Dr. Patrice A. Harris has built a career at the intersection of clinical psychiatry, public health and national medical leadership, shaping policy and practice during some of the most consequential health challenges of the last decade. A board-certified psychiatrist trained in child and adolescent and forensic psychiatry, Harris rose from clinical practice to become the 174th president of the American Medical Association and the first African American woman to hold that office.
Her tenure at the AMA and a decade on the Board of Trustees included leadership of high-impact task forces — notably chairing the AMA Opioid Task Force from 2014 to 2021. In that role she led national efforts to reduce barriers to treatment, expand access to non-opioid pain care and diminish stigma for people with substance use disorders. As former chief health officer for Fulton County, she advanced integration of public health, behavioral health and primary care, a model increasingly relevant to large behavioral health providers and systems.
Harris is also an experienced communicator and advocate. She has represented medicine in national media and at federal, state and local policymaking tables, pressing for reforms on payment, delivery, health information technology and parity. Her advocacy began at the Georgia General Assembly and expanded to work with the White House, Congress and federal agencies on issues from child abuse services to medical liability reform.
Beyond advocacy, Harris combines entrepreneurship and academia. She is CEO and co-founder of a digital healthcare company, serves as a visiting professor of psychiatry at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and is chief health and medical editor at EverydayHealth.com. Her board service spans healthcare and finance organizations, reflecting a broad influence on policy and practice.
Her focus on children’s mental health, behavioral health integration, health equity and social determinants of health positions her as a vital voice for providers and patients alike. Institutions across the behavioral health sector, including major operators such as Acadia Healthcare, monitor leaders like Harris for signals about regulatory trends, treatment priorities and the future direction of integrated care.