Dr. Sarah Vinson to Serve as Program Committee Chair for APA Conference

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The American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Mental Health Services Conference will take place virtually October 14 through 15. Dr. Sarah Vinson, Founder and Principal Consultant at Lorio Forensics, has been tapped to serve as the Scientific Program Committee Chair for this national meeting. 

Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals from across the country will attend this year’s virtual meeting, where they’ll collectively seek solutions to make the world more just and healthy. Dr. Vinson will play an integral role in that most worthy pursuit. The theme of this year’s APA Mental Health Services Conference is “Improving Access Through Innovation and Collaboration.” The Conference will feature plenary sessions by noted topical experts, including assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use and Administrator of SAMHSA, Dr. Miriam Delphin-Rittmon. There will also be breakout sessions and a number of opportunities for attendees to network with some of the country’s most noted metal health experts. 

2020 presented a series of challenges to communities across the world and with them, new stressors to mental health. Naturally, mental healthcare providers are in turn being asked to respond in ways like never before: this starts with access. As scholars and practitioners wrestle with the larger questions of public health, Dr. Vinson will bring her expertise and experience as a Committee Chair and conference participant.

For more information on how to register, click here.

MindMed Announces Appointment of Dr. Sarah Y. Vinson as Additional Director

Press release originally published on PR Newswire.

NEW YORK, May 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. (NASDAQ: MNMD), (NEO: MMED), (DE: MMQ) ("MindMed" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has appointed Dr. Sarah Y. Vinson as a director of the Company and a member of its audit committee, effective immediately. 

Dr. Vinson is a Triple Board-Certified physician who specializes in adult, child & adolescent, and forensic psychiatry. She is the founder of Lorio Forensics, a multidisciplinary mental health expert consultation firm and of the Lorio Psych Group, a group mental healthcare practice. Dr. Vinson is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at Morehouse School of Medicine, where she is the Program Director of the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship, and Adjunct Faculty at Emory University School of Medicine. Just two years after joining the faculty at Morehouse School of Medicine she was honored as Psychiatry and Faculty of the Year in 2015. Throughout her career, Dr. Vinson has provided clinical care to children, adolescents, and adults in both publicly funded and private treatment settings.

Dr. Vinson said, "Mental health is not merely a professional pursuit. It is my passion. I see the limitations of our current pharmacologic treatment options and recognize the importance – and necessity – of innovation. I'm grateful to be a part of MindMed's tremendous undertaking."

Dr. Vinson is the past President of the Georgia Council on Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the President Elect of the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association. Additionally, she is an advisor for the Judges Psychiatry Leadership Initiative. Dr. Vinson has been a speaker at national conferences including the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Annual Meeting and The National Urban League Annual Meeting. Dr. Vinson has received numerous awards in recognition of her service and leadership including the University of Florida College of Medicine Outstanding Young Alumna Award and the APA Jeanne Spurlock Minority Fellowship Alumna Achievement Award. Dr. Vinson graduated from medical school at the University of Florida, completed her general psychiatry training at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School and completed fellowships in both child & adolescent and forensic psychiatry at Emory University School of Medicine. 

MindMed CEO & Co-Founder J.R. Rahn said, "We are excited to welcome Dr. Vinson as we build MindMed into a leading force for good in the mental health space and as we generate clinical interest and acceptance of psychedelic medicines in the United States. The entire MindMed team is looking forward to learning from Dr. Vinson's years of experience delivering mental health care services and how we can tackle the seminal problem of accessibility around the new treatment paradigm MindMed is working on." 

The Company will also be putting forward Dr. Vinson as an additional nominee for election to its board of directors (the "Board") at its upcoming annual and special meeting of shareholders to be held on May 27, 2021 (the "Meeting").

In order to add Dr. Vinson as an additional director nominee at the Meeting, it is anticipated that motions will be made to amend the resolutions put before the Meeting regarding (i) the fixing of the number of directors to be elected; and (ii) the director nominees to be elected at the Meeting, as further described below. Management of the Company intends to rely on its discretionary authority granted in the proxies currently being solicited in conjunction with the Company's management information circular dated April 19, 2021 in respect of the Meeting (the "Circular") to vote FOR the foregoing amendments and the election of Dr. Vinson as a director. The Circular is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and https://odysseytrust.com/client/mindmedicine. 

