SCPS Election 2025 – Candidate Statements
SCPS Election 2025
CANDIDATE STATEMENTS
Deadlines for Nominations by Petition: February 25, 2025
In this special section, the candidates nominated for your representation discuss their views.
Please read the statements carefully before voting.
Ballots will be mailed on or around March 10th.
Please visit this page for complete information and timeline.
Emily Wood, MD
President-elect
I would like to thank the nominating committee for nominating me as President-Elect. I continue to find in SCPS a collegial network of like minds to champion equitable, diverse, and inclusive behavioral health care and delivery. I was fortunate enough to be elected to the SCPS Council in 2021 as an Early Career Psychiatrist Representative. Since then, I have served as Co-Chair of SCPS Government Affairs and Diversity, founder and Co-Chair of the SCPS Alternatives to Incarceration Committee, Co-Chair of the SCPS Stimulant Shortage Task Force, and as Chair of Government Affairs for the California State Association of Psychiatrists. Through these positions, I have been able to work collaboratively with the SCPS Executive Committee and Council, our advocacy team in Sacramento, psychiatry colleagues from all 5 California APA district branches, legislators, community organizers, and government officials across California. Through this work, I have learned a great deal about the diversity of psychiatric practice across our district area – from public to private, giant HMO to local clinic, child to geriatric, county juvenile hall to state prison, and psychotherapy to neuromodulatory modalities. We serve an amazing range of patients with the common goal of improving behavioral and mental health in our community.
As physicians, especially psychiatrists, we are afforded great privilege to both witness and alleviate suffering in our community. Our professional strength comes through supporting each other and holding ourselves accountable for shaping our healthcare systems to meet the needs of all patients. On SCPS council, I have and will continue to advocate for mental health parity and equitable, high-quality patient care in Southern California.
Gillian Friedman, MD
Treasurer-elect
I am honored to be nominated for the position of Treasurer-Elect for SCPS. Currently I serve as Secretary for SCPS Council, and previously served as Inland Region Councillor. I am co-chair for the Access to Care Committee, and a member of the Government Affairs Committee. In these positions, I witness the real day-to-day implications that SCPS advocacy has for SCPS psychiatrists and our patients.
I have been a member of APA for roughly 25 years (since the beginning of residency). Prior to joining SCPS Council, I organized informal gatherings for SCPS members in the Inland Region. It has been so rewarding over the past 4 years to join in SCPS leadership and to translate SCPS psychiatrists’ concerns into action.
I have spent most of my career in public psychiatry (inpatient, subacute, and outpatient), but also run a part-time private practice. I currently serve as Medical Director at Patton State Hospital, a forensic setting. I have worked in virtually every psychiatric environment, so if you reach out to me, I’ll understand the challenges you are facing.
There are many critical factors facing our profession currently: the worsening shortage of psychiatrists, scope of practice issues, persistent difficulty with mental health parity despite federal and state parity legislation, the ongoing stimulant crisis, logistical barriers to some of our most effective treatments like clozapine, and many more. I have been excited to be involved in actions by SCPS Council to advocate to California legislature, APA, and even federal agencies around these issues.
I am committed to hearing from you about the issues affecting your practice, and to helping SCPS pursue opportunities for advocacy. The stimulant crisis, the decreasing access of our patients to care by psychiatrists, and the problems psychiatrists have in getting fair reimbursement from insurance, remain particular areas of concern for me.
Roderick Shaner, MD
Secretary
I am honored to be nominated for the position of SCPS Secretary. Currently, I am serving at SCPS as the Co-Chair of the SCPS Government Affairs Committee, Chair of the Bylaws Committee, and a representative to the CSAP Government Affairs Committee and CSAP Board.
I deeply believe in the mission of SCPS to support psychiatrists in our region and to improve health and services for our patients. My clinical background in public and community psychiatry, private practice, and managed care, along with my administrative experience in health systems management, confirms to me both the accomplishments of SCPS and the need for our continued work in education, advocacy, and professional support.
