Sam Scharff received his PhD in the History of Medicine from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in June 2021. His research and teaching interests include histories of psychiatry, law, and politics in the 20th century United States. His PhD dissertation is titled “The Mask of Expertise: Hervey Cleckley, Psychiatry, and Law in 20th Century America.” This project examines the life and work of a forensic psychiatrist – and in the process, demonstrates how legal frameworks have both constructed and constrained medical experts’ power to influence whether a given person with mental illness is sent to the hospital, to jail, or to liberty at large. After the PhD, Sam is working to complete his medical school training. Ultimately, he aims to pursue a career as a physician, historian, writer, and educator.