In 2014, Dr. Binder became the second UCSF faculty member (following Karl M. Bowman, MD, in 1944) to be elected President of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). She is also a past president of the Northern California Psychiatric Society, California Psychiatric Association, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, and Association of Directors of Forensic Psychiatry Fellowships. In addition, she has chaired the APA’s Committee on Confidentiality, Isaac Ray Award Selection Committee, Council on Psychiatry and the Law, and Committee/Commission on Judicial Action, and was an APA Health Policy Fellow in the U.S. Senate.
In 2006, Dr. Binder received the highly competitive American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law’s Seymour J. Pollack Distinguished Achievement Award in recognition of her contributions to forensic psychiatry education. In 2014, she was awarded the organization’s prestigious Golden Apple Award for her significant contributions to the field of forensic psychiatry.
Dr. Binder received her medical degree from UCSF and completed psychiatry residency at Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco. Her research focuses on clinical and legal aspects of the relationship between violence and mental illness, and she is the author or co-author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications.
