Dr Richa Bhatia is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine. She is a dual Board-certified Child, Adolescent and adult psychiatrist. Her work has been cited in Time magazine and Scientific American, and her professional opinions have been quoted in media such as CNBC, The Guardian, U.S. News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal, CBS News Bay Area, WUCF-TV (PBS), and others. She was awarded the 2021 Jerilyn Ross Clinician Advocate Award by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America and the Marian Butterfield award in 2018. She serves as Section Editor of Current Opinion in Psychiatry and also served as Associate Editor of Current Psychiatry. She is often invited to give talks at national, regional and local conferences and organizations.

Dr. Silvia W. Olarte is an APA Life Distinguished Fellow and a Fellow of the American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis (AAPDPP). She is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and trains and supervises psychoanalysts at the Psychoanalytic Institute at New York Medical College. She has been president of the Association of Women Psychiatrists and the AAPDPP. She practices Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Psychiatry in New York City.

Dr. Olarte devoted much of her earlier career to serving the Latino deprived population in New York City at Metropolitan Hospital where she was Outpatient Department Director and Acting Director of Psychiatry.

At the American Psychiatric Association, she has served on the Committee of International Medical Graduates, the Committee on Hispanics and the Committee on Women and the Minority and Underrepresented Group. Dr. Olarte was the Women’s Caucus Deputy Representative and Representative to the APA Assembly. She also chaired the task force on Educating Psychiatrists on Ethical Issues and Chaired the former Council on National Affairs.

Dr. Olarte has been the recipient of the APA George Tarjan Award, the APA Alexandra Symonds Award, the APA Special Presidential Commendation and received the AAPDPP Presidential Award twice.

She has published over 30 articles, presented, discussed or chaired over 120 presentations on women’s issues, ethical issues, boundaries violations, psychodynamic treatment of deprived populations, and changes in psychodynamic practices.

Dr. Dominguez is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry. She received her bachelor’s degree from Barnard College. After earning her medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Dominguez completed her Psychiatry training at the New York State Psychiatric Institute/New York Presbyterian Hospital-CU; she directed the NYP-Allen Hospital Psychiatry Program until 2016, then did Consult Liaison Psychiatry at NYP-Lawrence Hospital until 2020. She teaches Columbia Psychiatry residents, has served on a number of APA committees, and was an examiner for the ABPN oral boards. Throughout this she also worked in her private practice of Psychiatry.

Eva Szigethy, M.D., Ph.D., is the Lois C. Orr Endowed Chair in Pediatric Psychiatry and Director of Behavioral Health Service line at Akron Children’s Hospital, Professor of Psychiatry at NEOMED and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. She completed her fellowship in child psychiatry and early faculty years at Boston Children's Hospital and then spent 18 years at UPMC in Pittsburgh to build a clinical and research career focused on integrating behavioral care into primary and subspecialty medical settings. Dr. Szigethy has a private practice where she uses medical hypnosis to help patients with complex emotional and medical issues.

Dr. Samia Nawaz is a second year child psychiatry fellow at UCLA, where she is completing an area of distinction in maternal/infant mental health. Dr. Nawaz completed general psychiatry residency at the University of Utah, where she served as global mental health and women's mental health chief resident. During medical school at the University of Arkansas, Dr. Nawaz was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. Dr. Nawaz plans to pursue a career in academic psychiatry. Some of her specialty interests include premenstrual mood dysphoric disorder, postpartum depression, and women's performance mental health. In her spare time, Dr. Nawaz enjoys yoga, reading, and spending time with friends and family.

Natasha Massoudi MD, MPH is a Perinatal and Reproductive Psychiatry Fellow at Brown University and Women and Infants Hospital. Prior to completing medical training, she holds an MPH from Tufts University School of Medicine and worked for five years in domestic and global health consulting. Her area of focus expands beyond pregnancy and postpartum to include eating disorders and integrative psychiatry.

