The Mississippi State Medical Association has elected Dr. Katherine Pannel, D.O., of Oxford, as its 158th president-elect. 

Pannel, a psychiatrist and Medical Director of Right Track Medical Group in Oxford, is the first Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine to hold this position in the association’s history.

Pannel is a board-certified psychiatrist by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. 

Pannel has served in several leadership roles within MSMA, including District 3 Trustee and Chair of the Board of Trustees. 

She is active in state healthcare initiatives, participating in programs like the Mississippi Physician Health Monitoring Program and the Mississippi Rural Physician Scholars Program. She also serves on the Board of Advisors for First Commercial Bank of Mississippi.

Her work in mental health has been widely recognized. She has received awards such as the American Osteopathic Association’s Excellence in Advocacy and Public Policy Award, the Dr. James C. Waites Leadership Award, and the Mississippi Healthcare Hero Award. 

As MSMA President-Elect, Pannel plans to continue her advocacy for mental health, physician autonomy, and patient care. She has been a strong supporter of legislation to fund psychiatric scholarships and programs for Alzheimer’s caregivers. 

She also worked to pass a law decriminalizing fentanyl test strips and authored a resolution leading to the passage of a bill requiring substance abuse education in schools.

Pannel and her husband, Dr. Richard Stephen Pannel, have three children.