Executive Committee

Rahn Kennedy Bailey, MD

President

Rahn Kennedy Bailey, MD

Rahn Kennedy Bailey, M.D. serves as the Kathleen & John Bricker Chair, Professor, and Head of the Department of Psychiatry at Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Sciences Center and is the Assistant Dean for Community Engagement. Dr. Bailey’s early research focused on Psychotic Disorders/SPMI, grew to include Depressive Illness/Bipolar Mood D/O, expanded to forensic topics, Competency, Confidentiality, and Risk Management. Currently, his focus is Health Disparities, Healthcare Reform, and Violence. He has 86 peer-reviewed publications in over 20 refereed journals and published three books. In 2022, Dr. Bailey received the National Medical Association Ernest Y. Williams, M.D. Clinical Scholars of Distinction Award. Dr. Bailey was also selected as the 2024 awardee of the American Psychiatric Association Solomon Carter Fuller Award. He was elected the 2023-2025 Chair of the APA Caucus on Global Mental Health.

Napoleon Higgins, MD

Executive Director

Napoleon Higgins, MD

Napoleon B. Higgins, Jr., MD, is a psychiatrist in the Houston/Clear Lake City Area. He currently serves as Owner, CEO, and President of Bay Pointe Behavioral Health Service, Inc., and South East Houston Research Group, Inc. He also practices as the Medical Director of Hold My Hand Residential Treatment Center and as the staff psychiatrist at Prairie View A&M University in the Student Services Center.

Nicole Washington, DO, MPH

President Elect

Nicole Washington, DO, MPH

Dr. Nicole Washington is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana where she attended Southern University and A&M College. After receiving her BS degree, she moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma to matriculate at the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed residency in Psychiatry at the University of Oklahoma in Tulsa and a master's degree in Public Health through the University of Illinois at Chicago. Since completion of her residency training, Dr. Washington has spent most of her career caring for and being an advocate for those who are not typically consumers of mental health services, namely underserved communities, those with severe mental illness and high performing professionals. Dr. Washington has been an active member of the Black Psychiatrists of America and has served as chair and co-chair of the Communications and Social Media Committee as well as both chair and co-chair of the Scientific Program Committee. In these roles, she has worked tirelessly to advance the mission of the BPA.

Stephen McLeod-Bryant, MD

Immediate Past President

Stephen McLeod-Bryant, MD

Dr. McLeod-Bryant received his BA and MD at the University of Rochester and completed his residency in psychiatry at the Tufts-New England Medical Center in 1988. He has served on the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of the Medical University of South Carolina, Meharry Medical College, and University of Miami. He has been a Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), President of the South Carolina Psychiatric Association, and served as the APA Caucus of Black Psychiatrists’ Representative to the APA’s Assembly from 2003-2016. He is a recipient of the American Psychiatric Association’s Solomon Carter Fuller Award and a member of the American College of Psychiatrists. He has been President of the Black Psychiatrists of America, Inc. since November 2023. He is married to Dr. Sarah Denaud, a child and adolescent psychiatrist. He has three adult children, Sydney, Andrew, and Aaron, and granddaughters, Audrey and Amelia.

Samuel Williams, MD

Treasurer

Samuel Williams, MD

Bio coming soon

Juandalyn Peters, MD

Secretary

Juandalyn Peters, MD

Dr. Peters was born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas, and worked as a psychiatric nurse for about four years before going on to medical school. Dr. Peters graduated from the University of Miami School of Medicine, and then trained in adult/general psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina. She returned to Miami to complete her medical education with two years of child and adolescent psychiatry training at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital. She is board-certified in General Psychiatry as well as Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Peters has been honored with the designation of Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, in recognition of her service to the community and her psychiatric colleagues.

Mardoche Sidor, MD

Mid-Atlantic/ Eastern Regional Trustee Region I

Mardoche Sidor, MD

Dr. Mardoche Sidor serves as the Medical Director at Urban Pathways, a distinguished non-profit organization based in New York City, dedicated to providing comprehensive care for individuals, most of whom are black, grappling with serious mental illness compounded by homelessness, substance use disorder, justice involvement, and other social determinants of health and health disparities. With an array of board certifications in general adult psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, and addiction psychiatry, Dr. Sidor exemplifies a steadfast commitment to excellence and a profound grasp of the intricate dynamics of mental health across all stages of life. His training in community and public psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, and diverse psychotherapeutic modalities further enriches his clinical expertise.

