Sarah Vinson

Dr. Sarah Y. Vinson is a physician specializing in the intersection of psychiatry, law, and social justice. Vinson is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and is triple board-certified in child and adolescent, adult, and forensic psychiatry. Her clinical, academic, and forensic consulting experience spans diverse settings. After earning her medical degree from the University of Florida with research honors and induction into the Chapman Humanism Honors Society, Vinson completed general psychiatry training at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School, where she received specialized trauma training through the Victims of Violence Program. She later completed fellowships in child and adolescent and forensic psychiatry at Emory University School of Medicine.

Vinson serves as professor and chair of psychiatry at Morehouse School of Medicine and holds an adjunct appointment at Emory School of Medicine. At Morehouse, she developed and directs the Child Psychiatry Fellowship, the first program of its kind at a historically Black medical school. Vinson is also the founder of Lorio Forensics, a multidisciplinary forensic mental health consultation company. As a mental health forensics expert, she has provided expert testimony in state, federal, criminal, and family courts, and has presented at regional and national legal conferences, including the National Conference of State Chief Justices and the National Bar Association – Young Lawyer Division Conference and Retreat.

Vinson has contributed to mental health literature as an editor and author. She has edited two books and written chapters on resilience, media, social determinants of children's mental health, social injustice, child trauma, and clinician advocacy. Her co-edited volumes include "Social (In)Justice and Mental Health" and "Pediatric Mental Health for Primary Care Providers." "Social (In)Justice and Mental Health" is used in academic curricula and professional development programs. Vinson has published peer-reviewed research in leading journals, including work on anti-racism in child psychiatry and the intersection of the criminal legal system and mental health care.

Vinson has received appointments from the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to the Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee and from the Governor of Georgia to state commissions. Her service and leadership have been recognized with awards such as the University of Florida College of Medicine Outstanding Young Alumna Award and the APA Jeanne Spurlock Minority Fellowship Alumna Achievement Award. Vinson is one of two national psychiatric advisors for the Judges Psychiatry Leadership Initiative, a collaboration between the Council of State Governments and the American Psychiatric Association that develops training for judges on mental health and criminal justice.

Vinson is a frequent public commentator on mental health, appearing in national media outlets including New York Times, USA Today, and Washington Post, and as an expert on CBS Sunday Morning and PBS NewsHour. She was featured in the Ken Burns film "Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness." Vinson has served as a plenary speaker at national psychiatry meetings, including the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, contributing to ongoing conversations about mental health, psychiatry, and social justice.