Jeffrey S. Akman, M.D. ’81, vice president for health affairs at the George Washington University and dean of the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, was sworn in as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA).
Dr. Akman joins a diverse group of leaders from local and national communities, as well as leaders from science, medicine, public health, business and philanthropic organizations who advise the White House and the secretary of health and human services on HIV-related issues and policies.
PACHA regularly provides recommendations on how to effectively implement the federal government’s HIV/AIDS strategy and monitors the strategy’s implementation.
“I am thrilled to be a part of this important group,” said Dr. Akman, who joined PACHA May 21. “As a psychiatric physician, I understand the importance of sound national and federal HIV/AIDS policy and its implications to the delivery of care and overall wellbeing for many patients with HIV/AIDS and those at high risk for the disease.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues on this council as we help guide our nation’s top leaders in making informed decisions related to HIV/AIDS.”
Dr. Akman has been treating patients with HIV since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He also has been advising physicians, research institutes and medical organizations on the need for mental health and substance use care to be included when treating HIV patients for many years. In his role as an adviser, he served as the principal investigator for a National Institutes of Health grant to train and educate health care professionals in the medical and mental health aspects of HIV/AIDS.
He has provided leadership and advice to many prestigious HIV/AIDS-related initiatives, including the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) first Commission on AIDS, which advised the organization’s Board of Trustees and general membership of the APA on how psychiatrists could best respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He also served on the District of Columbia Mayor’s Commission for HIV/AIDS and chaired the commission’s Treatment on Demand Committee.
In his current roles at GW, Dr. Akman has led efforts to bolster research about the disease and engage the university’s clinical partners and affiliates in the fight against HIV/AIDS.