Editor in Chief Selected For Academic Psychiatry

Laura Weiss Roberts, M.D., of the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center has been selected editor in chief of the journal Academic Psychiatry. This is the premier peer-reviewed scholarly journal dedicated to psychiatric education and professional development in the field of academic psychiatry.

“It is a great privilege to work with Academic Psychiatry in this leadership role,” said Roberts. “The journal fills an important niche in the psychiatric and education literatures, and it has a strong tradition of mentoring through the authorship and publication process. I am utterly delighted, and I look forward to the good work ahead.”

Roberts is an associate professor and vice chair of psychiatry and director of the Institute for Ethics Research, Education, and Policy at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. Roberts came to the University of New Mexico in 1989 for her psychiatry residency from the University of Chicago, where she had previously completed her B.A., M.A., M.D. degrees and clinical ethics fellowship training. Roberts has served as a writer, peer reviewer, editorial assistant, guest editor, and assistant to the editor for Academic Psychiatry since 1994.

The Association for Academic Psychiatry and the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training cosponsor Academic Psychiatry, which is published by American Psychiatric Publishing Inc. The journal was founded in 1977 as the Journal of Psychiatric Education and named Academic Psychiatry in 1989.

Roberts has identified several goals for her work with the journal. Among these are continuing to serve as a venue for academic development and collaboration; fostering the value, standing, and contributions of the journal for medical education; increasing the journal’s responsiveness to the field of psychiatry; advancing the scholarship and methods of psychiatric education; improving the mechanics of the publication process of the journal; and strengthening its financial base.

Academic Psychiatry can be accessed on the Web at www.psychiatryonline.org. ▪