Schedule of Speakers: APA 2025
The 2025 American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting taking place in Los Angeles (and virtually) May 17-21 is fast approaching! Check out this list of Columbia-affiliated sessions, with faculty participating in nearly 40 sessions over five days. All sessions are located in the Los Angeles Convention Center unless the location is marked with an asterisk (*) in the schedule below. Be sure to return to this page for any updates and use the hashtag #APAAM25 for your social media posts during the event.
2025 APA SESSION SPEAKERS AND MODERATORS – MAY 17-21
Saturday, May 17
8:00 AM – 9:30 AM
Psychiatry Idol: Finding the Voice of Advocacy and Leadership in Psychiatry
Chair: A. Jacques Ambrose, MD
Location: Room 409 AB
HIV Psychiatry – Essential Clinical Updates
Chair: Luis Filipe Gomes Pereira, MD
Location: Room 410
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM
Nutrition and Its Effects on Psychiatric Health: Practical Approaches to Guide Patients
Presenter: Philip Muskin, MD, MA
Location: Room 411 (Theatre)
3:45 PM – 5:15 PM
African and Asian Traditional Healing Practices: Relevance to Contemporary Total Health
Presenter: Richard Brown, MD
Location: Room 405
Sunday, May 18
8:00 AM – 9:30 AM
Benzodiazapines and Other Sedative-Hypnotics Help or Harm: A Panel Discussion
Chair: Ronald Winchel, MD
Location: Petree Hall D
Mastering Forensic Issues Encountered by the General Psychiatrist
Presenter: Richard G. Hersh, MD
Discussant: Michael First, MD
Location: Room 511 ABC
A Primer for Psychiatrists on Lesser Known Psychedelics: Ibogaine 5-MeO-DMT 2C-B and Beyond
Chair: Jacob E. Perlson, MD, MPH
Presenter: David Hellerstein, MD
Presenter: Jeffrey Zabinski, MD
Location: Room 515 B
Managing Intrafamilial Conflict: Catching the Bullet From Emotionally Focused Therapy
Chair: Oliver M. Stroeh, MD
Presenter: Xiaoyi Yao, MD
Location: Room 518
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Engaging Media to Promote Lifestyle and Mental Health: A Training for Psychiatry Fellows
Chair: Mena Mirhom, MD
Presenter: Maria Bodic, MD
Location: Petree Hall C
Mind Meets Machine: Ethics, Governance, History, and the Business of AI and Mental Health Innovation
Chair: A. Jacques Ambrose, MD
Presenter: Nathan Ha, MD, PhD
Location: Room 408 B
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM
PGY-AI: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Psychiatry Education
Chair: A. Jacques Ambrose, MD
Location: Room 409 AB
Amplifying Trainee Voices: How to Seize Leadership Opportunities Within the APA
Chair: Philip Muskin, MD, MA
Location: Room 403 A
Creating Refuge: A Comprehensive Toolkit for Building an Asylum Evaluation Clinic in a Community Mental Health Center
Presenter: Ludwing Florez Salamanca , MD, PhD
Location: Room 504
Subspecialty Training: Public Psychiatry Behavioral Neurology & Neuropsychiatry Reproductive Mental Health Interventional Psychiatry
Presenter: Elizabeth Fitelson, MD
Location: Room 402 B
3:45 PM – 5:15 PM
From the Arena to Everyday Life: An Exploration of Mental Health in Elite Sports
Presenter: Mena Mirhom, MD
Location: Gold Ballroom, *JW Marriott
Live Long and Prosper With S-Adenosylmethionine (Sam-E) Arctic Root (Rhodiola Rosea) and Kanna (Sceletium Tortuosum)
Presenter: Richard P. Brown, MD
Location: Room 403 B
Sleep’s Hidden Impact: Managing Sleep Disturbances in Psychiatric Disorders
Presenter: Yaakov S. Green, MD, MBA
Location: Room 501 ABC
Amsterdam’s “Learning Together” Collaboration for Law Enforcement Encounters Involving Individuals With Mental Illness
Chair: Abhishek Jain, MD
Location: Room 512
Monday, May 19
8:00 AM – 9:30 AM
Swimming Upstream: A State Mental Health Agency’s Structured Approach to its Primary Prevention Journey
