David A. Lewis, MD - ACNP President
David A. Lewis, MD Elected President of
The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) has elected David A. Lewis, MD, as its new president. Dr. Lewis formally assumed his new leadership role at the organization?s 51st annual meeting, which took place December 2-6, 2012 in Hollywood, Florida.
The ACNP was founded in 1961 and is the nation's premier professional society in brain, behavior, and psychopharmacology research. The ACNP promotes communication among a broad range of scientific disciplines of brain and behavior in order to increase our understanding of the causes of disorders of the nervous system, and encourage new lines of research addressing the prevention and treatment of psychiatric, neurological, behavioral and addictive disorders. Its educational focus is on encouraging young scientists to pursue research careers in fields related to these disorders and their treatment. Dr. Lewis has been a member of the ACNP since 1993 and was promoted to fellow in 2000. An active member of the organization throughout his career, he has served on the ACNP Council and on a number of committees.
Dr. Lewis is the UPMC Professor in Translational Neuroscience and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry. He also serves as the Director of Research and Medical Director of the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic at the UPMC, and directs the Translational Neuroscience Program and the NIMH-sponsored Conte Center for the Neuroscience of Mental Disorders. His research interests focus on the organization of the neural circuitry of the primate prefrontal cortex, developmental refinements in this circuitry that give rise to mature levels of cognitive functioning, and the manner in which alterations in this circuitry contribute to the symptoms of schizophrenia. An internationally recognized expert in the fields of psychiatry and neuroscience, Dr. Lewis is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and has broadly disseminated his work in numerous high-impact scientific journals and through presentations in the United States and abroad.