The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), is pleased to announce that Gabrielle Cerda, M.D., is the AACAP's 2007 winner of the national Norbert and Charlotte Rieger Service Program Award.

Contact: Denise Espie, MBA, Communications Director
202.966.7300, Ext. 120
despie@aacap.org

Erin Baker, Communications Manager
202.966.7300, Ext. 119
ebaker@aacap.org

Washington, D.C., August 2, 2007-- The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), is pleased to announce that Gabrielle Cerda, M.D., is the AACAP's 2007 winner of the national Norbert and Charlotte Rieger Service Program Award.

The award recognizes Dr. Cerda's development of The Latino Mental Health Services Program at the San Diego Children's Hospital and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Department of Psychiatry. The program offers a multidisciplinary, bilingual, bicultural team of clinicians working together to serve Latino families.

The AACAP Norbert and Charlotte Rieger Service Program Award for Excellence, supported by the Norbert and Charlotte Rieger Foundation, was established in 1996 to recognize innovative programs that address prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of mental illnesses in children and adolescents. The award honors programs that serve as models and provides $3,000 to the nominee and $1,500 to the service program.

Members of the AACAP's Work Group on Systems of Care selected Gabrielle Cerda, M.D., for her involvment in the The Latino Mental Health Services Program after a competitive process. Dr. Cerda's project exemplifies innovation, sustainability, and may be replicated effectively in other settings.

For more information or to obtain a photograph of Dr. Cerda, please contact Erin Baker at 202.966.7300 x 119, ebaker@aacap.org.