Heidi Burns, MD

Heidi Burns’s global health focus includes pediatric mental health, perinatal mood disorders, suicide prevention, and healthcare provider attitudes toward mental illness in Ghana. She has been involved in clinical and educational initiatives focused on improving understanding of mental illness, increasing access to mental health care in low-resource settings, and building capacity in psychiatric subspecialties. Her interests in global health equity align with the Center’s themes of empowering women, strengthening systems for health, and addressing social and environmental determinants of health. Burns’s research aims to improve understanding of mental health, reduce stigma around mental health care, and strengthen screening and prevention of mental illnesses. Her work includes studying healthcare provider attitudes toward suicide, building culturally relevant suicide screening tools, and developing culturally appropriate screening approaches for perinatal mood disorders.