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Clinical Psychopharmacology Institute Faculty

“The content was timely and very applicable to my practice. I also loved that this was a program designed by and for psych nurses.” – CPI Attendee

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Nora Volkow, MD
Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Dr. Nora D. Volkow, M.D., is the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the world’s largest funder of scientific research on the health aspects of drug use and addiction. Her work has been instrumental in demonstrating that drug addiction is a brain disorder and she has pioneered the use of brain imaging to investigate how substance use affects brain functions. Her studies have documented how changes in the dopamine system affect the functions of brain regions involved with reward and self-control in addiction. She has also made vast contributions to the neurobiology of obesity, ADHD, and aging.

Dr. Volkow earned her medical degree from the National University of Mexico in Mexico City and completed her psychiatric residency at New York University. Much of her career was spent at the Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, where she held several leadership positions, including Director of Nuclear Medicine, Chairman of the Medical Department, and Associate Laboratory Director for Life Sciences. Dr. Volkow was also a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Associate Dean of the Medical School at The State University of New York at Stony Brook. She has published almost a thousand peer-reviewed articles, written 113 book chapters, and co-edited “Neuroscience in the 21st Century.” Dr. Volkow has received various honors, including the Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Government Service, the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal, and membership in the National Academy of Medicine. She was named one of Time magazine’s “Top 100 People Who Shape Our World” and has been recognized by Washingtonian magazine, U.S. News & World Report, and Fortune for her leadership in health and science.


KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Jonathan M. Meyer, M.D.
Voluntary Clinical Professor of Psychiatry – University of California, San Diego; Distinguished Life Fellow, American Psychiatric Association

Dr. Jonathan Meyer is a Voluntary Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at University of California, San Diego, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Meyer is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School, finished his adult psychiatry residency at LA County-USC Medical Center and completed fellowships there in Consultation/Liaison Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology Research. Dr. Meyer has teaching duties at UC San Diego and the Balboa Naval Medical Center, and is a psychopharmacology consultant to the first episode psychosis program at Balboa NMC

Dr. Meyer has lectured and published extensively on psychopharmacology, and is the sole author of the chapter on the Pharmacotherapy of Psychosis and Mania for the last 3 editions of Goodman & Gilman’s The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics. Along with Dr. Stephen Stahl he is co-author of the Clozapine Handbook published in 2019, The Clinical Use of Antipsychotic Plasma Levels released in 2021, and The Lithium Handbook published in 2023, all three by Cambridge University Press.


Featuring speakers with expert knowledge and various backgrounds…

David C. Agor, DNP, PMHNP-BC, HIVPCP,
PhD student
University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing
Presentation topic: Psychopharmacology in the context of PMH prescribing, nutrition, and the microbiome.

Lydia Anne M. Bartholow, DNP, PMHNP, CARN-AP
Assistant Professor, UCSF School of Nursing, School of Community Health Systems
Presentation topic: Managing Benzodiazepines in Clinical Practice

Jose M. Cruz, DNP, APRN-CNP, PMHNP-BC
Clinical Manager, Psychiatry Services, Clinically Advanced APP, Level III, Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Presentation topic: Psychopharmacologic Considerations for Transgender Patients

Craig Heacock, MD
Adult, Adolescent, and Addiction Psychiatrist, Private Practice
Presentation topic: Psychedelic Psychopharmacology: Bringing Therapy into Medication Management

Kristin Hjartardottir, DNP, PMH-NP
Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Presentation topic: Geropsychiatric Prescribing Across Disorders and Settings

Merrie J.  Kaas, PhD, APRN, PMHCNS-BC, FAAN
Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota School of Nursing
Presentation topic: Geropsychiatric Prescribing Across Disorders and Settings

Laura G. Leahy, DrNP, APRN, PMH-CNS/FNP, CARN-AP, FAANP, FAAN
Board Certified Psychiatric and Addictions Advanced Practice Nurse, Founder APNSolutions, LLC
Presentation topic: Deconstructing the Pharmaceutical Industry: Brand vs Generics & What It Means for Practice

Jeffrey Lucero, MSN, RN, PMHNP-BC
Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Founder of Thoughtful Psychiatry
Presentation topic: Pharmacologic treatment of symptoms associated with BPD and introducing GPM and treatment approaches for this population.

Jeremy Mills, DNP, PMHNP-BC
Clinical Assistant Professor, Coordinator, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program, University of Tennessee College of Nursing
Presentation topic: Acetylcholine Neurotransmission, Muscarinic Receptors, and Anticholinergic Burden: Implications for Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

Joel Stoddard, MD
Associate Professor, Psychiatry-Child-CHC, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Presentation Topic: Management of Agitation/Aggression/Dysregulation in the Child/Adolescent Population

Jeffrey R. Strawn, MD, FAACAP
Tenured Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Clinical & Translational Pharmacology, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati
Presentation Topic: Advanced Psychopharmacology in Youth: What Works When and Why

Tony Thrasher, D.O., MBA, CPE, DFAPA
Medical Director of Crisis Services, Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division
Presentation topic: Documentation & Legal Considerations: Part 1: Engagement and Empathy in the Era of the Open Note: Keys to High Acuity Documentation; Part 2: EMTALA, HIPAA, and Tarasoff Oh My!: Safely Traversing the Yellow Brick Road of Healthcare Laws”