Call for CHA Academy Members

We are excited to announce the launch of the CHA Academy of Educators, a new interprofessional community of practice dedicated to advancing teaching excellence, fostering educational scholarship, and strengthening collaboration across disciplines throughout CHA.

Marcela Almeida, MD will serve as the inaugural Director of the Academy. Dr. Almeida is a psychiatrist and medical educator who joined CHA in 2020 and currently serves as Adult Psychiatry Residency Program Director. She will partner closely with academic leadership and faculty across CHA to build a vibrant and collaborative educator community.

Our goal for the Academy is to ensure that every educator at CHA is supported and empowered to thrive in their educational role. Whether you are looking to implement a curriculum, design a research project, format your CV or intentionally improve some aspect of your day-to-day teaching, we are here to provide the scaffolding and professional relationships you need to succeed!  At a time when burnout is an increasing challenge, participation in a dynamic learning community can rekindle joy, restore purpose, and offer a powerful source of professional renewal.

The Academy will elevate CHA’s academic reputation and advance our commitment to making a unique and robust contribution to national educational discourse and scholarship.

Why join the Academy? Academy membership reflects reciprocal investment between CHA and its educators. In addition to the intrinsic value of engaging in the life of the Academy, membership will confer benefits and opportunities to develop and publish educational projects, engage in peer mentoring and faculty development, be nominated for local and national awards, and to access resources such as small grants, technical assistance, and tuition support for courses.  

A list of CHA educational leaders who serve as Founding Academy members can be found here. 

Who should apply? Membership is encouraged for those at CHA who embrace ‘educator’ as part of their professional identity, and expected for those with formal educational roles at 0.25 FTE or greater. A list of CHA educational leaders who serve as Founding Academy members can be found here. 

What is expected of members? 

  • Developing an educational project with the goal of scholarship

  • Participating in at least 6 hours of Academy activities annually

  • An annual review of educational accomplishments with a mentor

What is meant by “project”? For this inaugural year, we define “project” as an intentional effort to understand, innovate, or improve some aspect of health professions education at CHA. Project proposals may fall anywhere on the continuum from a question formulated for further exploration to a well-developed curricular intervention with a formal assessment plan. Your project may be work you are already doing, but with added structure and a plan for applying and sharing what you’ve learned.

To apply: We expect all applicants who agree to these foundational expectations to be accepted, with notification by August 2026. Calls for Academy membership will occur once a year.

Please complete the Membership Application and submit your CV to oaa@challiance.org by Thursday, July 16, 2026. The application includes a brief statement of goals and a short description of a proposed educational project. 

For questions, please contact the Office of Academic Affairs oaa@challiance.org or Marcela Almeida at maralmeida@cha.harvard.edu

We look forward to partnering with you on this journey to elevate the academic mission of CHA!

Marcela Almeida
Director, CHA Academy of Educators
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Harvard Medical School

Liz Gaufberg
CHA Chief Academic Officer
Associate Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry
Harvard Medical School

Apply Here!

Join Our Vibrant Academic Educational Community!

Enjoy these visuals and videos that include some of our educational programs, events and initiatives.

Kelly McFarlane, now a Harvard Medical School-Cambridge Integrated Clerkship Alumna (2017-18), and her patient, Cecilia, describe their experience during Cecilia's cancer treatment.

 

Dr. Ariel Majidi, now an Internal Medicine Residency Program graduate, describes the transformative experience of training at CHA.

2026 CHA Academic Poster Session & CHA Academic Month (April)

2026 Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry Mysell Day

CHA at the 2026 APA (American Psychiatric Association) Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA

2025 Harvard Medical School (HMS) Academy Medical Education Day

2025 Academic Council Awards Ceremony

HMS Daniel D. Federman Medical Education Awards Ceremony
Sandra and Arnold Gold Award for Humanistic Teaching at CHA

Cambridge Integrated Clerkship (CIC)

 

Academy Leadership

Marcela Almeida, MD
Director, CHA Academy of Educators

Dr. Marcela Almeida is the Director of the Adult Psychiatry Residency Program  at Cambridge Health Alliance and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. A graduate of the University of Chicago psychiatry residency and the Harvard Macy Institute Program for Educators in Health Professions. (link to rest of bio) 

Liz Gaufberg, MD
Chief Academic Officer

Elizabeth Gaufberg, MD, MPH is the Chief Academic Officer at the Cambridge Health Alliance and an Associate Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School (HMS). She came to CHA in 1989, completing residencies in Internal Medicine and then Psychiatry, followed by a rich career in patient care, education and administration. (link to rest of bio)