About ICCAP

The mission of ICCAP is to promote the healthy development of children, adolescents, and families through advocacy, education, and research, and to meet the professional needs of child and adolescent psychiatrists throughout their careers.

Board Members

Theodote Pontikes, MD, MBA-HCM, DFAACAP, DFAPA, FACLP

President
2025-2026

She completed her Psychiatry residency training and a Clinical Medical Ethics fellowship at the University of Chicago. She then completed fellowship training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital program (Harvard Medical School), as well as in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance (Harvard Medical School). She is also experienced in systems-of-care and has earned a MBA degree in Health Care Management (Loyola University Chicago).

Dr. Pontikes is board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. She is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, as well as a Fellow of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. Dr. Pontikes is especially interested in interdisciplinary collaboration and integrated care for pediatric and adult patient populations; transcultural issues and the reduction of healthcare disparities; patient advocacy; and medical education.

  • ICCAP Liaison to Illinois Psychiatric Society-Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Committee
  • Immediate Past Chair, Illinois Psychiatric Society-Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Committee
  • Program Director, Psychiatry Residency Training at Loyola University Medical Center

Mojgan Makki, MD

President-Elect
2025-2026

Her clinical work is focused on evaluation and treatment of children and toddlers under 6 years of age, consultations for schools, second opinions for complex cases, and speaking engagements. She is licensed in states of Illinois, Missouri, and California. As the owner of Psychiatry Studio, she advocates for evidence-based practices and works towards enhancing the overall quality of mental healthcare for children, adolescents, and adults.

Kelley Volpe, MD

Kelley Volpe, MD

Treasurer
2025-2026

She completed her medical, residency, and fellowship education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Dr. Volpe is currently the treasurer of ICCAP, helping to organize funds to support activities to promote engagement and education for ICCAP members. She also works with the Training and Education committee to increase engagement of trainees in ICCAP and organize the annual Jay Hirsch Memorial Award for trainees.

Thomas DiMatteo, MD

Past President
2025-2026

He is board certified in Child, Adolescent and Adult (general) Psychiatry. Dr. DiMatteo’s treatment interests include anxiety and mood disorders, ADHD, oppositional disorders, autism spectrum disorders, and trauma spectrum illnesses. He is the medical director of Samaracare Counseling in Naperville.

Osama El-Shafie, MD

Director
2024-2025

He is a member of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and a Board member of the Illinois Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. ElShafie trained at the University of Chicago, and graduated in 1993. He has been in practice since then.

George Gianakakos, MD

Director
2025-2026

He is currently an Assistant Professor in Loyola University Medical Center’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, with particular interests in transgender mental health and the increasing need for mental health resources in today’s schools. He most enjoys the time spent working with residents and medical students and places enormous importance on the fostering of a new generation of exceptional, caring Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists.

Naomi Lerner, DO

Director
2025-2026

From a young age, she enjoyed reading and teaching others. She combines her interests of life-long learning, teaching and helping others in the field of medicine.

Throughout her medical school years, she was active in outreach to local communities and high schools, and she hoped to one day make more of an impact and increase mental health awareness in our public-school systems. She is an avid yogi, and enjoy heated Vinyasa Flow Yoga classes most. She enjoys nature, walks with her dog, and relaxing days spent with my family. She have two young daughters and having the privilege to see the world through their eyes is mesmerizing. She loves her work and has a strong passion for helping kids, their family units and utilizing the resources and systems already in place to do so. Her hope is to broaden her connections in the Child and Psychiatry field, and continue to grow her commitment to lifelong learning with like-minded individuals.

Paloma Reinoso, MD

Director
2025-2026

She was an active member of the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA), serving on both the National and Midwest executive board as Public Relations Chair.  She completed her general psychiatry training at Zucker Hillside Hospital at Hofstra-Northwell in Queens, NY. She served as a chief fellow in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at the UIC. During her fellowship and residency training, she has obtained specialized training in reproductive and perinatal psychiatry. She is incredibly passionate about increasing access to high quality mental health services by supporting those traditionally underrepresented in medicine. She has a strong interest in the integration of mental health services within primary care for children and families.

