Steering Committee/Research Committee

Research Committee

Research Committee

Research Committee

Dr Lisa VITTE is both a Child and Adolescent and Perinatal Psychiatrist - Service Universitaire Havrais de Psychiatrie périnatale et de l’enfant - Groupe Hospitatier du Havre ; she is responsible for the various hospitalization and perinatal units. She is particularly interested in the perinatal care and mental disorders, and parent/new born interactions. She is also actively involved in research in this field and actively participates in publications. She submitted a thesis in 2024: « INTERACTIONS PRECOCES ET VULNERABILITE PARENTALE : Étude du développement psychoaffectif du nouveau-né et des interactions mère-bébé au cours des premiers jours de vie des dyades prises en charge en Unité d’hospitalisation temps plein » Dr Vitte has been asked to be project manager for future HAS recommendations on perinatal psychiatric disorders.

Research Committee

Sandra Frööjd is a licensed psychologist and a PhD student at Karolinska Institutet, specializing in perinatal psychiatry. Her research focuses on Internet-delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (ICBT) for antenatal depression, aiming to explore accessible treatment options. In her clinical practice, Sandra works with the same patient group at Psykiatri Sydväst, in the Consultation Liaison Unit. Sandra is dedicated to integrating research into clinical practice to improve mental health care for the perinatal group.

Research Committee

Dr. Catriona Hippman, PhD (she/her) is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the BC Reproductive Mental Health program, a Health System Impact Fellow with the BC Ministry of Health and Simon Fraser University, and an Adjunct Professor with the UBC Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. Overall, her work focuses on mental health at times of transition in relation to changes in hormones, physiology, and family composition through feminist, person-centred research and advocacy for equitable access to mental health services.
Catriona trained clinically as a genetic counsellor at UBC and practiced as a certified genetic counsellor with a psychiatric specialization before returning to UBC to complete her PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies. Her PhD was focused on generating evidence to support people deciding whether to take antidepressants during pregnancy. She completed quantitative and qualitative studies, and her work is now curated into the foremost international resource for pharmacogenomics and available as an animated video: https://www.catrionahippman.com/research-video. She has since completed two fellowships with the BC Women's Hospital’s Reproductive Mental Health Program, the UBC Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and the University of Calgary Faculty of Nursing. Much of her fellowship work has focused on collaborating with a lived experience and patient advisory group on research to further understandings of hospitalization for postpartum mental illness.
She is a cisgender woman, white settler, a tap dancer, a singer, and is a mother to two children.

Research Committee

Margaret (Maggie) Bublitz is a clinical psychologist and perinatal mental health researcher at Brown University. Dr. Bublitz's research focus is on mind-body interventions to prevent adverse obstetric outcomes, particularly preterm birth and hypertensive disorders, by decreasing daily stress. Recently, Dr. Bublitz was awarded a Global Fulbright Scholarship to understand perinatal mental health service delivery models in the UK and New Zealand.

Research Committee

MDT Committee

Annmarie Thomas is a Perinatal Mental Health Specialist Midwife working in Swansea Bay University Health Board in South Wales, UK. Qualifying as a Midwife in 2025 from Swansea University, Annmarie worked as a clinical midwife in two local obstetric units, furthering her development as a community midwife team lead within the locality. Annmarie progressed to work as a Public Health Specialist Midwife working throughout the COVID pandemic within field hospitals as part of the vaccination programme and used this position to develop the Perinatal Mental Health Specialist role, stepping in to post in 2021 to work as part of the All Wales team within the Mother and Baby Unit, Uned Gobaith. Annmarie chairs the All Wales Perinatal Mental Health Midwifery Forum and is a member of the International Marce Society. Annmarie continued a passion for learning and development, using her academic studies towards a MSc in Enhanced Midwifery Practice at Swansea University to further understand services, quality improvement and leadership. Annmarie introduced a new Maternity Wellbeing service within Swansea Bay to align and embed the All Wales Perinatal pathways that offers support in compliment to the Perinatal Mental Health Specialist teams. This service gained national recognition through winning the Royal College of Midwives award for outstanding contribution to to maternity services in Perinatal Mental Health in 2024. Annmarie is involved with teaching and upskilling the maternity workforce towards a whole system change and has co facilitated the iHV Perinatal and infant mental health champion training throughout the UK. Annmarie delivers a programme of training to student Midwives within Swansea University to influence the competance within perinatal mental health care of the future midwifery workforce in Swansea, South Wales.

MDT Committee

Education Committee

Pr Gisèle Apter is both a Child and Adolescent and Perinatal Psychiatrist. She is Professor of Child Psychiatry at University Rouen Normandy and directs Child Psychiatry at Le Havre Hospital in Normandy as well as a Research Unit in Perinatal and Infant Psychiatry and Psychopathology She is currently President SIP (Société de l’Information Psychiatrique), which is the Society of Public Psychiatrists in France. After having been the Founding Chair of the WPA Section on Perinatal and infant mental health, she is now WPA Western Europe Zonal Representative. She is particularly interested in the perinatal period and infancy, the impact of parental mental disorders on pregnancy and newborns.

Education Committee

Dr. Maithri Ameresekere is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and Director of Women’s Mental Health at Boston Medical Center. She is a board-certified psychiatrist with expertise in trauma, reproductive psychiatry, and perinatal mental health. Dr. Ameresekere leads the Integrated Behavioral Health Program in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Boston Medical Center, where she works to expand access to mental health services for pregnant and postpartum patients. She provides clinical care and training opportunities in several interdisciplinary programs, including the Refugee Women’s Health Clinic and Project RESPECT, which supports perinatal individuals with substance use disorders. Her scholarly work focuses on reducing barriers to mental health care for parents and families, with a particular emphasis on immigrant and underserved communities. She is active in medical education, curriculum development, and clinical research, and has led efforts to address systemic and structural barriers to care in both local and global settings.

Website Committee

Snehita is a Perinatal Psychiatrist working on Ribblemere Mother and baby unit in North-west England. She hails from India and moved to the UK for psychiatric training. She was an inpatient adult consultant before making a transition to perinatal psychiatry in 2020. She trained in London and has worked on MBUs in 2 different areas of the country with diverse populations and challenges. She is the AMD for perinatal services in Lancashire and is the clinical lead for Lancashire lead provider collaborative. She is also on the executive committee of the Perinatal faculty of the Royal college of psychiatrists.