Vivian Campbell, MD, DLFAPA

Southern Regional Trustee, Region II

Vivian Campbell, MD, DLFAPA

Dr. Vivian Campbell lives in Charlotte, NC and has been in practice since 1993 in a variety of clinical settings. In addition to military service, she has worked in community psychiatry, private practice, carceral settings, with non-profits and in the federal system. In each of those settings there were more people of color and financially disadvantaged people in need of clinically competent, compassionate, culturally informed care than psychiatrists trained to provide the services. She seeks to contribute to promoting solutions to increase access and to support psychiatrists in practicing in a manner that is meaningful and sustainable for the physician. She has contributed to bridging connections with the wider community of colleagues through serving on the executive committee of the Charlotte Psychiatric Society, committee participation with my APA District Branch and prior service on non-profit and advisory boards.

LaRissa Chism Buggs, MD, FAPA

Midwestern Regional Trustee, Region III

LaRissa Chism Buggs, MD, FAPA

LaRissa Chism Buggs, MD, FAPA is an Adult and Forensic Psychiatrist. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and completed her medical degree at Temple University, after which she completed residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and forensic fellowship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She is the co-founder and medical director of Cultivating Life Clinic, a charitable safety-net mental health organization dedicated to providing culturally competent, faith-informed care to uninsured and underinsured populations in Indiana. The clinic also operates a “street psychiatry” outreach serving individuals experiencing homelessness. Dr. Buggs is also a co- founder of The Nexus Center, a multi-faceted community wellness center that promotes health, education and economic empowerment initiatives.

Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo, MD, MS, MAS

Western Regional Trustee, Region IV

Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo, MD, MS, MAS

Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo, MD, MS, MAS is dedicated to improving health care through social justice. After completing her medical school education from the University of California, Davis, (UC Davis), she moved to Boston for residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/McLean Harvard Psychiatry Program, where she served as the MGH Administrative Chief Resident and Chair of the MGH Resident and Fellow Committee. She is currently an Assistant Professor at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and serves in a number of leadership and clinical roles at UCSF including as: the Medical Director of the UCSF Alliance Health Project, Associate Program Director in the Psychiatry Residency Training Program, Associate Program Director in the Public Psychiatry Fellowship and as the Director of the UCSF School of Medicine’s Post Baccalaureate Program and OAice of Outreach. She currently serves as a Co-Editor of the Racism and Mental Health Equity column with the Psychiatric Services Journal, which is a monthly publication of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). She is an elected Board Member-at-large of the American Association for Community Psychiatry (AACP).

Wole Akosile, MD, MPH, PhD

International Trustee, Region V

Wole Akosile, MD, MPH, PhD

Associate Professor Wole Akosile is an addiction psychiatrist and addiction medicine specialist based in Queensland, Australia. He is an Associate Professor at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research (Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Science, The University of Queensland), Director of New Farm Clinic Addiction, and Director of the New Farm Clinic TMS program. He serves on the Queensland Board of the Medical Board of Australia and is the Oceania Representative of the International Society of Addiction Medicine. His research focuses on substance-enhanced psychotherapy, with more than 47 peer-reviewed publications. An academic and community leader, he advocates for culturally and linguistically diverse communities and leads initiatives in mentoring, cultural connection, and language preservation. He is also an award-winning author of The Gods of Women Have Gone Mad and Real Men Don’t Do Therapy, and was named African Australian Professional of the Year in 2024.

Francois Williams, MD

Member-In-Training

Francois Williams, MD

Dr. Francois Williams attended Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans and Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. He completed his adult psychiatry residency at Baylor College of Medicine and successfully completed his first year of child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at MedStar Georgetown in Washington, D.C. Dr. Williams is an adult-trained psychiatrist and group psychotherapist offering psychodynamic and trauma-informed care. He provides group and individual therapy for adolescents, young adults, and adults, empowering them with the knowledge, skills, and support needed to achieve mental well-being and resilience.