Should I be elected, I promise to seek out opinions and listen closely to every SCPS member. My 40 years of membership in SCPS and APA, serving in many positions, have taught me that our organization functions well only to the degree that we are member driven. While my penmanship may be suboptimal, I am committed to comprehensively recording the key proceedings of the organization and proactively and lucidly transmitting the content of those meetings to you and every other SCPS member on a regular basis.
Yelena Koldobskaya, MD
San Fernando Valley Region Councillor
I completed my residency training at UCLA. I then worked as a psychiatrist in the Los Angeles County Jail from 2017 to 2022, and witnessed firsthand the severity of mental illness and the limitations of psychiatric treatment in the criminal justice system. In mid-2022, I joined the Department of Mental Health Homeless Outreach and Mobile Engagement (HOME) team in Service Areas 5 and 8, which include Malibu / Santa Monica, West LA, Inglewood, South Bay, and Long Beach. In September 2023, I was promoted to Supervising Psychiatrist and Associate Medical Director for HOME’s South County teams, which include Service Areas 5, 6, 7, and 8. My work focuses on street-based treatment of our County’s most vulnerable homeless individuals. Homelessness has been a highly visible crisis here in Los Angeles and has been declared a state of emergency by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Along with Dr. Danielle Chang, I serve as co-chair of the SCPS Unhoused Crisis Workgroup. I hope to continue to use my work experience to advocate for additional care resources for this vulnerable patient population. I also hope to use my experience to advocate for the evolving needs of psychiatrists, frontline workers, our patients, and our patients’ families.
Ruqayyah Malik, MD
Early Career Psychiatrist Representative
I’m honored to be considered for the Early Career Psychiatrist Deputy Representative position. I recently graduated from the UC Riverside Psychiatry Residency in 2024. I also recently became an American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology diplomate in psychiatry. Though I am early in my attending career as a staff psychiatrist at the Department of State Hospitals- Patton, I have been involved with the Southern California Psychiatric Society since 2022. I have served as the Minority and Underrepresented Groups Deputy Representative in the past and currently serve as the Minority and Underrepresented Groups Representative as well as chair of the Diversity and Culture Committee. If elected as the ECP I will strive to give voice to the issues facing new attending psychiatrists that are navigating the transition from residency/ fellowship into the workforce. I will strive to advocate for informational programming and events that would be helpful to early career psychiatrists as they consider their attending career options.
Austin Nguy, MD
Deputy Minority and Underrepresented Groups Representative
I am a second-year psychiatry resident at UC Riverside School of Medicine. A bit about me- I come from a multicultural background. I was born in Australia to a Vietnamese refugee dad and an Indonesian mom. I moved to Southern California at the age of 10 and was raised in Santa Ana. I am not only the first physician in my family, but also the first to go to college. I studied and double majored in Molecular Cell Biology and Music at UC Berkeley, then started medical school at UCRSOM. I love Riverside, the Inland Empire, and the mission of UCRSOM to serve underserved and under-resourced communities. This is why I decided to stay at UCRSOM for my residency training. During my time in residency, some of my roles include serving as the leader of our Diversity Advisory Committee and have been active in the recruitment for Underrepresented in Medicine (URM) and institutionalizing an LGBT health literacy curriculum in our UCRSOM. In this DMURR role, I hope to continue to champion the disadvantaged and become a voice for accountability for our minority voices for the Southern California region.
Thank you again for your consideration.
Christopher Chamanadjian, MD
Resident-Fellow Member Representative
It is an honor to be nominated for the position of Resident-Fellow Member Representative of SCPS.
Throughout my training, I had the privilege of working in diverse healthcare systems, gaining insight into the profound mental healthcare disparities that disproportionately affect underserved communities. These experiences strengthened my commitment to promoting equitable access to care through innovation and collaboration.
