Paul Summergrad New APA President-Elect

Members of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) have elected Paul Summergrad, M.D., of Boston, president-elect of the association. Dr. Summergrad is the Dr. Frances S. Arkin Professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and a professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine as well as psychiatrist-in-chief at Tufts Medical Center. He serves as chair of the APA Board of Trustees Ad Hoc Work Group on the Role of Psychiatry in Health Care Reform and is a member of the APA DSM-5 Scientific Review Committee. Dr. Summergrad won 62% of the votes. His opponent was Robert Ursano, M.D., of Bethesda, Maryland.

In the three-way race for APA secretary, Maria Oquendo, M.D., of New York, emerged the winner over Ann Marie Sullivan, M.D., also of New York, and Roger Peele, M.D., of Rockville, Maryland.

The candidates for minority/underrepresented (M/UR) trustee—a new position on the APA Board of Trustees elected by eligible APA voting members who belong to an M/UR caucus of the APA Assembly—were Gail Robinson, M.D., of Toronto, Ontario, and Stephen McLeod-Bryant, M.D., of Charleston, South Carolina. Dr. Robinson was voted M/UR trustee, with 54% of the vote.

Two of APA’s seven areas held elections for area trustee positions. In the three-way race for trustee of area 3, which encompasses Washington, D.C., and the mid-Atlantic area, Brian Crowley, M.D., of Washington, D.C., who ran for a second term, was elected over Bruce Hershfield, M.D., of Sparks Glenco, Maryland, and Joseph Napoli, M.D., of Fort Lee, New Jersey. In area 6, which encompasses all of the California district branches, Marc Graff, M.D., of Porter Ranch, was elected trustee over Donald Sharps, M.D., of Newport Beach.

Approximately 19% of eligible voters cast ballots in 2013, compared with about 20% in 2012 and 25% in 2011. Of those who voted, 78% cast ballots online.

Dr. Summergrad will officially become president-elect on May 22 at the close of this year's APA annual meeting in San Francisco, at which time the current president-elect, Jeffrey Lieberman, M.D., will succeed Dilip Jeste, M.D., as president.