AVAPL Executive Committee

Kenneth Jones, Ph.D., President-Elet

PRESIDENT
Kenneth Jones, Ph.D.

Kenneth R. Jones, Ph.D. serves as the Chief, Psychology Service at the South Louisiana Veterans Health Care System. For the prior five years, Dr. Jones served as the Director of Associated Health in the VA Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA). Previously, he led the development and implementation of the MOVE! Weight Management Program for Veterans across the VA system. He first came to VA in 1991 and has 23 total years of VA service.  A clinical health psychologist/psychophysiologist, his clinical and research interests include the management of chronic pain, obesity, metabolic syndrome, functional gastrointestinal disorders, and stress management. He holds his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi, interned at Rush Medical University, and was a clinical research fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  He was the 2017 recipient of the James Besyner Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association Section of VA Psychologists in Public Service and received the 2019 Antonette and Robert Zeiss Award, for his support of VA clinical training nationally, from the VA Psychology Training Council. He has previously received recognition for his research on MST in female Veterans and the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome and clinically for his work with the VA weight Management Program.

Kaki York, Ph.D. 

President-Elect
Kaki York, Ph.D.

Kaki York-Ward is the Deputy Clinical Executive for Mental Health at the Houston VA, the first psychologist to hold this position. She is board certified in Clinical Health Psychology. Dr. York also served as the Treasurer for the Academy of Clinical Health Psychology from 2013 through 2016. In addition to her role as a clinician and administrator, Dr. York is a strong supporter of both the research and teaching missions of VA. She is a past preceptor for the HIV HEP C Fellowship, instructor for several seminars throughout the year and has demonstrated service to research as a past member of the local IRB, and co-author on academic projects as time permits. Dr. York is also an advocate for VA’s public health initiatives and for the critical role of Psychologists in developing patient centered integrated health services.  

Samuel Wan, Ph.D., Treasurer

Past President
Samuel Wan, Ph.D.

Samuel Wan, PhD, is Director of Training for the Postdoctoral Fellowship Training Program at the San Francisco VA Healthcare System, Staff Psychologist and Clinical Supervisor with the Substance Use and PTSD (SUPT) Clinic and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He completed his doctoral internship with the Boston Consortium in Clinical Psychology and postdoctoral fellowship in Substance Use Disorders at the SFVHCS. He received his PhD in Counseling Psychology from Boston College, and BA in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. As team member of the SUPT clinic, Dr. Wan performs a range of clinical, administrative, and educational activities focused on the assessment, management, and treatment of co-occurring substance use disorders and PTSD in the veteran population. Dr. Wan's clinical interests include substance use disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, multicultural psychology, particularly Asian American psychology, and gender issues. In 2015, Dr. Wan completed serving as Chair of the Conference Planning Committee for the 17th and 18th Annual VA Psychology Leadership Conferences. He is a member of the VA Psychology Training Council's Multicultural and Diversity Committee, and is a member (and former chair) of the SFVHCS Psychology Diversity Committee, and is former Member-At-Large for Division 51 (Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity). In 2014, Dr. Wan was awarded a Presidential Citation by APA President, Dr. Nadine Kaslow, and in 2012, he was selected to receive the James Besyner Early Career Award for Distinguished Contributions to VA Psychology by the AVAPL. In 2008-09, Dr. Wan was an Early Career Leadership Fellow with the Asian American Psychological Association, a leadership development program that he subsequently co-chaired for several years.

Jennifer Boyd, Ph.D.

Secretary
Jennifer Boyd, Ph.D.

Jennifer E. Boyd, PhD, CPRP, is the Psychology Director at the San Francisco VA Health Care System, and a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Boyd was educated at Stanford University, the University of Maryland, Georgetown University, and Columbia University. Her most recent research focuses on the internalized stigma of severe mental illness. In her clinical, teaching, and advocacy work, Dr. Boyd supports the recovery model of psychosocial rehabilitation. She has received awards from the American Psychological Association including the Division 18 award for Outstanding Contributions in Psychosocial Rehabilitation, the Michael S. Neale award for service to people with serious mental illness, and a Presidential Citation for her work on stigma, as well as the inaugural Jennifer E. Boyd Award from the VA Mental Health Lived Experience Community of Practice.

Mary Beth Shea, Ph.D. 

Treasurer
Mary Beth Shea, Ph.D.

Dr. Mary Beth Shea is the Director of Training at the Orlando VA Medical Center (OVAMC). She also serves as the Program Manager for the Orlando Veterans' Integration to Academic Leadership (VITAL) program and Chair of the facility IRB. Dr. Shea is a VISN-8 CPT Trainer and PE Supervisor, and serves on the facility Psychology Professional Standards Board. Dr. Shea completed her Ph.D. in Clinical and Community Psychology at the University of South Carolina in 1990. After completing a Geropsychology internship at the Bay Pines VAMC (1989-1990), she joined the staff at the WJB Dorn VAMC in Columbia, SC as a geriatric/medical psychologist (1990-1998). In 1998, she accepted a position as the MST Coordinator at the Columbia, SC Vet Center, where she remained until 2006. At that time, she moved to the Tampa VAMC, and later transferred to the Orlando facility (at the time, an OPC of Tampa), where she is now an active part of the mental health management team. In her tenure with VA, Dr. Shea has served on numerous and varied committees across hospital functions, including among others, the Women Veterans' Advisory Committee, the Emergency Medical Response Team (now NEMRT), Hospice Consultation Committee, End Stage Renal Disease Committee, Cancer Committee, and Geriatrics Curriculum Committee. She also served as a trustee for the National Organization of VA Psychologists.