Depression guideline update panel

Pim Cuijpers, PhD is professor emeritus of clinical psychology at the department of clinical, neuro, and developmental psychology, Amsterdam Public Health research institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Cuijpers also serves as director of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Centre for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions in Amsterdam. In the past 16 years, Cuijpers has built databases of randomized clinical trials on psychotherapies for depression, including Metapsyopens in new window, an open-access database that provides a comprehensive overview of psychotherapy research for the treatment of depression, PTSD, OCD, and several other conditions. Cuijpers has published over 300 meta-analyses and systematic reviews examining psychotherapy effectiveness and treatments for specific disorders and conditions. In addition to formerly serving on the panel that developed APA’s 2019 depression guideline, Cuijpers has served on multiple guideline development groups for the World Health Organization. Cuijpers serves as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Andrew Bertagnolli, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and associate professor of clinical psychology at Alliant International University / California School of Professional Psychology. Bertagnolli also serves as national director of Virtual Behavioral Health Services at Amazon-One Medical overseeing the design, implementation, and execution of the organization’s behavioral health care delivery model. He has over 20 years of experience working in clinical psychology specializing in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and co-occurring disorders and as an LGBTQ+ psychologist he is committed to advancing mental health equity. He also has extensive experience in health care operations, quality measurement, and process improvement in behavioral health, suicide prevention, peer support, digital mental health, social determinants of health, and pain management. During his tenure at Kaiser Permanente, Bertagnolli spearheaded the dissemination and implementation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for depression, including the Zero Suicide initiative and Depression Care Management programs. As former vice president of Behavioral Health Care at Optum, he led the integration of digital mental health solutions in routine care settings, ensuring that treatments were accessible and effectively implemented. He serves on the board of directors of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and the Academic Training and Education Standards Committee of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.

Renée Y. Carter, MD, MPH, FACP, is a primary care internal medicine physician. Most recently, she was an associate professor for women’s health at Virginia Commonwealth University’s division of general internal medicine. However, starting July 14, 2025, Carter will be a primary care physician in women’s health at the Richmond Veteran’s Administration Medical Center. Carter has over 30 years of experience in primary care and has experience in caring for individuals with depression and anxiety. In addition to teaching and training future internal medicine physicians at an academic health center, Carter also serves as governor of the American College of Physicians’ (ACP) Virginia chapter, co-chair of the ACP Virginia chapter’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and as member of the Virginia ACP Health Policy Committee. Carter is committed to integrating the latest research findings into clinical practice and fostering the development of clinical practice guidelines that not only improve outcomes but also promote accessibility and equity in mental health care.

Iony D. Ezawa, PhD, is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Southern California and licensed clinical psychologist. Her research focuses on investigating how treatments for depression achieve their effects and how they can be adapted to meet the needs of different patients. Specifically, Ezawa investigates the processes of change in treatments of depression, primarily face-to-face and digital cognitive behavioral therapy, with a particular emphasis on promoting cognitive change and advancing equity in treatment delivery. She has examined racial differences in the provision of CBT strategies and is currently leading research on how therapists tailor cognitive interventions to culturally diverse populations. Ezawa’s overarching goal is to optimize psychotherapy for depression so it can best meet the unique needs of every individual.

Dolores Gallagher-Thompson, PhD, ABPP, is a board-certified specialist in geropsychology, licensed clinical psychologist, and professor emerita of psychiatry and behavioral science (public mental health and population sciences) at Stanford University’s School of Medicine specializing in the treatment of late-life depression and in working with persons with neurocognitive disorders (such as dementia) and their family caregivers / partners. Gallagher-Thompson provides individual psychotherapy using a cognitive-behavioral framework in a geropsychiatry outpatient clinic and leads psychoeducational workshops as part of the Neuroscience Center’s community education program. For over 25 years and authoring over 200 papers in major journals, Gallagher-Thompson has received funding from the National Institutes of Health for her empirical studies on the efficacy of psychoeducation interventions to reduce stress and improve the psychological status of family caregivers of older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Currently, Gallagher-Thompson consults on the development and implementation of Internet-based programs for national and international caregivers of persons with dementia. She is the co-founder and member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the local Northern California Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and is associate editor of the journal Clinical Gerontologist: The Journal of Mental Health, Diversity, and Aging.

