Professor Geoffrey M Reed PhD is incoming director of the Columbia University-World Health Organization (WHO) Center for Global Mental Health and professor of medical psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center. He is a renowned international expert on psychopathology, diagnosis and assessment, and global mental health.

He was also a founder of the Center for Global Mental Health Research at the National Institute of Psychiatry, Mexico and is a Level 3 member (highest level) of the National System of Researchers, Mexico.

From 2008-2018, he was based at WHO headquarters in Geneva and led the development of the classification of mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders for the 11th Revision of WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), which came into effect around the world in 2022. This was the most broadly international, multilingual, multidisciplinary, and participative revision process ever implemented for a classification of mental disorders. A foundation of the revision process was a rigorous programme of international field studies involving thousands of clinicians around the world and producing hundreds of research articles in top scientific journals.

He founded and directed the WHO Global Clinical Practice Network which comprises over 18,500 mental health and primary care professionals from 163 countries, set up for the purpose of
participating in these studies.

Professor Reed was named by Stanford University as one of the top 2% of global scientists across all fields. He co-chaired the 2021 American Psychological Association Presidential task force on psychology and health equity. He has received numerous awards, including the Robert L Spitzer MD memorial award for outstanding contributions to nosology and diagnosis and the 2021 American Psychological Association award for outstanding lifetime contributions to psychology.

About the Columbia University-WHO Center for Global Mental Health

This is an officially recognised WHO Collaborating Center that supports WHO’s mission to reduce the burden associated with mental health and substance use disorders and promote mental health worldwide
through research, training, and capacity building. More specifically, it supports WHO in advancing research aimed at enhancing the identification, diagnosis, and treatment of mental disorders worldwide by providing scientific and technical support for research development, data infrastructure, and dissemination of research findings. At the request of WHO, it develops training resources and materials on prevention, identification, diagnosis, and treatment of mental health and behavioural disorders across a range of settings and contexts.

It works with countries globally to develop the measures to be used in national mental health surveys keyed to the ICD-11, for which there is high demand in the wake of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the response to it on mental health. We deliver postgraduate educational programmes that prepare clinicians and researchers to advance the field of global mental health, develop training programmes that build capacity for research and clinical care in lowand middle-income countries, conduct basic and applied research with global relevance, advance community awareness and understanding of mental and substance use disorders, and advocate for human rights of people affected by them.