Brought to you by the Depression Is Real Coalition, The Down & Up Show is dedicated to the reality of depression. Our hosts will talk with some of the world's top experts on depression, as well as people who have been impacted by this illness. The reality of depression is that it is a debilitating and potentially deadly medical condition that affects more than 15 million Americans every year. The other reality of depression is that there is hope.

Helen Lavretsky

Helen Lavretsky, MD, MS is an Associate Professor In-Residence in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and the Semel Institute for Neurosciences and Human Behavior of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

Dr Lavretsky completed a fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at UCLA and a national Veteran's Administration (VA) research fellowship in neuroscience at the West Los Angeles VA medical Center. She has remained a full-time faculty at UCLA since 1999. Dr. Lavretsky is a recipient of the Career Development Award from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Young Investigator Award from the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression, and the Junior Investigator Award from the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, among other prestigious research awards. Her current research studies include investigations in psychopharmacological treatment of geriatric depression, and behavioral and psychological disturbances of dementia, the MRI studies of brain structural changes effects on outcomes of geriatric depression and normal aging, using magnetic resonance imaging; and the interaction of coexisting medical and psychiatric disorders in relation to health and functional outcomes in the elderly. Dr. Lavretsky serves on the editorial board of Aging Health and as a scientific reviewer for many scientific journals, including the American Journal of Psychiatry, Archives of General Psychiatry, Neuropsychopharmacology, American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, The International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, International Psychogeriatrics, Drugs and Aging, and Brain and Aging.