APA Announces Candidates for 2018 Election

The slate of psychiatrists chosen to compete for officer and trustee positions on APA’s Board in the 2018 election is made up of experienced psychiatrists from a broad range of specialties, practice settings, and geographic areas who have made their mark in the field.

Nominated for president-elect are Glenn A. Martin, M.D., of Forest Hills, N.Y., Bruce J. Schwartz, M.D., of Bronx, N.Y., and Stephen M. Strakowski, M.D., of Austin, Texas.

Martin is a past speaker of the Assembly and served on the Board of Trustees for two years. He is a Distinguished Fellow, former president of the Queens District Branch, and immediate past president of the New York State Psychiatric Association (Area 2). He maintains a private practice and is senior associate dean for human subjects research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Schwartz is APA’s current treasurer, served in the Assembly, and chaired the Council on Healthcare Systems and Financing and Committee on Reimbursement. He is also a professor/deputy chair at Einstein/Montefiore and the program director of the long-running, ground-breaking “Tarrytown” Chief Residents Leadership Conference. He is a former editor in chief of the American Journal of Psychotherapy and chaired the AHA Section on Mental Health/Substance Abuse.

Strakowski is founding chair/professor of psychiatry at Dell Medical School, University of Texas. Previously, he spent 24 years at the University of Cincinnati, most recently as senior vice president of strategy in the health system. He is an internationally recognized expert in the management of bipolar disorders as a “Best Doctor” and by U.S. News and World Report as a Top 1% Psychiatrist.

The treasurer position, which has a two-year term, is up for election this cycle. Vying for the post are Brian Crowley, M.D., of Washington, D.C., and Gregory W. Dalack, M.D., of Ann Arbor, Mich.

Facing off in the race for trustee-at-large are Robert E. Feder, M.D., of Manchester, N.H., and incumbent Richard F. Summers, M.D., of Philadelphia. This position is for a three-year term.

There are three candidates for the race of early career psychiatrists trustee-at-large: Hȳctor Colón-Rivera, M.D., of Philadelphia, Mark A. Haygood, D.O., M.S., of Mobile, Ala., and Ayana Jordan, M.D., Ph.D., of New Haven, Conn.

Three of APA’s seven geographic Areas will vote for a trustee in this cycle. Only members of respective Areas may vote for their respective Area trustee.

Competing for Area 1 trustee are John M. de Figueiredo, M.D., of Cheshire, Conn., and Eric M. Plakun, M.D., of Stockbridge, Mass. For Area 4 trustee, the candidates are incumbent Ronald M. Burd, M.D., of Fargo, N.D., and Cheryl D. Wills, M.D., of Cleveland, Ohio. The candidates in the Area 7 race are Annette M. Matthews, M.D., of Portland, Ore., James A. Polo, M.D., M.B.A., of Gig Harbor, Wash., and Joshua Sonkiss, M.D., of Anchorage, Alaska.

Resident-fellow members (RFMs) will have three of their colleagues from whom to choose as they vote for RFM trustee-elect. The candidates are Anne Clark-Raymond, M.D., a PGY-3 resident at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell; Rana Elmaghraby, M.D., a PGY-2 resident at the University of Minnesota; and Helena Winston, M.D., a PGY-3 resident at the University of Colorado.

The nominations were put forth by APA’s Nominating Committee, chaired by Immediate Past President Maria A. Oquendo, M.D., Ph.D., and announced in mid-October. While the slate is considered public, it is not official until the Board of Trustees approves it at its meeting next month. All of the winning candidates will take office at the close of the 2018 APA Annual Meeting in May in New York.

All members for whom APA has a valid email address on file will receive an electronic ballot. Other members will receive a paper ballot along with instructions on how to vote online. All candidates as well as their supporters are strongly urged to review APA’s recently updated Election Guidelines.

Voting will begin on January 2, 2018, at 5 a.m. ET and end on January 31, 2018, at 12:59 p.m. ET. ■