Meet the Executive Committee

WELCOME

Meet Your 2020-2021 Executive Committee

New officers of the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society (PaPS) were formally installed at the Virtual Annual Business Meeting on May 16, 2020.

Richard R. Silbert, MD, DLFAPA serves as president. He is senior medical director at Community Care Behavioral Health Organization (CCBHO) for Substance Use Disorders, (part of UPMC) and is an associate professor of psychiatry at The Geisinger Commonwealth Medical College. Dr. Silbert won the 2019 NAMI Luzerne and Wyoming counties Lester Varano Advocacy Award, served as the past president of the Greater Northeast PA Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and co-chairs a Scranton area treatment committee that is part of a stop heroin/opioid overdose coalition

Dhanalakshmi Ramasamy, MD, FAPA serves as president-elect of PaPS. Dr. Ramasamy is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Lehigh Valley Health Network, and a medical director of LVPG CCAPP program. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of South Florida, and a past president of Lehigh Valley Psychiatric Society. She also serves as a psychiatrist representative to PennDOT and serves as a member of Regional Child and Adolescent psychiatric association.

Hope S. Selarnick, MD, DFAPA, FASAM serves as vice president. Dr. Selarnick is director of addiction services and medical director of the opioid treatment program at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia. She is a past president of the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society (PPS) where she is a former chair and member of the Women’s Committee. Dr. Selarnick is also active on the PPS/PaPS Education Committees.

Kavita K. Fischer, MD, FAPA serves as treasurer. Dr. Fischer is regional medical director at Community Care Behavioral Health Organization in affiliation with University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Her focus with Community Care is on quality assurance for members throughout different levels of care including drug and alcohol treatment with a focus on the Blair county region. She also serves as vice president of OCD Pennsylvania which is an affiliate of the International OCD Foundation while maintaining a private practice with a focus on anxiety and mood disorders.

Usman Hameed, MD, DFAPA serves as secretary. Dr. Hameed is board certified in psychiatry as well as Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He serves as the director for Neural and Behavioral Science Course, Psychiatry Clerkship and Acting Internship for the Penn State College of Medicine. He supervises medical students, residents, and fellows in their clinical and research work. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, as well as the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. His areas of interest include innovation in medical education, internalizing and externalizing behaviors in children and adolescents.