Our Speakers

Lena Verdeli, Ph.D, MSc, is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Counseling & Clinical Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, and the Founder and Director of the Teachers College Global Mental Health Lab. Over the years, Dr. Verdeli has received funding from governments (US- NIMH; Grand Challenges Canada; the UK Medical Research Council and Economic and Social Research Council), intergovernmental agencies (WHO, UNHCR) and foundations (NARSAD, Eleanor Cook Foundation) to test psychotherapy for the prevention and treatment of mood disorders. In the past fifteen years she has played a key role in landmark studies involving the adaptation, training and testing of psychotherapy protocols used by both specialists and non-specialists around the globe, from psychologists and psychiatrists to primary care staff and community health workers. She has collaborated internationally with academic groups, ministries of health, local NGOs and international agencies in southern and northern Uganda, Colombia, Goa in India, Haiti, Lebanon and Bangladesh, working with populations ranging from war-affected adolescents in displacement camps to refugees and distressed primary care patients.