Personally, I am 52, married, and have a 22 yo son who graduated from college in Sarasota for graphic design. Born in DC, I have lived in the Baltimore area since 1970, grew up in Hamilton from 4th grade (Hamilton Elementary), and attended Northern Parkway Junior High School and Poly for high school. In high school, I was appointed by Governor Lee to serve on the Governor’s Youth Advisory Committee. I attended Towson State, then finished with a B.A. cum laude from UMBC. I then went to medical school at University of Maryland. My father is an electrician, still working at 72. My mother was a social worker and passed away from cancer in the 1980s. My wife and I moved back to the Hamilton/Waltherson area four years ago.

     Professionally, I am a board-certified physician, specializing in psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine, which is about the intersection of primary care and mental health. I have worked at Sinai, Union Memorial, Northwest, Sheppard Pratt, GBMC, and BWMC. I started my own private group practice in the 1990s, then became Associate Chair of Psychiatry at GBMC 2002-04, and most recently Chair of Psychiatry at BWMC 2004-13. I left in July to spend more time working on health care reform, health information technology, and to help shape health care policy, legislation, and regulations in Maryland and nationally. I work part-time as a Chief Medical Information Officer for a Rockville IT company called M3 Information, which developed a nationally recognized solution (M3 Clinician) for screening and managing mental health and substance use disorders in primary care settings. I also started my own small business in 2013, Fuse Health Strategies LLC, that focuses on integrating behavioral and physical health care for hospitals, ACOs, and primary care practices.

     On the political side, I became interested in politics and policy in high school. In medical school, I was elected to represent my class. In my residency in Pittsburgh, I was elected to serve as President of my housestaff organization, and also served as Chief Resident. I was elected to serve as President of the Maryland Psychiatric Society (MPS), which involves six years of service in different positions. I have been on the MPS Legislative Affairs Committee since about 1994, where I was also Chair, and also now serve on MedChi’s Legislative Committee. I have testified before the Maryland General Assembly on a couple dozen occasions. I have been elected to represent all Maryland psychiatrists as Assembly Representative to the American Psychiatric Association, where I also serve as Chair of the Committee on Mental Health Information Technology and on the Council on Quality. I have been appointed to serve on a number of committees and workgroups in Maryland for DHMH, the Maryland Medicaid Program, Mental Hygiene Administration, and the Maryland Health Care Commission, where I now serve on the Health Information Exchange Policy Board. I have been increasingly focusing on greater involvement in my local community, where I live and own a small business.

     Those who are interested in learning of the important issues that I feel are facing our community can compare my responses to those of the twenty others who are running for Democratic Central Committee by going to the League of Women Voters' 2014 Voter Guide, where I briefly discuss jobs, the economy, healthcare, government transparency, freedom, civil rights, environment, and education.