Dear Columbus Medical Association Physicians,

You are delivering high quality, lifesaving care to patients across Columbus every single day. No matter your specialty, you are seeing the mental health crisis in real time. This is not psychiatry’s issue alone. It belongs to all of us.

As a member of the Board of Directors of the Columbus Medical Association and as President of the Ohio Psychiatric Physicians Association, I care deeply about bringing physicians together across disciplines. I would be honored to have you join us April 18 to 19, 2026 at the Hilton Polaris for the OPPA Mental Health Summit.

This is a highly clinical, practice focused conference grounded in real world medicine. Highlights include:

• Advocacy in Action: Advancing Public Policy for Better Mental Health Care, Anita Somani, MD, JD | State Representative, Ohio 8th House District; OBGYN, OhioHealth and Mike Troubh | Associate Vice President of Government Relations, American Psychiatric Association
• The Gut Microbiome and its Relationship to Psychiatric Disorders, Henry Nasrallah, MD, DLFAPA | Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology and Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
• Repurposing GLP 1 Agents as Treatment and Prevention Strategies in Persons with Mental Disorders, Roger S. McIntyre, MD, FRCPC | Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, University of Toronto; Chairman and Executive Director, Brain and Cognition Discovery Foundation
• Could This Be Autoimmune Encephalitis? A Practical Guide, Julien Cavanagh, MD | Assistant Professor of Neurology, Emory University; Associate Division Director of Hospital Neurology
• Addressing Gun Violence: Strategies for Physicians, Philip Resnick, MD, DLFAPA | Professor of Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University
• Bridging Therapy and AI: Psychiatry’s Next Frontier, Marlynn Wei, MD, JD | Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist, New York, New York
• Talking with Myself: Stories of Mental Health, Shah Jalees, MD | Psychiatrist and Addiction Medicine Specialist, Akron, Ohio
• Logic Based Care: What Do You Do When You’re Out of Evidence Based Options? Erik Messamore, MD | Psychiatric Physician, Pharmacologist, University Professor

Saturday evening we will gather for Bridging Worlds: Bollywood Meets Hollywood, spotlighting the Aruna Project and its work supporting women rebuilding their lives after sex trafficking in Mumbai and Ohio.

Review the flyer for the event and register here. CMA physicians are eligible for a $100 discounted registration rate with code PRES26. .

Our goal is simple: align across specialties, strengthen collaboration, and move the #MentalHealthCareDoneRight Movement in Ohio forward together.

I truly hope you will join us.

Kind Regards,
Nita Bhatt