Southern California Society of Child

& Adolescent Psychiatry

About the Southern California Society of Child & Adolescent Psychiatrists

SCSCAP is the regional organization of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and a member organization of the California Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAL-ACAP). SCSCAP represents the interests of child and adolescent psychiatrists and their patients at both the state and national levels, specifically through organizational activities and advocacy efforts of the two umbrella organizations.

 

In addition, SCSCAP conducts monthly business meetings, organizes local advocacy efforts, provides representation in the governance bodies of AACAP and CAL-ACAP, and sponsors educational events for its members. All SCSCAP members are members of AACAP and CAL-ACAP.

Misty Richards, M.D.

President

Misty Richards is the Program Director for the UCLA Semel Institute’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship and holds a joint appointment as Assistant Clinical Professor in both the UCLA Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Psychobiology from UCLA, where her interest in perinatal mental health first began, while conducting research studying pregnant mothers with anxiety and depression. For the next four years, Dr. Richards worked as a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation, studying the pathophysiology of mood disorders. During this time, she also helped start a medical clinic in Ddegeya Village, Uganda, where she began a partnership between this rural area of Uganda and multiple U.S. universities and organizations. At Albany Medical College in New York, Dr. Richards obtained an M.S. in Neuroscience along with her medical degree and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study medicine in Japan. Dr. Richards then completed her General Psychiatry Residency and Child Fellowship at the UCLA Semel Institute. Since joining faculty at UCLA, Dr. Richards has developed her expertise in the area of perinatal psychiatry and infant mental health, currently serving as the Director of Infant Mental Health of the UCLA Maternal Mental Health Partial Hospitalization Program. Dr. Richards is also the Co-Founder and Medical Director of Perinatal Psychiatry for the Maternal Outpatient Mental health Services (MOMS) Clinic in the Department of OB-GYN. She recently completed the intensive, interdisciplinary 15-month long NAPA Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellowship that focuses on working with children ages 0 to 5 and their families.

 

Sabrina Reed, M.D.

President-Elect

Dr. Sabrina Reed is a board-certified Adult psychiatrist who recently completed her Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at UCLA where she served as a chief fellow. She attended Northwestern for her undergraduate studies majoring in psychology with a minor in global health. Before completing her medical training at the University of Illinois at Chicago, she obtained valuable child psychiatry experience working as a behavior specialist with high school students with ASD and interned with the summer treatment program for kids with ADHD and disruptive behavior disorders.  She currently is a Clinical Assistant Professor at USC working with transitional age youth at the Student Health Center and adolescents at Augustus Hawkins inpatient unit. She is interested in medical education and teaches the pre-clinical medical student psychiatry course at USC and is enrolled in the Masters of Academic Medicine Program.

 

Elizabeth Dohrmann, M.D.

Vice President

Dr. Elizabeth Dohrmann is a board-certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist working for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health in their Juvenile Justice Mental Health Program. Dr. Dohrmann was raised in Nashville, Tennessee, attended Yale College where she studied autism spectrum disorders, and worked at UCSD and Vanderbilt conducting autism assessments prior to attending medical school at the University of Tennessee. She completed her psychiatric residency at New York University where she received specific training in forensic and public psychiatry, collaborative care, and family therapies. Dr. Dohrmann completed her child psychiatry fellowship at UCLA, where she served as Co-Chief Fellow. In addition to her work for the county, Dr. Dohrmann regularly conducts evaluations for asylum seekers through Physicians for Human Rights and is a psychiatric consultant for the Westside Regional Center, serving individuals with developmental disabilities. Her clinical, policy, and research interests include optimization of community-public-academic partnerships for screening and care of underserved populations in schools, primary care practices, and prisons; development and implementation of alternatives to incarceration; implementation of the collaborative care model for pediatric populations; family-based psychotherapies; supports for transitional aged youth with developmental disabilities; medical student/trainee teaching; and human rights advocacy.

 

Anish Dube, M.D.

Treasurer

bio coming soon

 

Rishi Parikh, M.D.

Secretary

bio coming soon

 

Christopher Chamanadjian, M.D.

