Perinatal depression and anxiety are among the most common complications of pregnancy and the postpartum period, yet many parents still struggle to access timely, evidence-based care. In this talk, Dr. Daisy Singla will share findings from the SUMMIT trial, one of the largest psychotherapy trials in perinatal populations, examining how brief, patient-centred talk therapy can be delivered more flexibly and equitably. She will discuss evidence showing that one brief patient-centered therapy delivered by trained non-specialists and through telemedicine can achieve sustained improvements in depression and anxiety over 12 months, while also being more cost-effective. The talk will consider what these findings mean for families, clinicians, and health systems, and how we might reimagine perinatal mental health care so that effective treatment is easier to access, regardless of geography, specialist availability, or circumstance.

About Dr. Daisy Radha Singla

Dr. Daisy Radha Singla is a Clinical Psychologist, Senior Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), recently-appointed Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, and Canada Research Chair in Transformative Mental Healthcare. Her research focuses on expanding access to evidence-based psychological treatments for depression, anxiety, and trauma.

Dr. Singla has led research on scalable, effective, and culturally adaptable psychological treatments across Africa, South Asia, Canada, and the United States. In 2018, she became the youngest recipient of a $13.1 million USD Pragmatic Clinical Study Award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to lead the SUMMIT Trial, one of the largest psychotherapy trials for perinatal depression and anxiety in North America.

Her work has been published in leading medical journals including Nature Medicine, World Psychiatry, and the Lancet, and has informed mental health policy and implementation internationally. She has received awards from the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Society for Psychotherapy Research. Her work is guided by a central goal: making high-quality psychological care more accessible and equitable for women and families worldwide.

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