Katherine Wisner

Katherine L. Wisner obtained her B.S. in Chemistry and Biology magna cum laude from John Carroll University in Cleveland, an M.S. in Nutrition and an M.D. from Case Western Reserve University, followed by a categorical pediatric internship and general and child psychiatry residency at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. She completed a 3 year post-doctoral fellowship in Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School Of Public Health, a fellowship in Professional Ethics at Case Western Reserve University, and a certificate for the Physician Leadership and Management Program at the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. She also completed the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine program. She is board-certified in general and child and adolescent psychiatry. Dr. Wisner's main research focus is the psychiatric treatment of women of childbearing age. She is internationally recognized as an expert in the treatment of mood disorders during pregnancy and the postpartum period. She has been the principal investigator on multiple National Institute of Health- and foundation-funded research projects. In 2015, Dr. Wisner and colleagues at Northwestern received funding from NICHD for an Obstetric-Fetal Pharmacology Research Center. The primary project is Optimal Medication Management for Mothers with Depression (OPTI-MOM), which integrates psychiatric, pharmacologic and pharmacogenetic principles to improve the treatment of pregnant women with SSRI antidepressants. She is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Dr. Wisner is a past president of the Marcé International Society for Perinatal Mental Health and the inaugural President of the Perinatal Mental Health Society of North America. She was a consultant for the FDA Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee on Perinatal Depression. Dr. Wisner has authored more than 210 peer-reviewed articles and 18 book chapters. She received the Woman in Science Award from the American Medical Women’s Association in 2011 and the Alexandra Symonds Award from the American Psychiatric Association in 2012. She received the Marcé International Society for Perinatal Mental Health’s Medal for lifetime contributions to the field of Perinatal Psychiatry. She serves on the Editorial Boards of the American Journal of Psychiatry and the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Dr. Wisner was awarded the Distinguished Mentor Award from the Institute for Clinical Research Education, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2012. She enjoys training in dressage with her Morgan horse, hiking, traveling and perennial gardening.