Program at New York State Psychiatric Institute.

APF Solomon Carter Award:William B. Lawson, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Howard University College of Medicine.

APF Alexander Gralnick, M.D., Award for Research in Schizophrenia:Vincenzo De Luca, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

APF Judd Marmor Award:John M. Oldham, M.D., senior vice president and chief of staff of The Menninger Clinic, and professor and executive vice chair of the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine.

APA Award for Patient Advocacy:Michael R . Phillips, M.D., M.A., M.P.H., director of the Shanghai Mental Health Center – Emory University Collaborative Center for Global Mental Health; executive director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention at Beijing Hui Long Guan Hospital; and professor of psychiatry and global health at Emory University.

APF Oskar Pfister Award:C. Robert Cloninger, M.D., Wallace Renard Professor of Psychiatry, Professor of Psychology and Genetics, and director of the Sansone Center for Well-Being at Washington University Medical School in St. Louis.

APF Kun-Po Soo Award:Ira D. Glick, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and chief of the Schizophrenia Clinic at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

APF Alexandra Symonds Award:Margaret Spinelli, M.D., associate professor of clinical psychiatry, founder and former director of the Women’s Mental Health Program in Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and a research psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

APF George Tarjan Award:Josȳ M. CaɁive, M.D., director of psychiatry research at the Albuquerque Veterans Administration and tenured professor of psychiatry and neurosciences at the University of New Mexico.

APA Vestermark Psychiatry Educator Award:Carol A. Bernstein, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry, vice chair for education, and director of residency training at New York University School of Medicine.

APA Carol Davis Ethics Award:Cecelia M. Mikalac, M.D., author, psychotherapist in private practice, and member of the Ethics Committee of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society.

APA Hartford-Jeste Award for Future Leaders in Geriatric Psychiatry:Ipsit Vahia, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California (UCSD), San Diego and director of research at the UCSD Senior Behavioral Health program.

APF/AACDP Research Mentorship Award:Scott L. Rauch, M.D., president and psychiatrist-in-chief of McLean Hospital, chair of Partners Psychiatry and Mental Health, and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

APF Early Academic Career Award on Schizophrenia Research:Hannah Brown, M.D., an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and faculty psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital; Ana D. Stan, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; Fidel Vila-Rodriguez, M.D., an attending psychiatrist at the British Columbia Psychosis Program and the director of the schizophrenia program at the Department of Psychiatry at Saint John of God Mental Health Services/Universitat de Barcelona.

APF Health Services Research Senior Scholar Award:Jürgen Unützer, M.D., M.P.H., M.A., professor and vice chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington and director of the Division of Integrated Care and Public Health.

APF Frank J. Menolascino Award for Psychiatric Services for Persons With Intellectual Development Disorders and Developmental Disabilities:John Y. Donaldson, M.D., retired psychiatrist and consultant for a rehabilitation program for young adults with acquired brain injuries.

APF Psychiatric Research Fellowship Award:Andrea L. Crowell, M.D., a PGY-4 psychiatry resident at Emory University School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Daphne Voineskos, M.D., a post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health at the University of Toronto.

APF Schizophrenia Research Fellowship Award:Mohsin Ahmed, M.D., Ph.D., Leon Levy neuroscience resident in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University; Tobias F. Marton, M.D., Ph.D., a PGY-4 research track psychiatry resident at the University of California, San Francisco; Evan Z. Macosko, M.D., Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Hospital.

APF Jeanne Spurlock, M.D., Minority Fellowship Achievement Award:Debbie R . Carter, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine.

Assembly Profile of Courage:Sudhakar Madakasira, M.D., a private practice psychiatrist in Jackson, Mississippi.

Assembly Ron Shellow Award:Lawrence M. Martin, M.D., associate clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington.

Assembly William Sorum Award:Neil J Brahmbhatt, M.D., a PGY-3 psychiatry resident at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Assembly Warren Williams Speaker’s Award:Roderick Shaner, M.D., medical director of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health.

Jacob K. Javits Public Service Award:Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.), U.S. Senator for Minnesota and a lead advocate for mental health in Congress.