As described in the Circular, the Board has recently undertaken a process to increase independent representation on the Board and its audit committee. Dr. Vinson represents an additional independent director on the Board, and will also fill the current vacancy on the Company's audit committee. Dr. Vinson is considered financially literate and independent for the purposes of National Instrument 52-110. Additionally, the Board believes that the addition of Dr. Vinson as a director will enhance the overall skill set of the Board given her relevant industry expertise.

Additional Information

In order to add Dr. Vinson as an additional director nominee at the Meeting, it is anticipated that a motion will be made to amend the resolution to fix the number of directors at the Meeting, to increase the number of directors to be elected at the Meeting to be fixed at seven directors, rather than six directors as contemplated in the Circular. It is anticipated that at the Meeting, the shareholders of the Company will be asked to consider and, if deemed advisable, approve an ordinary resolution to fix the number of directors of the Company at seven. Management of the Company intends to rely on its discretionary authority granted in proxies currently being solicited in conjunction with the Circular to vote in favour of the foregoing amendment and the resolution setting the number of directors to be elected at seven. 

In order to add Dr. Vinson as an additional director nominee at the Meeting, it is anticipated that a motion will be made to add Dr. Vinson as an additional director nominee, in addition to those nominees as set out on pages 8 and 9 of the Circular. Management of the Company intends to rely on its discretionary authority granted in proxies currently being solicited in conjunction with the Circular to vote in favour of the foregoing amendment and the election of Dr. Vinson.

The below sets forth certain additional information regarding Dr. Vinson:

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At the Meeting, directors will be elected to hold office until the next meeting of the Company's shareholders at which the election of directors is considered, or until his/her successor is duly elected or appointed, unless he/she resigns, is removed or becomes disqualified in accordance with the articles of the Company or the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia).

To the knowledge of MindMed, except as disclosed in the Circular, no proposed director is, as of the date hereof, or was within 10 years, a director or chief executive officer or chief financial officer of any company (including MindMed) that: (a) was the subject of an order (as defined below) that was issued while the director or executive officer was acting in the capacity as director, chief executive officer or chief financial officer; or (b) was subject to an order that was issued after the director or executive officer ceased to be a director, chief executive officer or chief financial officer, and which resulted from an event that occurred while that person was acting in the capacity as a director, chief executive officer or chief financial officer. For the purposes of this paragraph, "order" means a cease trade order, an order similar to a cease trade order or an order that denied the relevant corporation access to any exemption under securities legislation, in each case that was in effect for a period of more than 30 consecutive days.

To the knowledge of MindMed, no proposed director: (a) is, or within 10 years before the date hereof, has been a director or executive officer of any company (including MindMed) that, while that person was acting in that capacity, or within a year of that person ceasing to act in that capacity, became bankrupt, made a proposal under any legislation relating to bankruptcy or insolvency or was subject to or instituted any proceedings, arrangement or compromise with creditors or had a receiver, receiver manager or trustee appointed to hold its assets; or (b) has within the 10 years before the date hereof, become bankrupt, made a proposal under any legislation relating to bankruptcy or insolvency, or become subject to or instituted any proceedings, arrangement or compromise with creditors, or had a receiver, receiver manager or trustee appointed to hold the assets of the proposed director.

No proposed director has been subject to any: (a) penalties or sanctions imposed by a court relating to Canadian securities legislation or by a Canadian securities regulatory authority or has entered into a settlement agreement with a securities regulatory authority; or (b) other penalties or sanctions imposed by a court or regulatory body that would be likely to be considered important to a reasonable security holder in deciding whether to vote for the proposed director.

Other than as described in the Circular, no individual who is, or at any time during the financial year ended December 31, 2020 was, a director or executive officer of MindMed, no proposed nominee for election as a director of MindMed, or any associate of any of them is, or at any time since the beginning of the financial year ended December, 2020 has been, indebted to MindMed or any of its subsidiaries or was indebted to another entity, which indebtedness is, or was at any time during the financial year ended December 31, 2020, the subject of a guarantee, support agreement, letter of credit or other similar arrangement or understanding provided by MindMed or any of its subsidiaries.

Other than as described in the Circular, no director or executive officer of MindMed, nor any proposed nominee for election as a director of MindMed, nor any other insider of MindMed, nor any associate or affiliate of any one of them, has or has had, at any time since the beginning of the financial year ended December 31, 2020, any material interest, direct or indirect, in any transaction or proposed transaction that has materially affected or would materially affect MindMed or any of its subsidiaries.

