Biography

Helen Lavretsky, MD, MS (she/her/hers) is a Professor In-Residence, Department of Psychiatry, UCLA School of Medicine. 

Helen Lavretsky, MD, MS is a Professor In-Residence in the Department of Psychiatry at the UCLA and a geriatric integrative psychiatrist with the federally-funded research program in integrative mental health using mind-body therapies. She is a recipient of several Research Career Development awards from the NIMH and NCCIH/NIH, and other prestigious research awards. Her current research studies include investigations of novel therapeutic options for mood and cognitive disorders in older adults, and for Long-COVID. She is the Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, and the Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, American College of Psychiatrists, and the recipient of the Distinguished Investigator awards for research from the American College of Psychiatrists and the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, and the Jack Weinberg Award for career in Geriatric Psychiatry from the APA. She is the Director of Research for the UCLA Integrative Medicine Collaborative. She is an immediate past-President of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. She serves on the Advisory Research Council to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Dr. Lavretsky is a consultant to major health and government organizations nationally and around the world—including the American Heart Association, AARP, the National Council on Mental Wellbeing, and others. In her spare time, she teaches and practices yoga and spends time in nature. She is the author of the upcoming book “Living from the Soul:The Neuroscience of Spiritual Awakening”