Jasleen Singh, MD

Director
2025-2026

Dr. Singh completed her psychiatry residency at Rosalind Franklin University and her medical degree at Loyola University’s Stritch School of Medicine. She served as Chief of Medical Students in her residency program, and as Chief Fellow for her fellowship program. Her professional journey within psychiatry is marked by a steadfast commitment to patient care, mentorship, and leadership. She served as Chief of Medical Students in her residency program, and as Chief Fellow for her fellowship program. She has also earned several accolades, including the Fellow of the Year (2023) and Resident of the Year (2021) awards from the Illinois Psychiatric Society (IPS), underscoring her contributions to psychiatric leadership and advocacy. She often partakes in leadership activities that align with her values of mentorship and education.


Dr. Singh has been a member of AACAP since 2018, and she attended her first ICCAP meeting in 2019. She has been increasingly involved in AACAP and ICCAP, most recently serving as alternate delegate to the AACAP Assembly at the AACAP Annual Meeting in October 2024. Dr. Singh is also actively involved in APA and IPS (district branch), where she also serves as Secretary on the Executive Council and in several of their committees, including their Child and Adolescent committee. She has pioneered mentorship initiatives for current and aspiring psychiatrists, developed programs for early-career psychiatrists, and helped organize social networking events, amplifying IPS’s engagement efforts across Illinois. As a newly elected director to the ICCAP Board, Dr. Singh is interested in utilizing her experience to augment outreach to those currently or planning to pursue fellowship training in child and adolescent psychiatry. She also hopes to help enhance member engagement in opportunities relating to mentorship, networking, advocacy, committee work, and leadership.

Adrienne Adams, MD

Assembly Delegate
2022-2025

As a trainee, she was very invested in working with veterans at the then Westside VA (Jesse Brown) where she worked with veterans in the methadone clinic, and on the inpatient units with the dual diagnoses patients. She received her master’s in clinical research from Rush University, Graduate College in 2012. Dr. Adams has been on faculty at Rush University since 2005 as an Assistant Professor where she has worn many hats including interim inpatient medical director, CL director, outpatient medical director, and fellowship training director 2007-2021. In August 2020 she was promoted to Associate Professor, in psychiatry and has worked in the medical college as an advisor for the class of 2022, course facilitator within the graduate college for the Interpersonal Education Section (2017-2021), and the co-director for the Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation Jay G. Hirsch Medical Student Fellowship, UIC- Rockford campus. She has always been an advocate for child issues and has been interviewed by WGN Radio 720, Chicago Tribune, PBS local affiliate, WGN podcasts, and a panel discussant with the honorable Speaker of the House Welch and the CBS local news. In 2021, she became the first African American female medical director for Rosecrance Griffin Williamson campus, and in 2023 became triple-boarded (General Psychiatry, CAP Psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine.

Early in her training, she has been involved with the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), the American Medical Association (AMA), and the American Psychiatric Association (APA). As a fellow, she was the AMA Delegate-Resident and Fellow Section where she first began attending the assembly meetings. She has served on the Illinois Council of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (ICCAP) board for multiple terms, treasurer, alternate delegate for the regional assembly, delegate, and President of ICCAP as the first African- American female. 

Annually, she attends Advocacy Day on the Capital where she promotes mental health issues on the national level. She has also served on the Local Arrangements Committee for the 2008 and 2019 AACAP Annual Meeting in Chicago where she was the Chair for the Monitors Board. She became a Distinguished Fellow in AACAP (2019), and in APA (2021). She has held nationally elected positions in AACAP and AADPRT. Within Illinois Psychiatric Society (IPS) she has served as co-chair for the Health Equity and Antiracism Committee (HEAR-C) and is the current President-Elect.

