Wills, A Board-Certified Physician and Health Care Leader, Will Assume the Role June 1

Washington, D.C. —After a nationwide search, today the American Psychiatric Association announced that its new CEO and Medical Director will be Marketa Wills, M.D., M.B.A. Wills has decades of experience in driving innovation and promoting quality mental health care. She currently serves as the Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Johns Hopkins Health Plans, has a clinical practice at University of South Florida Student Health Services in Tampa, Florida, sits on for profit and not-for profit boards, and serves as the Chair of the Standards Committee of the National Committee for Quality Assurance.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Wills was a member of the APA Board of Trustees as an APA SAMHSA Minority Fellow, she recently sat on the Future of Psychiatry Presidential Task Force and is currently a member APA’s Council on Health Care Systems and Finance. On June 1, she will become the eighth Medical Director in APA’s history and will be the first woman and Black American to fill the role.

“As a longtime mental health advocate, I am honored to take the reins of the APA at this time in our history,” said Wills. “Given where we are, with the explosion of AI, innovation and the changing landscape of technology, I look forward to working with APA’s membership and the administration to accelerate psychiatry into the future.”

At Johns Hopkins Health Plans, Wills leads a staff of 300 employees and has been instrumental in evaluating and implementing digital clinical tools for members to better manage their own health conditions. She has served in different leadership capacities in both health care plans and in academic settings and is board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She is an alum of McKinsey & Company (Cleveland Office) where she consulted on various healthcare engagements and has also served on her local NAMI board and as a volunteer at her local Mental Health America affiliate.

“Dr. Wills has a unique combination of health care financing, innovation, business acumen, and front-line experience as a physician that made her an ideal candidate for the leadership of the APA administration,” said APA President Petros Levounis, M.D., M.A. “We are delighted to welcome her, and we look forward to a bright future for APA and psychiatry under her leadership.”

Among other accolades, Wills has been named to Maryland’s Top 100 Women List by the Daily Record (2022), as a Woman of Influence by I-95 Business (2022), and Chair of the Medical Alumni Advisory Council at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (2022). In April 2024, Wills will be inducted into the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine honor society (Alpha Omega Alpha). She also coauthored a book in 2019 entitled “Understanding Mental Illness.”

Wills holds an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medine, an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business, and an A.B. from Brown University. She completed her training at Harvard’s Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Hospital Adult Psychiatry Residency Program.

After current CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., announced his retirement last August, the APA Board of Trustees appointed past APA President Maria Oquendo, M.D., Ph.D., to chair the selection committee, ultimately interviewing scores of candidates from across the field of psychiatry. After their thorough review and search, the APA Board selected Dr. Wills from among the finalist candidates. The search was conducted by Heidrick & Struggles.

American Psychiatric Association

The American Psychiatric Association, founded in 1844, is the oldest medical association in the country. The APA is also the largest psychiatric association in the world with more than 38,000 physician members specializing in the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and research of mental illnesses. APA’s vision is to ensure access to quality psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. For more information, please visit www.psychiatry.org.