Published on July 20, 2020 by Sarah Waller  
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Marshall E. Cates, professor and department chair in Samford University’s McWhorter School of Pharmacy, is now president of the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists (CPNP). He assumed this position on July 1 and will serve a one-year term. 

“It is an honor to serve as the president of an organization I so highly value. CPNP’s mission is to advance the reach and practice of psychiatric pharmacy and serve as the voice of the specialty. We strive to ensure that individuals living with mental illness receive safe, appropriate, and effective medication therapy.” Cates said.

“It’s exciting to assume this role in a time when people seem to be more aware of mental health than ever before. There is great work to be done.”

Cates has taught psychiatric pharmacy at Samford since 1995. As a clinical faculty member, he has held psychiatric pharmacist appointments in a variety of practice settings over the years, including a state psychiatric hospital, a VA medical center, a community mental health center, and a private hospital. He was among the first group of pharmacists to become board certified in psychiatric pharmacy in 1996. He founded and directed an ASHP-accredited residency in psychiatric pharmacy practice at the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center, and he has been a preceptor for psychiatric pharmacy experiences in three different PGY-1 pharmacy residency programs.

He has been involved in numerous clinical, laboratory and pedagogical research projects, and he has published more than 55 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. His community involvement has centered on suicide prevention and mental health care for the medically underserved. 

Cates has been an active member of CPNP since it was first established in 1998. CPNP’s membership consists of more than 2,900 pharmacists practicing in the psychiatry and neurology specialties. In addition to the role he serves at the national level, Cates is also the faculty advisor for Samford’s student chapter of CPNP, which was established by students earlier this year. 

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.