As a technology enthusiast, I contributed to the development of the first FDA-approved digital mental health diagnostic device by researching the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to diagnose Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Currently, I am a first-year Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellow at Charles R. Drew University and serve as the Member-in-Training Representative for the Southern California Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (SCSCAP). In this role, I collaborated with the executive council to launch a mentorship program connecting trainees with experienced psychiatrists and enhanced member engagement through social media. Nationally, I represent trainees on AACAP’s Media and Health Promotion and Prevention Committees, contributing to mental health advocacy and prevention initiatives.
If elected, I will work to ensure SCPS remains an inclusive and thriving organization by fostering engagement and opportunities for underrepresented trainees across Southern California. Thank you sincerely for your consideration.
Alexis Smith, MD
Resident-Fellow Member Representative
I am thrilled and humbled to have been nominated for the role of resident member representative for the SCPS. I am a second-year psychiatry resident at UCLA and completed my medical education at Harvard. Having grown up in rural Missouri over 30 miles away from the nearest psychiatrist, I know firsthand the necessity of improving equitable access to high-quality mental healthcare and recognize that this advocacy starts locally. Through my role as a resident lead in the UCLA restraint reduction initiative, I’ve learned the importance of innovation, persistence, and multidisciplinary collaboration for institutional and cultural change. I appreciate your consideration!
C. Freeman, MD
APA Assembly Representative
As a psychiatrist committed to advancing mental health care, I am honored to seek re election as APA Assembly Representative. With experience spanning rural and urban settings, I bring a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing our profession, supported by a track record of impactful leadership.
In my practice, I advocate for patient-centered care, equitable access to services, and innovative solutions to workforce shortages and systemic barriers. As a Climate Health Equity Fellow, I explored the intersection of mental health, environmental factors, and health equity, sharing insights through op-eds and national presentations. My advocacy focuses on forward-thinking policies to address workforce sustainability, health equity, and mental health policy.
I have founded residency programs to cultivate the next generation of psychiatrists and close workforce gaps in underserved communities. My years of service on APA Assembly committees and other professional organizations have strengthened my ability to represent our collective voice effectively.
As your Assembly Representative, I will prioritize:
• Amplifying psychiatrists’ voices in shaping policies that impact practice and patient
care.
• Promoting initiatives to address burnout and build resilience among colleagues.
• Advocating for mental health parity and equitable resource distribution.
Through collaboration, transparency, and commitment, we can advance psychiatry and improve the lives of those we serve. My leadership, scholarship, and advocacy experiences have prepared me to represent you effectively, and I look forward to the opportunity to work toward meaningful change. Thank you for your support.
Matthew Goldenberg, DO
APA Assembly Representative
Fellow SCPS Member, you may recognize me as the longtime SCPS newsletter editor. I would be honored to receive your vote to be your SCPS APA Assembly Representative.
I am a passionate advocate for ensuring that the voices of all SCPS members are heard and are acted upon. I promise to bring this ambition, and the goal of leaving things better than we found them, to the APA Assembly. My high level of engagement with SCPS members, and my longstanding involvement with the SCPS Council, will help me to keep these promises.
My recent service includes being past SCPS president, longstanding editor of SCPS Psychiatrist newsletter, current chair of the SCPS Private Practice Committee and SCPS Awards Committee, member of the SCPS and CSAP Government Affairs Committees, and a past SCPS board member of CSAP (our Area 6 statewide advocacy association). These experiences allow me to represent your interests powerfully and knowledgeably in the APA Assembly and at the Area 6 Council.
My specific objectives, if elected, will be to:
1) Improve and strengthen transparency and open communication between SCPS, APA and Area 6 Council.
2) Focus APA efforts to protect the practice of psychiatry, with a focus on physician-lead mental healthcare.
3) Promote action papers and policies that improve access to high quality and evidence-based mental health treatments for our patients.
4) Ensure that all SCPS members get continuous feedback about what is happening at the APA Assembly and Area 6 Council and have the opportunity to weigh in on all critical issues.
SCPS is an extraordinary organization. The drive, compassion, and breadth of knowledge that our colleagues bring to SCPS is contagious and keeps me coming back. I would deeply appreciate the opportunity to continue to serve by representing you and SCPS at the APA Assembly.