The STEPS for PPD Study Team - MGH Center for Women's Mental Health

Lee S. Cohen, MD

Dr. Cohen is Director of The Ammon-Pinizzotto Center for Women’s Mental Health at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also the Edmund and Carroll Carpenter Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He completed his residency training and fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He is a national and international leader in the field of women’s mental health and was among the founders of the field of Perinatal and Reproductive Psychiatry. His work spans the domains of research, teaching and clinical care in the area of treatment of mood and anxiety disorders with subspecialty interest in psychiatric disorders associated with female reproductive function. These include psychiatric disorders during pregnancy and the post-partum period and mental health. The research which he conducts and oversees has helped to inform the care of patients who suffer from psychiatric illness.

Marlene P. Freeman, MD

Marlene P. Freeman, M.D. is a Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and the Abra Prentice Foundation Chair in Women’s Mental Health at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is the Associate Director of the Center for Women’s Mental Health at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Medical Director of the MGH Clinical Trials Network and Institute (CTNI).

Dr. Freeman completed medical school at Northwestern University Medical School. She completed residency at the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Program and a research fellowship in the Biological Psychiatry Program at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Her research and clinical expertise is in the areas of mood disorders and women’s mental health. She also has had clinical and research interests in the areas of nutrition, integrative medicine, and mental health. She previously directed programs in women’s mental health at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and at UT-Southwestern in Dallas.

She is the Editor-in-Chief for The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. She is on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology (ASCP) and is a Member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP). She was a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), and chaired the APA Task Force on Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and was a member of the APA’s workgroup on Major Depressive Disorder treatment guidelines. She also served as a Member of the Veterans Administration Reproductive Mental Health Steering Committee.

Rachel Vanderkruik, PhD, MSc

Rachel Vanderkruik is the Director of Psychology and Implementation Research, and a Staff Psychologist with the Center for Women’s Mental Health at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). She is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School. Rachel completed her predoctoral internship in the Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) track at MGH and she received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from University of Colorado Boulder. She has been trained in evidence-based psychotherapies, including CBT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Rachel also has a Masters in Science from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health where she concentrated in Maternal and Child Health. She has served as a Consultant to the Department of Reproductive Health and Research of the World Health Organization for over 10 years on work including the development of an integrated psychosocial and reproductive health intervention package, process evaluation planning, and conducting systematic reviews. Her work focuses on the promotion of women’s mental health and wellbeing, particularly during transition time periods (e.g., pregnancy and the postpartum, adolescence). She has training in Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research, Implementation Research, and Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR). Rachel is passionate about increasing access to, and implementation of, evidence-based interventions and services through novel delivery methods (e.g., digital platforms, peer delivery, and integrated care) nationally and on a global scale.

Courtney Louis, PhD

Courtney Louis is a research and clinical post-doctoral fellow within the Ammon-Pinizzotto Center for Women’s Mental Health. She completed her Ph.D. in clinical science with a specialization in women and gender studies at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on illuminating relationships between anxiety/depression, gonadal hormones, cognitive function, and physiological processes, to inform mental health treatment targets in female populations. Courtney is dedicated to bridging psychology, medicine, and community partnerships to enhance health outcomes and research practices, with a special focus on improving mental and physical health outcomes within Black communities. She has secured several lines of funding to support her research from the National Institute of Mental Health (Diversity Supplement, F31) and Harvard Medical School (Kaplen Fellowship on Depression). Clinically, Courtney is trained in various evidence-based therapies, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). She has specialized training in providing treatments for anxiety and depression-related concerns. She also works with individuals experiencing mental health concerns across reproductive health transitions (e.g., pregnancy, post-partum, menopause). Outside of work, Courtney enjoys spending time with friends and family, cooking, and listening to music.

Bridget Murphy, BA

Bridget Murphy graduated from Princeton University in 2024 with a BA is Psychology, graduating with highest honors. During her senior year, she completed her thesis on the demographic spread and cognitive implications surrounding muscle dysmorphia in college aged students and student athletes. During her junior year, she completed an independent research project that investigated the role of various coping mechanisms and a multifaceted identity in an individual’s ability to successfully adapt and transform their identity following an abrupt identity altering event. Based on her academic performance both in the classroom and regarding her independent work, Bridget received the Howard Crosby Warren Prize in Psychology during her junior and senior year. Bridget was also a member of the varsity field hockey team, as well as the Varsity Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Athlete Ally. In the future, Bridget hopes to pursue a degree in Clinical Psychology.

Yashna Sadhu, BA

Yashna graduated from Emory University in 2026 with a B.A. in Chemistry. As an undergraduate, she worked as a research assistant in Dr. Negar Fani’s Lab where she investigated biomarkers of PTSD and had the opportunity to present her findings at the annual Society of Biological Psychiatry conference. She also worked at the Grady Trauma Project, conducting clinical interviews and supporting research on trauma related mental health disorders. Outside of research, Yashna served as president of her sorority, Gamma Phi Beta, and volunteered at Friends of Refugees, an organization dedicated to improving perinatal and postpartum outcomes for refugee women. At MGH, Yashna supports the National Pregnancy Registry for Psychiatric Medications and the STEPS for Postpartum Depression study. Yashna plans to attend medical school after her time at MGH.