Press Releases

Constella Group Appoints Dr. Ron Manderscheid as Director of Mental Health and Substance Use Programs

Dr. Manderscheid has more than 30 years of experience in the fields of mental health and substance use. He joins Constella from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) where he most recently served as chief of the Survey and Analysis Branch within the Center for Mental Health Services.

“We are extremely pleased that Dr. Manderscheid has joined our organization,” said Chris LeGrand, President of Constella’s Health Sciences business unit. “We look forward to drawing from his deep domain expertise in both mental health and substance use to identify new ways in which Constella can make a positive impact on the growing human health issues in these areas both domestically and internationally.”

At Constella, Dr. Manderscheid will lead a program area that includes development, demonstrations and research projects in the areas of mental health and substance use, with special emphasis on consumer and family empowerment. His work will span public, not-for-profit and private sectors, and will focus on services, systems, financing, program support, statistical information and information technology.

“With the release of the new Institute of Medicine report on behavioral health care *, a wonderful opportunity exists to engage in practical work in the mental health and substance use fields that will make a great difference in people’s lives,” said Dr. Manderscheid. “The close coordination of these fields with primary care offers new hope. I look forward to this new challenge.”

Dr. Manderscheid’s federal career has spanned a broad range of activities. He previously served as chief of mental health services research, mental health statistics and evaluation research programs at the National Institute of Mental Health. He later became the chief of mental health statistics and IT at the Center for Mental Health Services within SAMHSA. He also served as a senior policy advisor on health care reform in the office of the Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Health, and wasan editor of Mental Health, United States for the last eight editions, spanning 1987 to 2004.

Dr. Manderscheid is particularly noted for his work with the consumer and family communities and for introducing consumer participation in federal workgroups and consumer assessments of mental health care. Such assessments are now commonplace in the field.

*The above-referenced Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, released in Nov. 2005, is a comprehensive study regarding the quality of mental health and substance use services. The IOM is part of the National Academy of Sciences.

Editor’s Note: Photo available upon request.