Presenter: Miriam Tepper, MD
Location: Room 512
Lifestyle of Wellbeing: Getting Smart About Physical Activity and Healthy Diet for Both Psychiatrists and Their Patients
Chair: Michael T. Compton, MD
Location: Room 411 (Theatre)
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Mind Over Matter: The Neurobiology of Hypnosis
Chair: Philip Muskin, MD, MA
Location: Mental Health Innovation Zone
1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Integrative Psychiatry: Herbs Nutrients and Breath Practices for Disorders of Mood Anxiety Trauma Neurocognition Attention Sexual Function and Long COVID
Faculty: Richard P. Brown, MD
Location: Room 153 A
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM
Psychotherapy Challenges in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Settings
Chair: Cesar A. Alfonso, MD
Location: Room 518
Integrating a Modern Neuroscience Perspective into the Clinical Practice of Psychiatry
Director: Melissa Arbuckle, MD, PhD
Location: Room 309 (Learning Lab)
Future of the DSM: Revisiting Functioning and Social Determinants of Mental Health
Presenter: Milton Wainberg, MD
Location: Room 501 ABC
3:45 PM – 5:15 PM
The Treatment of Gender Dysphoric Youth: Historical Clinical and Political Perspectives
Presenter: Jack Drescher, MD
Location: Room 402 A
Understanding and Combating the Loneliness Epidemic Across Lifespan
Presenter: Kanya Nesbeth, MD
Location: Room 411 (Theatre)
Lifestyle Psychiatry Perspectives on Potential Roles of Spirituality and Religion on Enhancing Mental Health and Care in Diverse Populations
Presenter: Victor Pereira-Sanchez, MD, PhD
Location: Room 408 B
Tuesday, May 20
8:00 AM – 9:30 AM
Move Breathe Focus: How to Practice – and Prescribe – Exercise Yoga and Mindfulness for Anxiety Depression and Stress
Submitter: Katrina B. Kostro, MD
Location: Room 406 A
Research Advances in Cannabinoid Behavioral Pharmacology and Treatments for Cannabis Use Disorder: What Do Psychiatrists Need to Know?
Chair: John J. Mariani, MD
Presenter: Francis Levin, MD
Location: Room 502 B
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM
Finding Mentorship: From Colleagues to Formal Arrangements
Chair: Jack Drescher, MD
Location: Room 404 B
Cannabis Use Disorder: Epidemiology Diagnosis Genetic Underpinnings and Intersection with Therapeutic Use
Chair: Deborah Hasin, PhD
Presenter: Margaret Haney, PhD
Location: Room 309 (Learning Lab)
Inspiring Ideas Into Action: Advocating for Asian Mental Health Through Collective Action From the Community to the White House
Chair: Warren Ng, MD, MPH
Location: Room 404 A
3:45 PM - 5:15 PM
Atypical Antipsychotics in Mood and Other Disorders: Are We Too Quick on the Draw? - A Panel Discussion
Chair: Ronald Winchel, MD
Presenter: Philip Muskin, MD, MA
Location: Petree Hall D
Wednesday, May 21
8:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Revolutionizing Mental Health: AI-Chat Bots and Digital Interventions for Personalized and Accessible Clinical Care
Chair: A. Jacques Ambrose, MD
Location: Room 501 ABC
Psychotherapies: Addressing Social Determinants of Health Cultural Adaptations and Mastery of Theory and Techniques
Presenter: Cesar A. Alfonso, MD
Location: Room 503
When the Doctor is the Patient
Chair: Laurel Mayer, MD
Presenter: Jeffrey Zabinski, MD
Location: Room 511 ABC
Beyond Labels and Flags: Introducing Dynamic Work by LGBT-Affirming Psychiatrists
Presenter: Nathan Ha, MD, PhD
Location: Room 402 B
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Entangled in Misdemeanors: How Patients with Serious Mental Illness Get Caught Up in Criminal Trespass Shoplifting Obstruction and Related Charges
Chair: Michael T. Compton, MD
Presenter: Leah G. Pope, PhD
Location: Petree Hall C