Dr. Jasmine Liu-Zarzuela is a second-year psychiatry resident at UT Southwestern in Dallas, Texas. She is in the combined Adult and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) program and will complete her fellowship in CAP at UT Southwestern. She is passionate about medical education, mentorship, women's mental health, advocacy, and health policy.

Aymun Razzak grew up in Minnesota before moving to Dallas, where she completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of Texas at Dallas. She is now a fourth-year medical student at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston with a focus on child and adolescent psychiatry. Her research interests include healthcare access, informal caregiving, and mental health disparities. She has co-authored a children’s book on anxiety, led a street medicine initiative as an Albert Schweitzer Fellow, and presented work at national conferences. She plans to pursue a career in academic child and adolescent psychiatry with an emphasis on advocacy and early intervention.

Reid Mergler is a clinical psychiatrist at the Penn Center for Women’s Behavioral Wellness who specializes in Reproductive Psychiatry and women’s mental health. She completed her adult psychiatry residency training at Tufts Medical Center in Boston in June 2023. She received her medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and completed her first year of residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Montefiore Medical Center. She is the co-founder of the National Reproductive Psychiatry Trainee Interest Group, and she was awarded the Association of Women Psychiatrists Symonds Fellowship in 2021. She is an active member of the American Psychiatric Association Council on Women’s Mental Health and the Association of Women Psychiatrists. She has a special interest in trauma-informed care, childbirth-related PTSD, polycystic ovary syndrome and perimenopause.

Nainika Venugopal earned her MD from Western University, Canada following her undergraduate studies at McMaster University, Canada. She is currently applying to psychiatry residency programs in the United States, where she hopes to continue her training. Her primary interests include women's mental health, child and adolescent psychiatry, and addressing barriers to mental healthcare access.

Dr. Dubner is a clinical psychiatrist in the Penn Center for Women’s Behavioral Wellness and in the Penn Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic. She has specific interest and expertise in perinatal and postpartum psychiatric disorders including mood and anxiety disorders, perimenopausal mood disorders, preconception counseling on psychiatric medication management during pregnancy, and PMDD. Dr. Dubner received her medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University, where she received membership into the national Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. She completed her adult psychiatry residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, during which she served as Outpatient Chief Resident. During residency, Dr. Dubner also served as co-leader of the women’s mental health certificate program, for which she continues to serve as a mentor for residents interested in the field. During residency, she received an American Psychiatric Association Resident Recognition Award, as well as The Association of Women Psychiatrists Alexandra Symonds Fellowship Award.

Leslie Hartley Gise MD is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the John A Burns School of Medicine where she taught about gender differences for many years. She is originally from NYC where she did medical school Columbia, straight medical internship at Mount Sinai, and Consultation-Liaison Fellowship at Montefiore. She was a member of the NY District Branch of the APA from the 1970s to the 1990s and worked with its leaders including Allie Symonds who founded AWP, also Ann Turkel and Leah Dickstein. In 2028 Leslie received the Alexandra Symonds Award from AWP and APA. Leslie was a member and chair of the APA Committee on Women which is now the Council on Womens Mental Health and whose meetings she still attends. Leslie is a past president of NASPOG.

She did private practice for 30 years, ran the Consultation-Liaison Service and worked in the OBGYN Department at Mount Sinai. She and her husband moved to Maui 30 years ago where Leslie became a community psychiatrist, working at the Community Mental Health Center for 20 years. She is 83 and retired after taking care of patients for 52 years. She gives talks, does mentoring, and has been involved with disaster psychiatry and the recovery from the Maui Wildfires of August 8th, 2023. Her wellness and self-care activities include reading, exercise, and connecting with people every day. She is grateful and counting her blessings all day long, every day.

Dr. Julianne Chu, a native of New York City is a PGY3 psychiatry resident at Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood, Florida. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Harvard University and her medical degree from St. George's University School of Medicine. Dr. Chu is also pursuing specialized training in Integrative Medicine for Psychiatry from Arizona State University, reflecting her commitment to holistic patient care.

