Brendel Chosen APA’s Next President-Elect
Abstract
APA’s next president-elect has deep experience as a clinician, educator, and leader in organized psychiatry and medicine, particularly in the areas of law and ethics.
APA’s voting members have elected Rebecca W. Brendel, M.D., J.D., of Boston to become APA’s next president-elect. She ran against Jacqueline Maus Feldman, M.D., of Birmingham, Ala.
Rebeca W. Brendel, M.D., J.D. (left), will become president-elect of APA at the end of APA’s Annual Meeting in May, when Vivian B. Pender, M.D., becomes president.
Brendel is the director of the Master of Bioethics Program and associate director of the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School as well as the director of law and ethics at the Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital. A Distinguished Fellow of APA, she has served organized psychiatry and medicine in multiple leadership roles centering on ethics, including as current chair of APA’s Ethics Committee; vice chair of the Massachusetts Medical Society Committee on Ethics, Grievances, and Professional Standards; and a member of the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs. She served as president of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry for the 2018-2019 term.
“As a proud member of our APA for nearly two decades, I extend my gratitude to my colleagues for their support in choosing me to help lead our professional organization,” Brendel told Psychiatric News. “I am honored to serve our APA and psychiatry in these challenging and pivotal times to advance our profession, psychiatric treatment, and the lives of those we serve.”
Among the priorities that Brendel has identified for her presidency are building on APA’s work to address structural racism in psychiatry and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion through accountable and transparent governance and member engagement. She is also committed to addressing the future of psychiatry through achieving parity for psychiatric care and reimbursement commensurate with other medical care; establishing the central role of psychiatrists in safe prescribing and treatment; and achieving a self-regulating psychiatric workforce prepared to support public mental health during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Together,” she said, “we will foster a diverse APA that provides resources tailored to members’ needs at every stage of the professional lifespan, from trainees and early career psychiatrists to mid-career and senior colleagues.”
The race for secretary, which has a two-year term, was up for election this cycle. Sandra M. DeJong, M.D., M.Sc., of Cambridge, Mass., defeated Rahn K. Bailey, M.D., of Los Angeles.
In the race for early career psychiatrist (ECP) trustee, Elie Aoun, M.D., M.R.O., of New York City emerged the winner. His opponents were Tanuja Gandhi, M.D., of Riverside, R.I.; Abhisek Chandan Khandai, M.D., M.S., of Chicago; and Lan Chi Le Vo, M.D., of Philadelphia.
For minority/underrepresented representative (M/UR) trustee, Felix Torres, M.D., M.B.A., of Temple, Texas, defeated Oscar E. Perez, M.D., of El Paso, Texas.
The ECP trustee term is three years; the M/UR trustee term is two.
Three of APA’s seven geographic Areas voted for their trustee in this cycle. Area trustees hold three-year terms.
In the race for Area 1 trustee, Eric M. Plakun, M.D., of Stockbridge, Mass., defeated Maureen Sayres Van Niel, M.D., of Waban, Mass. In the race for Area 4 Trustee, Cheryl D. Wills, M.D., of Cleveland defeated Theadia L. Carey, M.D., M.S., of Southfield, Minn. Mary Hasbah Roessel, M.D., of Santa Fe, N.M., won the Area 7 trustee race over Annette M. Matthews, M.D., of Portland, Ore.
The winner of the race for resident-fellow member (RFM) trustee was Urooj Yazdani, M.D., a PGY-3 psychiatry resident at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Louisville, Ky. Her opponents were Souparno Mitra, M.D., a PGY-2 psychiatry resident at Bronx Care Health Systems in the Bronx, N.Y.; and Lindsay M. Poplinski, D.O., a PGY-2 psychiatry resident at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Yazdani will serve for a year in the RFM trustee-elect position and then rotate into the RFM trustee position.
“Congratulations to Dr. Brendel and the other candidates on their election,” said APA President Jeffrey Geller, M.D., M.P.H. “Dr. Brendel has been involved with APA in so many different capacities over the years, and I look forward to working with her and all the newly elected APA leaders in the coming years to advance psychiatry and APA.”
“Dr. Brendel’s dedication and passion for psychiatry will greatly benefit APA during her tenure,” said APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A. “APA members and the profession of psychiatry will be well served by her leadership.”
Election results were approved by the Tellers Committee in February, but the results will not be official until after the Board of Trustees reviews them at its meeting this month. All of the winning candidates will assume their positions on the Board at the close of APA’s Annual Meeting in May. ■
Complete results, including vote counts for each of the races, is posted here.
