Board of Directors
​LMHA partners with experts in the fields of mental health, health disparities, and patient advocacy. Our advisors help guide our team as we work towards a just future where disparities in mental health are a thing of the past.
Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, MD, MHS
Panagis Galiatsatos, MD, MHS is an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a physician in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. He is co-chair of the Johns Hopkins Health Equity Steering Committee and is the co-director and co-founder of Medicine for the Greater Good. His clinical responsibilities center on critical care services in adult populations, Director of the Tobacco Treatment Clinic at Johns Hopkins Medicine, Associate Director of The Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia Center of Clinical Excellence, and Physician in The Obstructive Lung Disease Group at Johns Hopkins Medicine and in the post-COVID-19 acute clinic. He has authored books and over 70 research articles on community engagement and its impact on health and health equity.
Dr. Jean Lud Cadet, MD
Jean Lud Cadet, M.D. attended Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons from which he obtained his MD in 1979. He did residency training in Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University and in Neurology at the Department of Neurology at Mount Sinai Medical Center, both in New York City. He came to NIDA, IRP in 1992 where he is presently a senior NIH investigator and the Chief of the Molecular Neuropsychiatry Research Branch.
Dr. Heather Vestal, MD, MHS
Dr. Heather Vestal obtained her Medical Degree and Masters in Health Science from the Yale School of Medicine, and completed her residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital and Mclean Hospital. She was on faculty at MGH/McLean for 5 years and held several educational leadership roles there including Psychiatry Clerkship Director, Associate Residency Program Director, and Residency Program Co-Director. Dr. Vestal joined the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke in 2019 as Residency Program Director. She is a passionate and devoted teacher and mentor to medical students and residents, and she is Co-Founder and Co-Director of the residency’s Clinician Educator Track. Dr. Vestal is also passionate about resident wellness and diversity, equity and inclusion. Since arriving at Duke Dr. Vestal led a strategic planning process to re-design the residency program. She is committed to ensuring that Duke residents receive outstanding clinical training in a diverse and inclusive training environment, are well supported by program leadership, mentors, and colleagues, and are empowered to develop and pursue their passions over the course of training.
Dr. Rick Wolthusen, MD, MPP
Dr. Rick Wolthusen, MD, MPP, is a psychiatry resident at Duke University. He has more than ten years of experience as a pro bono mental health consultant. He works with governments, NGOs, and academic centers in high- as well as low- and middle-income countries. Rick also founded the award-winning NGO On The Move e.V., which creates spaces of empowerment towards mentally healthier communities. The NGO activities were featured in podcasts, documentaries, publications, and a TEDxTalk. Rick is a member of the Clinician Scientist Track and the Clinician Educator Track at Duke; he also is a National Neuroscience Curriculum Initiative Fellow and an American Psychiatric Association Foundation Public Psychiatry Program Fellow.
Leslie Bronner, MD, MPH, DrPH
Leslie Bronner MD, MPH, DrPH is a psychiatrist at Duke University Medical Center. She started her career in public health working on cardiovascular disease but soon turned her attention to behavioral health and completed a residency in psychiatry. Dr Bronner has diverse experience in public health, research, clinical care, administration and patient advocacy. One of her most meaningful experiences was when she worked at Southlight Inc, which is a residential substance abuse treatment center for pregnant women and women with children. She realized how important social factors were in disease development particularly the intergenerational cycle of abuse, neglect and poor parenting. She has since dedicated her career to understanding social factors, their impact on health status and trying to make an impact through her clinical work.
Jonathan Nahmias, MD
​Hello and thank you for your interest in LMHA! I am a psychiatry resident at Duke University Health System and a graduate of the medical school, University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine. I grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and am the child of a podiatrist and homemaker. In college, I ended up having some very meaningful volunteering experiences which pushed me to choose medicine as a career. In medical school, I discovered that having deep conversations and teaching brought me a lot of joy. I also found joy in understanding the complexity of patients with mental health problems and felt fulfillment in seeing such a stigmatized group of people. I ultimately chose psychiatry as a medical specialty and was fortunate to join Duke in July 2020. I’ve developed professional interests in cultural psychiatry, medical education, mindfulness-based interventions, and population mental health. I am thrilled to be an educator in LMHA where I can impact large groups of people and teach how to advocate for people who have historically been so underserved. I look forward to seeing everyone soon!