During her time at Harvard, she excelled as a member of the women’s squash team, contributing to three national team championships and two Ivy League team championships. An avid athlete, she continues to stay active through tennis, golf, padel, pickleball, and rock climbing, embodying a balanced and dynamic approach to both her personal and professional life. She is the third of four daughters, all of whom reside in New York City. She enjoys visiting them and her nephew, exploring the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and savoring authentic New York bagels.

Nikki Goodsmith, MD, PhD, is a psychiatrist and health services researcher at the Greater Los Angeles VA and Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UCLA. Her clinical and research interests focus on women Veterans with serious mental illness, perinatal mental health, and reproductive justice. She seeks to improve equity and access to high-quality mental health care for vulnerable and historically marginalized populations, and to further our understanding of the unique needs of women Veterans with serious mental illness. She is a past recipient of the American College of Psychiatrists Laughlin Fellowship and the AWP Symonds Foundation Fellowship, and a current member of the APA Council on Women’s Mental Health.

Emily Beydler grew up in the Washington, DC area and studied neuroscience and biochemistry at the College of William and Mary. Following graduation, she completed a post-baccalaureate research fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health, where she investigated circuit-based and neurosteroid therapeutics. She went on to earn her MD at the University of Florida College of Medicine, where she continued her neuroscience research. During clinical training, she developed a strong interest in reproductive psychiatry, with a particular focus on mental health around pregnancy and menopause and was drawn to the critical gaps in knowledge surrounding these disorders. Her long-term goal is to become a reproductive psychiatrist and independent investigator specializing in risk prediction and early intervention for psychiatric disorders across the reproductive lifespan.

Catherine grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia. She studied Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale College, where she worked for various campus publications as a writer, illustrator, and graphic designer. At the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM), she co-founded appendix (the student-run literary magazine), the Student Curriculum Council, and the Medical Humanities Area of Concentration. Now, as a Penn Psychiatry resident, she is pursuing her interests in reproductive psychiatry, medical education, psychotherapy, cultural psychiatry, and the medical humanities. She is a 2025-2027 APA/APAF Leadership Fellow and serves on the Council on Healthcare Systems.

Dr. Castilla-Puentes is a Colombian psychiatrist who relocated to the United States after completing her career in Colombia. She completed her medical education at the Universidad Industrial de Santander in Bucaramanga, residency at Javeriana University in Bogota and Post-Doctoral studies in Psychiatric Epidemiology and International Business at the University of Pittsburgh. Early in her career, Dr. Castilla-Puentes held leadership positions and successfully transformed a mental health unit from being the least favorable in the hospital to one that was considered exemplary during its time.

From 2020 to 2022, she served as President of the American Society of Hispanic Psychiatry and is currently serving as President of the American Psychiatric Association Hispanic Caucus for the term 2024-2027. Dr. Castilla-Puentes has devoted her career to mentoring pre- and post-graduate students and addressing the healthcare needs of underserved populations, particularly racial and ethnic minorities and patients with psychiatric conditions.

She is the founder of WARMI (Women in Quechua), a network dedicated to promoting women's mental health. Dr. Castilla-Puentes is an active member of numerous global associations and has authored or co-authored many scientific publications. In 2020, she published the book “Quijotes de la Psiquiatria,” which pays tribute to Hispanic psychiatrists who have contributed to mental health progress in the US and globally. In 2022, she released “Mental Health for Hispanic Communities: A Guide for Practitioners,” focusing on diagnosing and treating Hispanic/Latinx patients with psychiatric conditions. Recently she published “Saving Olito: empowering communities and building resilience to prevent youth suicide.”

As a university teacher, researcher, and administrator with nearly 25 years of experience in higher education, Dr. Castilla-Puentes became the University of Cincinnati’s Ambassador at the Community Leadership Institute. In 2023, she received the Servant Leadership Award from the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE), and in 2024, the Social Justice Award from the American Psychiatric Association (APA). She has centered her career on improving access to and delivery of psychiatric care to bilingual and bicultural communities, developing and implementing intercultural community programs, providing evidence-based information on mental health and substance use disorders for Spanish-speaking communities in the United States.