The Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association Foundation is a 501(c)3 charitable foundation. Through the financial support of donors, the Foundation sponsors public education, professional education, and research in the area of psychiatry and mental health.
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The Foundation's mission is multi-faceted, and includes providing funding and support:
To educate the public about psychiatry, psychiatric illnesses, and treatments.
To increase public awareness of the signs and symptoms of mental illness, the availability and methods of treatment, and the sources of assistance for persons with mental illness.
To enhance the quality of assistance to the psychiatric patient, particularly by improving access to care, improving conditions in hospitals, mental health centers and other facilities, and changing perceptions of mental illness to increase the understanding of treatment and cure.
To support research to improve psychiatric care.
To remove any stigma of mental illness which may inhibit or prevent proper care, through educational and public service activities.
To serve as a clearinghouse for information about all aspects of psychiatry, and as a bridge between psychiatric medicine and the community served by the Foundation.
To undertake other projects for public benefit as agreed from time to time by the Foundation's Board of Directors.
Methods of Focus
The Foundation encourages and sponsors educational programs to increase the public's awareness and knowledge of mental illnesses and the effective forms of treatment available today. The foundation supports educational efforts aimed at employers, the media, and family members of people with mental illness to encourage a better understanding of the illnesses and treatment. The Foundation also supports efforts to remove barriers to access to psychiatric care, including discriminatory practices of health insurance policies toward mental illnesses.
Above all, the Foundation will promote educational programs that emphasize that psychiatric illnesses are medical illnesses, not personal weaknesses, which are treatable with a high rate of successful outcomes. These efforts will address the misunderstanding about psychiatric illnesses that has promulgated the stigma associated with the illnesses.
Quality medical care depends on good medical education, both in training and beyond. This is especially true in psychiatry, where education is needed to keep abreast of the tremendous progress that has been made in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness and in the changing healthcare delivery system. For these reasons, the Foundation develops and funds projects designed to improve and enrich professional education.
Professional education will primarily by addressed to psychiatric physicians, non-psychiatric physicians, and mental health allied professionals.
Grants for Research
To further encourage improvements in the treatment of mental illness, the Foundation funds research grants in medical schools and universities. Or, the Foundation may choose to support broad research programs by funding scholarships, fellowships, or professorships. The Foundation does not engage in research activities of its own.
These important projects can only be supported with your generosity. Make a direct contribution, memorial gift, or corporate gift -- every donation matters!
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To donate by check, please make check payable to Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association Foundation and remit to:
2700 Cumberland Parkway, Suite 570
The Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association Foundation is 501(c)3 charitable foundation. The Foundation's Tax ID is 58-2198322.
Apply for Grant Funding
Organizations and individuals seeking support for projects and programs that are aligned with the Foundation's mission should contact us directly.
Joseph and Hope Skobba Memorial Award Resident Research
Joseph Skobba, MD, pictured left
Dr. Skobba dedicated himself, his intellect, his teaching skills and his assets to advocate for resident research and education. Upon his wife's death in 1967 he established the Hope Skobba Memorial Resident Research Awards to honor an outstanding resident with a monetary reward for excellence in research. At the 2019 Winter CME Meeting, GPPA recognized 3 residents as we have done for over 50 years.
Upon Dr Skobba's death the name of the award was changed to the Joseph and Hope Skobba Memorial Award Resident Research. The money was put into investments and for many years the interest has financed the awards (now a portion of the award.)
Served in the military and wrote extensively about military psychiatry and the challenges faced by soldiers and PTSD
Professor at Emory in Department of Psychiatry (came from New York)
GPPA President 1956-1957
GPPA Psychiatrist of the Year 1976-1977
The first Area V Trustee to the APA in 1969 when the APA adopted a new constitution establishing Areas
Member of APA Ethics Ctte in 1978 when The Principles of Medical Ethics With Annotations Especially Applicable to Psychiatry were approved.
Author of many articles about psychiatric illness and care in the military.
Prolific writer on that topic and served on many commissions etc.
Pioneer in treatment of psychiatric conditions in the military.
Award for Distinguished Career of Clinical Service in Public Psychiatry
The Award for Distinguished Career of Clinical Service in Public Psychiatry was established in 2019 in memory of Nicholas Bona, MD. He was a psychiatrist who dedicated his career to the service of individuals with chronic and persistent mental illness in the public sector. He was a Distinguished Life Fellow of the APA and would have loved the idea of honoring a psychiatrist clinician who over many years quietly serves our neediest population.This recurring award will honor a GPPA senior member whose career in clinical service to the uninsured deserves recognition.
The first recipient was Jose Delgado, MD. According to Joe Bona, MD, "It was my distinct pleasure to honor Dr. Delgado on behalf of the GPPA, and to be reminded of the immense good we can do as clinicians, one person at a time, day in and day out, over many years."