Sundeep Randhawa, MD

Assembly Delegate
2025-2027

Dr. Randhawa also performs special assessments in medico-legal matters such as child custody, medical malpractice, dangerously mentally ill, ADA matters and Asylum Evaluations. Psychodynamically trained, culturally attuned and down to earth, Dr. Randhawa treats children, adolescents and adults with intellectual, cognitive, depressive, mood, anxiety, psychotic and behavioral disorders with a unique approach to mental health that is integrative, holistic and family-centered. Along with treatment, Dr. Randhawa has been advocating for children’s mental health since his Fellowship at RUSH. He has been actively engaged with AACAP and ICCAP since 2013. Dr. Randhawa has served as the Resident Representative from 2014 to 2015 and as a member-atlarge since 2021. He is currently holding the position of co-chair of the Local Arrangements Committee for AACAP 2025 which will be hosted in Chicago. Given the experience and passion

for advocacy, Dr. Randhawa is running for the position of Delegate to ICCAP and believes he will be a great fit and addition to the board.

Dr. Sid Shenoy

Sudhakar Shenoy, MD

Assembly Delegate
2022-2025

He completed his psychiatry residency training at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and also his Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at the same place. Dr. Shenoy is very active with APA and AACAP both locally and nationally. He has been elected multiple times into the Leadership Council for both the Illinois Psychiatric Society and the Illinois Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, currently holding various leadership positions for both organizations. He is the President-Elect of the Indo-American Psychiatric Association Illinois chapter. For AACAP, he has served on the Advocacy Committee and is currently on the ECP Committee. Clinically, he is a Child and Adult Psychiatrist in downtown Chicago at Clarity Clinic, with an interest in autism and intellectual disabilities. He has won numerous awards and has also been featured on TV multiple times. Interestingly, one such TV interview was about his photography talent. He enjoys travel, photography, and tennis. More recently he has been trying out pickleball.

Seleena Shrestha, MD

Assembly Delegate
2022-2025

Dr. Shrestha has worked in a variety of settings such as inpatient, outpatient, including Mental Health Centers, treating patients of all age groups.  She is dedicated to serving the rural community and believes that Mental Health services should be readily accessible to them.  She is interested in the use of modern approaches like video based telepsychiatry.

Ramon Solhkhah, MD

Assembly Delegate
2025-2027

He is the Founding Chair and Professor of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine (Nutley, NJ). He was formerly the Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Jersey Shore University Medical Center (JSUMC; Neptune, NJ) and Corporate Medical Director of (Legacy) Meridian Behavioral Health Services. Prior to his arrival at JSUMC, Dr. Solhkhah was the Vice Chair for Education of the Department of Psychiatry and Director of the Child & Adolescent Outpatient Service (CAOS) at Maimonides Medical Center. Dr. Solhkhah has also held posts as the Associate Chair of the Department of Psychiatry, Director of the Child and Family Institute and the Chief of the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, a University Hospital of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Previously he was Coordinator of Substance Abuse Services at the New York University Child Study Center. Dr. Solhkhah is a former fellow of the Substance Abuse Minority Fellowship from the American Psychiatric Association and the Center for Mental Health Services. He was also a fellow of the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD) and a mentor of the Walter Reed Society for Health Policy and Public Health. He is a recipient of the Organon Excellence in Psychiatry Residency Award from the American Psychiatric Association and the Ilene Gold, M.D. Scholarship from the New England Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Solhkhah, a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry is an active clinical researcher who has taught, lectured and written extensively in child and adolescent psychiatry and in the area of adolescent substance abuse.

Alternate Delegates

Louis Kraus, MD
Karen Pierce, MD
Susan Scherer, MD

Past Presidents

2022-2024 Thomas DiMatteo, MD
2021-2023 Lavinia Myers, MD
2019-2021 Osama El-Shafie, MD
2017-2019 Adrienne Adams, MD
2015-2017 Peter Nierman, MD
2013-2015 Karen Pierce, MD

Committee Chairs

Communication/Website – Mojgan Makki, MD
Membership Chair – Sudhakar Shenoy, MD
Program Chair – Robin Shapiro, MD
Advocacy Chair – Karen Pierce, MD

History of Child Psychiatry

The Illinois Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (ICCAP) was established by William Healy, a pioneer in Child Psychiatry and Criminology.