Queen Henry-Okafor, PhD, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC, is a family-nurse practitioner, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, and associate professor at Vanderbilt University’s School of Nursing, with over 20 years of experience in mental health treatment, including depression and policy development. Throughout her career, Henry-Okafor has provided direct care to patients with depression and trained clinicians in evidence-based practices for the treatment of depression, including cognitive behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy. Henry-Okafor also has expertise in both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic approaches for the treatment of depression and has led a multidisciplinary team to adapt and implement clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of depression and anxiety. This team project included reviewing research, tailoring guideline recommendations to the community’s cultural and socioeconomic context, and training clinicians in implementing guideline recommended treatments. Henry-Okafor’s strong background in addressing the intersection of the social determinants of health, chronic disease, and mental health brings an important perspective in the depression guideline update process.

Steven D. Hollon, PhD, is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt professor of psychology (cross appointment in psychiatry) at Vanderbilt University and a licensed clinical psychologist with extensive research and clinical experience in the etiology and treatment of depressive disorders in adults. For over 50 years, he has conducted randomized controlled trials comparing cognitive and behavioral interventions to antidepressant medications in the treatment and subsequent prevention of depression and is currently conducting a research trial with patients who have depression in a primary care setting in India. Hollon is particularly interested in the relative contribution of cognitive and biological processes to depression, and how the relative efficacies of psychosocial versus pharmacological interventions compare. Hollon also served as the first chair of APA’s Advisory Steering Committee for Development of Clinical Practice Guidelines and has a deep interest in the development of clinical practice guidelines.

Sher Schreiber, PhD, CHES, CHC, RYT 200, is a health promotion and behavior researcher who has personally been affected by and treated for depression and formerly served as an assistant professor in the department of preventive medicine and biostatistics at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Schreiber has authored several peer-reviewed publications and presented on topics related to the treatment of depression and other mental health issues in diverse populations. Schreiber served on the Task Force that developed APA’s Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Girls and Women as well as the APA Presidential Task Force on Weaponized Drones and has received several research grants that examined the treatment of mental health conditions in military members. Schreiber is also a registered yoga teacher, certified health coach, and certified health education specialist.

Stephen Schueller, PhD, is a professor of psychological science and informatics at the University of California, Irvine, and a licensed clinical psychologist. Schueller has extensive experience in the design, evaluation, and implementation of digital mental health interventions, especially for the prevention and treatment of depression. This work lies at the intersection of clinical science, human-computer interaction, and implementation science. Schueller completed his clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco as part of the public service and minority cluster. His work in digital mental health interventions has emphasized improving access to care and working with various populations including Latin individuals with limited English proficiency, veterans, cancer survivors, and rural populations.

Karina Wiener, MSS, LCSW, is a staff clinician at Temple University Health Sciences Campus’ Tuttleman Counseling Services where she provides trauma-informed, goal-oriented therapy for students pursuing graduate studies in the health sciences. Karina’s clinical experience includes supporting young men of color experiencing their first episode of psychosis; adult women of color experiencing homelessness and substance use with co-occurring serious mental illness; and health science graduate students who identify as LGBTQ+, first generation, or international students navigating complex mental health and systemic challenges.

Karina’s personal experience with depression led her to volunteer with the LiveWell Foundation: a nonprofit organization that provides free peer-led support groups for individuals experiencing depression. She later served as their director of programs and operations, where she worked closely with the executive director in developing a behavioral health curriculum to help adults, teens, older adults, physicians, and adults with co-occurring depression and substance use learn skills to manage their own mental health self-care. Karina adapted the curriculum for Spanish-speaking individuals, provided leadership to over 50 plus diverse peer facilitators with lived experience of depression, and continues to advocate for peer-support to be a routine part of holistic, accessible depression care. 

Sigal Zilcha-Mano, PhD, is a full professor of clinical psychology in the department of psychology at the University of Haifa, Israel. She has extensive clinical and research experience in depression treatment, focusing specifically on understanding mechanisms of therapeutic change within psychotherapy and psychopharmacology. Zilcha-Mano's research uniquely integrates trait-like (stable individual characteristics) and state-like (within-person changes) processes to optimize personalized mental health interventions. She has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals and has served as principal investigator on multiple clinical trials addressing depression and its associated comorbidities, utilizing innovative multimodal digital phenotyping approaches. Zilcha-Mano currently serves as associate editor of American Psychologist and the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology and is a member of the editorial board for several other prestigious psychology and psychiatry journals.