Statements from candidates for Div. 28 president

Matthew Johnson, PhD

It is an honor to be nominated for Div. 28 president, and I appreciate the opportunity. I am an experimental psychologist who studies the behavioral mechanisms of addiction and also the effects of psychoactive drugs in the human laboratory. In the field of behavioral economics, my research has applied microeconomic concepts to understand drug consumption, addiction and sexual risk decisions associated with certain drugs. I have conducted human studies with numerous drugs including cocaine, methamphetamine, nicotine, caffeine, GHB, alcohol, triazolam and ramelteon, psilocybin, dextromethorphan and salvinorin A. Div. 28 of APA has served as an academic and professional home base for me for a long time. I have attended and presented research at the annual convention for 14 of the past 15 years. I have served the division in a number of ways over the years. I was the 2010 convention program chair for our division, I have served as member-at-large (2012-14), I represented the division at the 2013 APA Education Leadership Conference, and currently serve as the fellows chair for the division. In 2011 I received the Div. 28 Wyeth Young Psychopharmacologist Award. I was also recently awarded fellow status in the division. I am committed to advancing the field of psychology and its role in society, especially in the realm of psychopharmacology and substance abuse. I also recognize that science and clinical practice do not take place in a vacuum, and I strongly support the important role that APA should play in delineating ethical guidelines for our profession. I would be honored to serve as president of the division if elected. Regardless, I look forward to working with Div. 28 for years to come.

Mark Smith, PhD

I am both honored and excited to be a candidate for president of Div. 28. Div. 28 has been my scientific home within APA for over a decade, and I have been fortunate to be surrounded by so many close friends and respected colleagues within the division. I have been a behavioral pharmacologist for 24 years, and I have spent the majority of my career developing translational models in laboratory animals to examine the factors that contribute to substance abuse in human populations. I am deeply honored that the division has recognized my contributions to the field, first by bestowing upon me a young investigator travel award to attend my first APA convention in 2004, and most recently by electing me to fellow status in 2011. As a professor in a department of psychology, I have mentored undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty, and I have taught courses in psychopharmacology and substance abuse at both the undergraduate and graduate level. I have served on the Executive Committee of Div. 28 almost continuously since 2007, serving as secretary (2007-11), liaison to the Science Directorate (2011-12) and program chair (2011-13). I am currently mid-way through a three-year term as member-at-large (2015-17), and I hope to continue serving the division and the Executive Committee in the future. I am also active and hold leadership positions in several professional societies that might be considered sister organizations of Div. 28 (e.g., CPDD, ISGIDAR). As president, I will use my experience in those positions, as well as my experience on the Executive Committee of Div. 28, to (1) advocate for the professional needs of our members within APA, (2) promote the professional work of our members to funding organizations and to the general public, (3) work tirelessly to recruit, retain and engage divisional members, and (4) govern responsibly to maintain the financial and organization health of our division. Finally, I will end my candidate statement by mentioning that my “opponent” for president, Matthew Johnson, PhD, is one of the most admirable scientists I know; I look forward to working with Matt to promote the strength and growth of our division for many years to come.