Other than as disclosed in the Circular, no person who has been a director or executive officer of MindMed at any time since the beginning of the financial year ended December 31, 2020, no proposed nominee for election as a director of MindMed nor any associate or affiliate of such persons has any material interest, direct or indirect, by way of beneficial ownership of securities or otherwise, in any matter to be acted upon at the Meeting. 

The appointment of Dr. Vinson is subject to regulatory approval.

Additional information relating to MindMed may be found under MindMed's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Additional financial information is provided in MindMed's financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis, which are available under the Corporation's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com or by request to the Corporation's registered office at Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc., c/o Wildeboer Dellelce LLP, 365 Bay Street, Suite 800, Toronto, Ontario M5H 2V1 (Phone: (416) 361-3121).

About MindMed 

MindMed is a clinical-stage psychedelic medicine biotech company that discovers, develops and deploys psychedelic inspired medicines and therapies to address addiction and mental illness. The Company is assembling a compelling drug development pipeline of innovative treatments based on psychedelic substances including Psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, DMT and an ibogaine derivative, 18-MC. The MindMed executive team brings extensive biopharmaceutical experience to MindMed's approach to developing the next generation of psychedelic inspired medicines and therapies. 

MindMed trades on the NASDAQ under the symbol MNMD and on the Canadian NEO exchange under the symbol MMED. MindMed is also traded in Germany under the symbol MMQ.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release related to the Company constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws and are prospective in nature. Forward-looking information is not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and projections about future events and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements generally can be identified by the use of forwardlooking words such as "will", "may", "should", "could", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "anticipate", "expect", "believe", "potential" or "continue", or the negative thereof or similar variations. Forward-looking information in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's Meeting and intended future business plans and operations. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, such information involves risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such information, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements of the Company. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information, including compliance with laws and regulations; difficulty associated with research and development; risks associated with clinical trials or studies; heightened regulatory scrutiny; early stage product development; clinical trial risks; regulatory approval processes; novelty of the psychedelic inspired medicines industry; as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to herein and the risks described under the headings "Risk Factors" in the Company's filings with the securities regulatory authorities in all provinces and territories of Canada which are available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.comand with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend and does not assume any obligation to update this forwardlooking information.

Media Contact: mindmed@150bond.com

SOURCE Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc.

Systemic, Racial Justice–Informed Solutions to Shift “Care” From the Criminal Legal System to the Mental Health Care System

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This recent article, Systemic, Racial Injustice--Informed Solutions to Shift "Care" from the Criminal Legal System to the Mental Health Care System, written by Dr. Sarah Vinson and Andrea L. Dennis, J.D. has been accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal, Psychiatric Services.

Introduction to the article: 

The current configuration and function of the U.S. societal structures drives the overrepresentation of people with serious mental illness in the criminal legal system. Although the causes are multifactorial, the mental health system poorly serves those at highest risk of criminal league system involvement. Asserting that the central problem is the division of labor between the mental health system and the criminal justice system, Bonfine et al. (1) articulated the need for an “integrated community health system—i.e., “intercept 0” for the coordination and integration of services for this population. Intercept 0 is the first step in the sequential intercept model, which describes “how individuals with mental and substance use disorders come into contact with and move through the criminal just system” and helps communities identify resources and gaps in services at each intercept and develop local strategic action plans” (2). At intercept 0, individuals in crisis are diverted into local crisis care services without requiring a call to 911. They are paired with treatment or services instead of arrested or charged with a crime (2). Responsibility for addressing the needs of those with severe mental illness should rest with the mental health system rather than with the criminal legal system. However, the current division of labor between the two systems is just part of the problem. Simply put, the mental health system is not consistently accessible to or effective for those at highest of criminal legal system involvement… Continue reading the full article here. 

ABOUT PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES

Psychiatric Services, established in 1950, is published monthly by the American Psychiatric Association. The peer-reviewed journal features research reports on issues related to the delivery of mental health services, especially for people with serious mental illness in community-based treatment programs. Long known as an interdisciplinary journal, Psychiatric Services recognizes that provision of high-quality care involves collaboration among a variety of professionals, frequently working as a team. Authors of research reports published in the journal include psychiatrists, psychologists, pharmacists, nurses, social workers, drug and alcohol treatment counselors, economists, policy analysts, and professionals in related systems such as criminal justice and welfare systems. In the mental health field, the current focus on patient-centered, recovery-oriented care and on dissemination of evidence-based practices is transforming service delivery systems at all levels. Research published in Psychiatric Servicescontributes to this transformation.

