Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D., Steps Down as Editor in Chief of Psychiatric News

Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D., is stepping down as editor in chief of Psychiatric News this month after 12 years of service. He has served APA and Psychiatric News in exemplary fashion, and I have personally enjoyed working with him immensely. His knowledge of what is current and cutting edge in psychiatric research, his extensive background in communications and public relations, and his instincts for what matters to APA members have made him a wise and judicious editor. As a recent readership survey of Psychiatric News showed, he has ensured that Psychiatric News is a valued member benefit, maintaining members’ connection to their professional home.

Since assuming the role in January 2012, Jeff has guided the production of 270 editions of our APA newspaper, providing accurate and carefully reported news about psychiatric research and developments in clinical care, up-to-date information about government and regulatory agency rules that affect psychiatrists and their patients, updates on trends in community mental health, news and analysis about relevant court decisions, and timely reminders to members about APA initiatives and meetings.

Every single one of those issues has been a small epic of news gathering, interviewing, writing, editing, proofreading, and artistic production. Working with an extraordinary staff of editors, reporters, and production personnel at Psychiatric News, Jeff has ensured that APA’s newspaper is timely, credible, informative, and aesthetically appealing. In addition, he has tapped into the wealth of APA members’ expertise by welcoming them to write articles and commentary; under Jeff’s editorship the paper began running the long-form articles on cutting-edge research and clinical care—written by experts in the field—under the banner of “Special Reports” in every edition.

At the same time, Jeff has guided the newspaper’s growing digital presence, an evolution still in process. It was under his editorship that the Psychiatric News Alert first appeared, with remarkable average open rates of 50%. The Alert provides daily digests of the psychiatric literature, as well as brief summaries of breaking news that is more extensively covered in the newspaper. More recently, Psychiatric News added a special digital section to its website called “Newswire,” where readers can access news and information online well before it appears in the print edition of the newspaper.

Jeff’s contacts in the research world and within the APA membership and governance—he was a longtime member of the Assembly—have been invaluable. He has been both a careful and forward-looking steward of Psychiatric News as well as an ambassador for the newspaper. I want to thank Jeff for his work and wish him well as he continues in his roles as president and CEO of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation and host of the PBS series “Healthy Minds.”

Meet the new editor-in-chief, Adrian Preda, M.D., in the next issue. ■