Candidate for 2026 President-Elect

Biography

Steve Koh, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A. is HS Clinical Professor, Psychiatrist-in-Chief and Associate Chief Medical Officer for UC San Diego Health, and Chief of General Psychiatry Division and Director of Community Psychiatry Program at UCSD, Department of Psychiatry. He is Board Certified in Adult and Geriatric Psychiatry and carries certification for Community Psychiatry from American Association of Community Psychiatry.

Dr. Koh graduated from Johns Hopkins University and medical school at UC San Diego. He received Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Masters in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business. He finished his internship at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, general psychiatry residency at UC San Diego and geriatric psychiatry fellowship at UC San Diego.

At UCSD Department of Psychiatry, he is the Chair of the Compensation Committee, member of the Clinical Council, and oversees its Oncall, Clinical Training, Quality Improvement and Measurement Based Care initiatives. He also serves the wider UCSD community on the Medical Staff, CMO operational and strategy, FQHC strategy, population health and development strategies committees. Dr. Koh is the lead faculty and physician leader in development of UCSD’s Behavioral Health Hub and overall strategic planner for larger regional mental health workforce and care delivery models. He has had research support from Johns Hopkins Lipid Research Laboratories, Palo Alto VA Hospital, Intramural Program of NIH at National Institute of Aging, UC San Diego Dept of Psychiatry, Hartford Foundation Center of Excellence, San Diego Hospice and Institute for Palliative Care, and T-32 NIH program. He currently has grants and contract support from HCAI, HRSA, SAMHSA, San Diego County BHS, and Price Philanthropies. Dr. Koh has recently started new rural residency program in Imperial County, California.

Dr. Koh currently serves as the Treasurer of American Psychiatric Association. He was the Government Affairs Committee Chair for California State Association of Psychiatrists, President of San Diego County Medical Society. He served as Educational Committee Chair for the San Diego County Alzheimer’s Disease project, member of California Medical Association’s Medical Services committee and board member of American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry. Dr. Koh is Past President of the San Diego Psychiatric Society, Association of Korean American Psychiatrists, and Board of San Diego NAMI. Dr Koh has been active on APA Council on Advocacy and Government Relations, Quality Improvement and Political Action Committees, and past Chair of APA Early Career Psychiatrists.

Awards and Honors

• 2025 San Diego Physician Top Doc Award
• 2024 San Diego Business Journal – Top Professionals – Behavioral Health Awardee
• 2022 NAMI San Diego and Imperial County Program of the Year Award – UCSD Community Psychiatry Program
• 2022 NAMI Exemplary Psychiatrist Award
• 2022 Inaugural Lecture for APA RFM Fellowship Program
• 2021 Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association
• 2019 Top Doc – San Diego Magazine and San Diego Physician
• 2017 APA Assembly Mentorship Award, Area 6
• 2014 AAMC Minority Faculty Development Travel Award
• 2014 Hartford Foundation Communications Leadership Travel Award
• 2014 Visionary Award – San Diego Psychiatric Society
• 2011 Ethel Ginsburg Fellow for Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry
• 2010 UCSD Chairman’s Clinical Research Award
• 2010 UCSD Psychiatry Residency Teaching Excellence Award
• 2010 San Diego Psychiatric Society Resident / Early Career Psychiatrist Award