How to Help When Adolescents Have Suicidal Thoughts

While there is evidence suggesting there has been and increase in suicidal thoughts among adolescents since the start of the pandemic, experts cannot yet confirm this issue is worse than usual. Although confirming data has not been released by the Center for Disease Control or any other comparable agency, parents and field experts are looking for ways to help this usually vulnerable population. 

In her article, “How to Help When Adolescents Have Suicidal Thoughts” for The New York Times, Dr. Perry Klass discussed ways parents can help their children navigate the pandemic and how to determine or what to do when a child is at risk or experiencing a mental health issue. Some of the advice offered by interviewed experts include:

  • Parents and adults who work with adolescents should pay closer attention to their wellbeing during this time.

  • Think about the different ways adolescents might respond to stress. Are they withdrawing and sleeping more; eating more or less; or trying drugs, alcohol or tobacco?

  • Encourage teenagers to get out of the house and to use the right safety measures — masks, hand-washing, distancing.

  • Take care of your own mental health before you try to fix your child’s mental health.

Among these professional Dr. Sarah Vinson also lends her expertise to readers here:

Giving kids a sense of agency is also vital, said Dr. Sarah Vinson, an associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Morehouse School of Medicine. “Think how kids can be part of the solution,” she said, whether that’s encouraging them to do volunteer work, or helping them understand that concrete steps, like wearing masks, can play a vital role in “reclaiming our day-to-day lives from this pandemic.”

Read the full article here.

Child and Interviewer Race in Forensic Interviewing | Journal of Child Sexual Abuse

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In many contexts, race matters. The impact of race in common forensic tasks, like interviewing, has not been adequately researched.  However, with a greater push for diversity and emphasis on cultural competence, important questions are being asked and investigated empirically.  In Fisher et al. (2016), researchers explored data focused on the race of both the child and the interviewer on disclosure while investigating child sexual abuse. Specifically, the study examined the effect of the race of the interviewer and the race of the child on forensic interviews completed in Child Advocacy Center (CACs).   

At the time of this study, research on the impact of race in the interviewing dyad in cases of suspected child abuse ended in mixed results. Some studies found that the cross-racial dyads had significantly higher rates of interview outcomes deemed consistent with sexual abuse while other studies found the opposite. To add to the literature in this area, the researchers completed a retrospective analysis of 522 archived files. Cases of alleged child sexual abuse involving Black and Caucasian children at a CAC in the south were included in the study. The study included six forensic interviewers, three Black and three Caucasian, all trained in the CornerHouse Forensic Interview Protocol: RATAC (Rapport, Anatomy Identification, Touch Inquiry, Abuse Scenario, and Closure). The interviewers were supervised by one clinical director who was active in determining how to categorize the results of the interview (the race of the clinical director was not disclosed).  

Using ordinal logistic regression analysis, findings consistent with sexual abuse was more likely in cross racial dyads than in the same-racial dyads. Stated differently, Black children being interviewed by a Caucasion were more likely to have a finding consistent with sexual abuse compared to a Caucasion child being interviewed by a Caucasion interviewer.  Likewise, Caucasion children had increased odds of findings consistent with sexual abuse when interviewed by a Black interviewer. Though the findings were consistent that cross-racial dyads resulted in categorization of consistent with sexual abuse more often that same-racial dyads, the effect size was small so definitive conclusions could not be reached.  

Several factors that may have influenced the results were not examined, including more description of the heterogeneity in the Black group (African American, Caribbean American, Black Hispanic, immigrants from Africa), ratings of multicultural competence in the interviewers and the clinical supervisor, as well as the impact of other demographic factors of the interviewer and interviewee.  However, two important points to highlight include: 1) Race-matching cannot be assumed to result in specific or better outcomes 2) Cultural competence should be a continuous focus in training and professional development.  

Research must continue to investigate how to create optimally efficient and culturally responsive protocols to make the investigation as accurate and clinically sound as possible.

Source:

Fisher, A. K., Mackey, T. D., Langendoen, C., & Barnard, M. (2016). Child and interviewer race in forensic interviewing. Journal of child sexual abuse, 25(7), 777-792.