Ayal Schaffer is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, and Head of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada. He previously chaired the ISBD Task Force on Suicide, and served as VP Education for the society. He currently serves as Deputy Editor-in-Chief for the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry and VP Outreach for the Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT). Dr. Schaffer’s research interests involve the management of bipolar disorder, and understanding suicide risk and prevention.

Dr. Byatt is a perinatal psychiatrist and physician-scientist focused on improving systems of care to promote the mental health of parents and children. Her passion for her work is deeply rooted in her experiences as a clinician, researcher, daughter, and mother. She is a Professor with Tenure of Psychiatry, Ob/Gyn, and Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at UMass Chan Medical School. She developed the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program (MCPAP) for Moms. MCPAP for Moms is a statewide program that has 1) increased access to mental health care for thousands of perinatal individuals 2) become a national model for perinatal mental health care, and 3) impacted state and national policies and funding. She is the Founding Executive Director of the Lifeline for Families Center and Lifeline for Moms Program at UMass Chan Medical School. The Center’s activities include capacity building, consultation, and research. Dr. Byatt’s research uses implementation science methods to design, implement, and evaluate scalable approaches for improving parental and child mental health services and outcomes. With over ten years of continuous federal funding for her research, Dr. Byatt’s achievements have led to over 90 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, over 250 presentations, and numerous national awards. Her love is her family, especially her two teenage boys. Her passion is increasing access to and the quality of mental health care. Her mission is to redefine perinatal and family health care to include mental health care.