William Healy, M.D., a pioneer psychiatrist and criminologist, established the first child guidance clinic in the United States in 1909, and was an early advocate of both the “team approach” and the “child’s own story” in treatment and research. One of the founders and the first president of the American Orthopsychiatric Association, Healy helped introduce Freudian thought into the United States. Among his contributions to the field of criminology are his book The Individual Delinquent (1915) and his “multi-factor theory” of delinquency, which broadened the field and moved it away from European criminology’s stress on genetic factors. Healy developed an elaborate methodology for the complete study of the offender by a variety of specialists. He was also a reformer in the field of corrections, based on his investigations of several institutions for delinquents.

William Healy can be credited with bringing the interpretative framework of psychology to the juvenile justice system, with designing the institutional structure for the practice of clinical child psychiatry and psychology, and with popularizing psychological interpretations of youthful mis-conduct through his clinics, writings, and public appearances. Unlike many of his contemporaries in the early twentieth century who blamed poor heredity and mental retardation for juvenile crime and called for institutionalization, Healy argued for the intellectual and psychological normality of delinquents and made a strong case for the efficacy of psychological intervention strategies.

A physician by training, Healy began his work with delinquents in 1909 when he was employed by a group of Chicago reformers to direct the Juvenile Psychopathic Institute. These reformers, having inaugurated the juvenile court movement ten years earlier, wanted Healy to provide the new court with assessments of troublesome repeat offenders. At the same time, he was expected to use these cases to develop a general understanding of juvenile crime. Healy’s results were published in 1915 as The Individual Delinquent, a compendium of social and environmental, psychological, and medical characteristics found in the youths he evaluated. Healy rejected unidimensional theories of causation, arguing instead for an eclectic approach. The task for the court and the clinic, he believed, was to determine the unique combination of factors that shaped each delinquent’s individual personality. This profile could be deduced only through a thorough investigation of the delinquents and their families by a team of medical, psychological, and social-work professionals. As established by Healy, the process included efforts to elicit the child’s “own story” (Healy’s phrase for the psychiatrist’s contribution to the evaluation).

Healy’s views on delinquency as laid out in The Individual Delinquent were heavily influenced by the adolescent psychology of G. Stanley Hall, the preventive mental hygiene programs of the psychiatrist Adolph Meyer, and the environmentalism of Progressive-era reformers. Increasingly, however, Healy was drawn to explanations of human behavior found in the works of Sigmund Freud. By applying psychoanalytic concepts of repression and the unconscious, Healy came to identify “mental conflicts” as the cause of much delinquency and adolescent misconduct. Like Freud, Healy was convinced that issues related to sexuality usually caused these adolescent conflicts, and Healy’s work helped to fortify the sex education movement of the 1920s and 1930s. Also like Freud, Healy located the source of personality and delinquency in family dynamics and in particular in the child’s relationship with his or her mother. Healy’s concurrence helped to give validity to the mother-blaming psychology that consumed child psychiatry after the 1930s.

In 1917 Healy became director of the Judge Baker Foundation of Boston, where he remained until retiring in 1947. Healy’s clinic was originally designed to provide assessments of delinquents brought before the Boston juvenile court. By the 1930s the clinic evaluated and treated children from all walks of life who were experiencing a broad range of emotional or behavioral problems. In 1922, when the Commonwealth Fund, a wealthy private philanthropy interested in juvenile justice programs and research in child development, offered to support the establishment of a network of court-affiliated child guidance clinics, Healy’s Judge Baker Foundation served as the working model. At first these child guidance clinics were solely for delinquents, but during the 1920s the clientele came to include other troublesome youths–in trouble at school or difficult to live with at home, for example. During the 1920s and 1930s the parents of these non-delinquent adolescents learned about the teachings of child guidance through child-rearing manuals, popular magazines, and government publications, and William Healy contributed to all these venues.