Member-in-Training Representative

bio coming soon

 

Zhijia Liang, M.D.

Member-in-Training Representative

Zach is a psychiatry resident at the Charles R. Drew University psychiatry residency program. Zach studied neuroscience and behavioral economics at Emory University, where he also conducted research on neural signal processing and on agents which mediate behavioral flexibility. He studied network connectivity abberations in ASD while obtaining his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia. His passion for caring for children also propels him to take up roles of leadership and advocacy in order to create the brightest future for our kiddos. Zach is the founder of the Nexopp Education Outreach Initiative, a nonprofit organization which connects compassionate volunteers to provide skills-building workshops with local shelters and community centers. His academic interests range from computational neuropsychiatry and behavioral modeling to predictive assessments of personality and the impact of social media and emerging technologies. When he's off, Zach is an avid climber and enjoys perfecting his recipes for ramen, deviled eggs, and cashew brittles.

 

Brandon Ito, M.D.

Past President

Dr. Brandon Ito, MD, MPH completed his undergraduate degree in Human Development with minor studies in both Psychology and Healthcare/Social Issues from the University of California, San Diego. He completed his medical training at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, where he served as class president and was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. During his medical training, he completed a masters degree in public health at Harvard University with a concentration in family and community health.

 

Dr. Ito completed his adult psychiatry training at the University of California, San Francisco and completed specialized training in LGBT mental health and the Clinical Scholars global health pathway. Dr. Ito completed his Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at New York University and Bellevue Hospital Center, where he served as Chief Fellow.

 

He is currently a psychiatrist at the Behavioral Wellness Center at the UCLA School of Medicine, Child and Adult Neurodevelopmental Clinic at the UCLA Medical Center, and Director of the Pediatric Resilience in Development and Expression Program (PRiDE). He is particularly interested in medical education, global mental health, LGBT mental health, and reducing health care disparities in vulnerable populations.

 

Benjamin Schneider, M.D.

Past President

Dr. Benjamin Schneider is a board certified Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and a member of the UCLA Child and Adolescent Psychiatry faculty as an Assistant Professor. After completing his undergraduate at Stanford University where he studied Biological Sciences and Philosophy, he went on to medical school at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. There, he gained valuable clinical experience assisting in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry research programs before moving to Los Angeles to complete residency and fellowship at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. Currently, Dr. Schneider is the medical director of the UCLA Achievement, Behavior and Cognition (ABC) partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs. Additionally, he is an attending psychiatrist in UCLA Child and Adult Neurodevelopmental (CAN) Clinic.

Patrick Kelly, M.D.

Past President

Patrick Kelly, M.D. is a Psychiatrist Board Certified in both General and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. A Los Angeles native, Dr. Kelly then pursued most of his education on the East Coast, finally training in Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. After working there for three years as an Attending Psychiatrist and taking over as Program Director for the fellowship, he moved back to Los Angeles. He now directs the Psychiatric Emergency Services for children at Harbor UCLA Medical Center and is a full time faculty member with UCLA. He has an additional private practice, specialized in treating patients with Borderline Personality Disorder and Adolescent Mood Disorders, along the lines of his two published books: 'Borderline Personality Disorder: New Reasons for Hope' and 'Adolescent Depression: A Guide for Families.'

 

 

Ara Anspikian, M.D.

Past President

Dr. Ara Anspikian is a general, child and addiction psychiatrist who completed his child and adolescent fellowship and addiction fellowship at UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience. Dr. Anspikian is currently the Medical Director for Outpatient Youth Services at Loma Linda University Department of Psychiatry’s Behavioral Medical Center. This includes the adolescent Partial Hospitalization Program as well as multiple Intensive Outpatient Programs including dual diagnosis for adolescents, and developing an ADHD and Developmental Disorders track for children. Dr. Anspikian has been involved with the American Psychiatric Association since his second year of residency. He has served in a variety of roles including the Council for Advocacy and Government Relations and the Council for Children and their Families.

 


William Arroyo, M.D.

Cal-ACAP Delegate

 

Marcy Borlik, M.D.

Cal-ACAP Delegate