Paul S Appelbaum

Paul S. Appelbaum, MD, the Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine and Law, and Director, Center for Law, Ethics and Psychiatry at Columbia, is the author of many articles and books on law and ethics in clinical practice and research. Dr. Appelbaum is the Co- Director of the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research Regulatory Knowledge and Support/Clinical Research Ethics Resource (RKSER). He has conducted path breaking research on informed consent, decisional capacity, therapeutic misconception, and for the last decade, the ethical, legal and social implications of advances in genetics. Among the topics that his published work related to SUDs has addressed are the history and efficacy of involuntary commitment for substance abuse, the relationship between substance use and violence, the impact of workplace mandates on treatment for substance abuse, attitudes towards genetic testing for risk of adverse effects of SUDs, prosecution of pregnant women for substance abuse, the impact of genetic explanations of addiction, employment discrimination against substance users, criteria for diagnosis of alcohol use disorders, and research participation by persons with substance abuse and criminal histories. As a clinician, he has evaluated and treated patients with SUDs. He is past president of the American Psychiatric Association and Chair of the DSM Steering Committee for APA, and has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine.