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American Medical Association Immediate Past President
“Collaborative Leadership: The Path Forward for an Equitable Mental Health System”

Patrice A. Harris, MD, MA, a psychiatrist from Atlanta, was the 174th president of the American Medical Association, and the organization’s first African-American woman to hold this position. Dr. Harris has diverse experience as a private practicing physician, county public health director, patient advocate and medical society lobbyist.

Benita Dieperink, MD is a psychiatrist, embedded in the Women’s Health and Wellness Clinic, Hennepin Healthcare since 2004. She is a co-founder of the Hennepin Women’s Mental Health Program in 1999, which has grown into the Mother-Baby Program/Redleaf Center for Family Healing, Hennepin Healthcare: https://redleaffamilyhealing.org/. Dr. Dieperink is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School.

Dr. Jacob is a child-adolescent-adult psychiatrist and neuroscientist professor at the University of Minnesota. Her clinical specialties include developmental disorders that affect rigid, inflexible behaviors and social functioning including autism, obsessive compulsive disorder, social anxiety and selective mutism. She is also a co-director at the CAN Lab with an expertise in autism and neurodevelopmental disorders. She leads new research projects and clinical trials that focus on biomarkers, genetic risk, and treatment targets for neurodevelopmental disorders including autism. Dr. Jacob has also been faculty at the University of Minnesota for over 8 years, is NIH funded, and the site principal investigator for several national and international autism studies.

Lucien Gonzalez is a pediatrician and addiction medicine specialist, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. He is the current Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Substance Use and Prevention, whose goal is to produce guidance to reduce harms from substance use. His clinical focus is in pediatric behavioral health with specific expertise in substance-related disorders, including a program for treating opioid use disorder in emerging adults. He is highly involved in both medical and professional education, helping disseminate knowledge to healthcare professionals and the public. He is an engaged scholar, helping create culturally responsive treatment of substance use concerns in Hispanic/Latinx youth and emerging adults, and exploring the toxic aspects of medical culture in maintaining the science practice gap in addressing pediatric substance use.

Piper Meyer-Kalos, PhD, LP, holds her doctoral degree in Clinical Rehabilitation Psychology from Indiana University – Purdue University, Indianapolis. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Dr. Meyer-Kalos has specialized in psychiatric rehabilitation and treatment for first episode psychosis with interests in recovery and positive psychology. Since 2009, Dr. Meyer-Kalos has been part of the psychosocial development team of the Recovery After Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) project and has co-led the individual therapy component (Individual Resiliency Training). Dr. Meyer-Kalos’ current research projects include an evaluation of Individual Coping Awareness Therapy (I-CAT), training and evaluation of four first episode psychosis programs in Minnesota and the national Early Psychosis Intervention Network (EPINET).

Rachel Kay is a second year resident at the University of Minnesota. Her interests include psychotic disorders, social justice, and ethics. She is a member of the MPS Ethics and Health Equity and Racial Justice Committees.

Taymy Josefa Caso, PhD, is the current Randi and Fred Ettner Postdoctoral Fellow in Transgender Health. Dr. Caso earned their doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology specializing in LGBTQ+ Health Disparities from New York University. Dr. Caso has conducted clinical work in both English and Spanish in a variety of settings, including college counseling centers, outpatient and inpatient psychiatric hospitals, and mixed forensic settings.

Their training has focused on providing evidence-based individual and group psychotherapy and assessment services for underserved communities within urban settings. Their research focuses on minority mental health disparities, identity-based marginalization within LGBTQ+ BIPOC communities, and the relationship between gender identity, sexual fluidity, and relationship style. Their most recent work explores gender and sexual identity development and reconfigurations, among Latinx, transgender and gender expansive BIPOC over the life course from a dynamic systems perspective.

Their advocacy and leadership work aims to utilize decolonizing pedagogy, social justice, and diversity inclusion to deconstruct institutional and systemic barriers to equity for communities of color. They have been the recipient of several research grants and service awards, including: the Outstanding Research Contribution Award, Research and Scholarship Showcase Award, César Chávez/Clara Hale Community Outreach Award, Ronald McNair/Arturo Alfonso Schomburg Academic Excellence Award, and the Arthur B. Zankel Urban Fellowship. These awards recognize scholarship, service, advocacy, and activism that support and empower marginalized and underrepresented communities.

Roger G. Kathol, M.D., C.P.E., is currently adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota. He has published nearly 200 peer reviewed articles and book chapters and written 14 books. Dr. Kathol is a specialist in the care of patients with health complexity, many of whom have concurrent general medical and mental health/substance use disorders. He is board certified in internal medicine, psychiatry, and medical management with extensive clinical and administrative experience gained during 22 years as a physician/teacher/researcher at the University of Iowa, several years as a health plan Medical Director, and 23 years as an international health complexity consultant through Cartesian Solutions, Inc,™. He specializes in augmenting the care of patients with complicated comorbid medical and behavioral conditions through service and payment integration and consults to hospitals and clinics, health plans, government agencies, and businesses as they develop fiscally solvent integrated approaches to medical and behavioral health care delivery, including integrated care management capabilities. He currently serves as General Manager to the newly formed Cartesian Solutions, LLC (2019), which is co-owned by colleagues with integrated care expertise.

Dr. Orr is a neuroscientist and geriatric psychiatrist. He earned his PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh and then his MD at the University of Minnesota. He completed specialty training in psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital and for more than 10 years was Director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Program at the University of Minnesota. He is board certified in both geriatric and forensic psychiatry and for the last 15 years has maintained an active inpatient and outpatient private practice. Dr. Orr specializes in the evaluation and management of complex elderly patients with cognitive and neuropsychiatric problems in a variety of settings, including early detection of dementia, differentiation of dementia from depression, management of agitation and delirium, and identification of elder abuse.