#662

DATES OF FUTURE GAP MEETINGS:

2023

April 20–22

Hyatt Regency, Greenwich, Connecticut

November 9–11

Sonesta Hotel, White Plains, New York

2024

April 4–6

Sonesta Hotel, White Plains, New York

November 14–16

Sonesta Hotel, White Plains, New York

Message from the President

Greetings.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and a bright start to 2023. I’ve taken some time to reflect on our Fall GAP meeting and to start looking ahead to the new year. For me, highlights of the Fall meeting at the Old Greenwich Hyatt Regency were the opportunity to work and play in person with our GAP colleagues, the outstanding plenary session on “Psychedelics in Psychiatry” presented by our outgoing GAP Fellows and the extremely productive retreat, “Reimagining GAP”.

Attendance at the recent retreat was three times larger than expected reflecting an overwhelming active interest by the membership in the present and future mission, organization, and operation of GAP. Under Mary Barber’s skillful leadership, discussion was wide-ranging and spirited with scores of topics discussed. The challenge after such a productive interaction is to use the ideas presented by the members to begin crafting a template for GAP’s future. Let me take a minute to speak to a few of the many important topics raised by members.

GAP OFFICERS:

President

Calvin R. Sumner, M.D. docsumner@gmail.com

President Elect

Robert P. Roca, M.D. rroca2@jhmi.edu

Secretary

Sy A. Saeed, M.D. saeeds@ecu.edu

Treasurer

Gail E. Robinson, M.D. gail.robinson@utoronto.ca

The Executive Committee met with Mary and several members of the Planning, Marketing and Communications Committee on December 19 to review the retreat. It was clear to all that there is a strong desire among GAP members to more effectively share and interact with the broader GAP membership beyond the members of one’s own Committee. This reinforced the principle that the strength of GAP is in its total membership. GAP is more than just an organizational framework within which small nodes of Committee interest and expertise operate. The challenge going forward is to create opportunities to better utilize the strength of the assembled GAP membership to address critical issues at the interface of psychiatry and society. Look forward to some activities at the Spring meeting to facilitate these broader membership interactions.

One of the recurring themes from members was a recommendation that GAP affirm and practice the organization’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. It certainly makes sense since organizations that embrace diversity can better adapt to changes in the environment and respond by providing innovative contributions. To support GAP’s growth, I have appointed a sub-committee of the Steering Committee and charged them with drafting a GAP vision statement for equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI Statement). The group of seven Committee chairs under the leadership of Roberto Lewis-Fernandez will develop an EDI Statement that affirmatively states GAP’s commitment to walking the walk and not just talking the talk. Through systematic integration of a variety of perspectives, GAP will be better able to