Dr. Jeffery Jerome Grace featured on Close Up Radio interview

Close Up Radio recently featured Buffalo-area psychiatrist Dr. Jeffery Jerome Grace in an interview that highlighted his decades in mental health care, substance use recovery, teaching, and hospital leadership. Grace used the appearance to urge people to treat mental health concerns with the same seriousness as physical illness.

Why it matters: - Dr. Jeffery Jerome Grace used the interview to push a familiar public-health message: mental health deserves the same attention, urgency, and confidentiality people expect for diabetes or heart disease. - Grace’s career spans private practice, hospital oversight, research, teaching, and substance use recovery, giving his message added credibility for patients and clinicians.

What happened: - Close Up Radio featured Dr. Jeffery Jerome Grace in an interview with Jim Masters on Monday, June 29, at 1 p.m. Eastern. - The program highlighted Grace’s background as a Buffalo-area physician and psychiatrist. - Grace discussed how early experiences shaped his decision to enter medicine and later psychiatry.

The details: - Grace said a childhood moment on a city bus, where he saw a person having a seizure, sparked his desire to become a doctor. - Another early case, involving a young man who had witnessed multiple family deaths and nearly died himself, helped steer Grace toward psychiatry. - Grace earned his MD from Wayne State University in 1981. - He completed residency training at the University of California Davis Medical Center. - Grace runs a private practice in his own name in the Buffalo, New York area. - He also supervises medical care and systems for the Buffalo Psychiatric Center, a 500-bed hospital serving patients from eight upper New York counties near Niagara Falls. - Grace said his role at the Buffalo Psychiatric Center began through outside consultancy work and expanded over time. - His past work included research on novel treatments for opioid addiction that could be administered in a medical office setting. - Grace also helped develop a pharmaceutical treatment for schizophrenia. - His honors include an Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and a profile in Who’s Who. - Grace said he is approaching 10 years in his most recent position and is starting to think about retirement. - Listen to the podcast, hear the episode on iHeart, or play it on Spotify. - More information is available at Dr. Jeffery Jerome Grace’s website.

Between the lines: - Grace’s comments framed psychiatry as a field built on listening, reassurance, and trust, not just diagnosis and treatment. - His message also reflected a broader effort to reduce stigma by treating mental health concerns as ordinary medical issues rather than personal failings. - The interview leaned on personal narrative to show how early encounters with suffering can shape a long medical career.

What's next: - Grace said he is considering new opportunities as he moves closer to retirement. - The podcast appearance appears aimed at expanding awareness of his work and reinforcing his message about seeking help early. - Close Up Television & Radio listed Lou Ceparano as the contact for the program and shared its Facebook page at Close Up Radio.