Ismene L. Petrakis, MD
The American Journal on Addictions (AJA), the official journal of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP), is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Ismene Petrakis as the new Editor-in-Chief. Dr. Petrakis is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine and the Chief of Psychiatry and Mental Health Services at the VA Connecticut Health Care System. She is also the Director of the Addiction Psychiatry Residency at Yale University School of Medicine and the principal investigator of a National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA-T32) training grant. Dr. Petrakis’s research interests include pharmacologic treatments for individuals with alcohol use disorder, opioid use disorder and the development of treatments for patients who have comorbid psychiatric disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder. Dr. Petrakis received her undergraduate degree at Northwestern University and her medical training at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine. She completed her residency training at Yale University School of Medicine and then completed an Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship, also at Yale University. Since completing her training, Dr. Petrakis has over 30 years of experience in the clinical treatment of addictive disorders, research in this field and in the education of residents, medical students, post-doctoral fellows in the assessment accurate diagnosis and treatment of patients with addictive disorders. Prior to being selected as Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Petrakis served the AJA as the Associate Editor, Case-Series & Continuing Medical Education Program. She also served as a dedicated AAAP Board Member and Chair of the Area Directors for over 20 years. The Executive Committee of the AAAP Board of Directors is excited to work with Dr. Petrakis in leading the AJA at a time of rapid change in the scientific publishing community.
The Executive Committee of the AAAP Board of Directors would like to express its gratitude to the outgoing AJA Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Editor, Dr. Thomas Kosten and Dr. Coreen Domingo. Drs. Kosten and Domino have worked tirelessly to establish the AJA as one of the premier forums for the dissemination of scientific information in the field of addiction. Dr. Kosten, a past president of the AAAP, worked with the AJA Founding Editor, Dr. Sheldon Miller, to establish the journal in 1992, and became the Editor-in-Chief in 2011. The AJA is published six times per year and is at the forefront in disseminating cutting-edge, peer-reviewed information to the Addiction Psychiatry community worldwide. In 2024, the acceptance rate was 24%, making publication in the AJA a selective accomplishment. Access to the journal is a membership benefit for the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, the medical specialty society for Addiction Psychiatrists in the US.
John J. Mariani, MD
President, AAAP