Geoffrey M. Reed

Geoffrey M. Reed, PhD has been a Professor of Medical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons since 2018 and Director of the Columbia – WHO Center for Global Mental Health since 2023. He has also been a Consultant to the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use, World Health Organization (WHO) for more than 15 years. He has worked extensively with the National Institute of Psychiatry Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Mexico, where he was a founder of the Center for Global Mental Health Research. He is a Level 3 Member (highest level) of the National System of Researchers, National Council of Science and Technology, Mexico. Between 2008 and 2018, Dr. Reed was based at WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, where he led the development of the classification of mental, behavioural, and neurodevelopmental disorders for the Eleventh Revision of WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). The ICD-11 was approved by the 72nd World Health Assembly in 2019 and has been the basis for health reporting by WHO’s 194 member states since 2022. Dr. Reed was project director for the development of the diagnostic manual for use by global health professionals in clinical settings, the Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Requirements for ICD-11 Mental, Behavioural and Neurodevelopmental Disorders(link is external and opens in a new window) (CDDR) throughout its entire development, from 2007 – 2024. As a foundation of the ICD-11 development process, Dr. Reed directed a rigorous program 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,(link is external and opens in a new window) comprising more than 19,000 mental health and primary care professionals from 163 countries who have contributed directly to ICD-11 through participation in field studies and to other research effort such as the impact of COVID-19 on mental health professionals. He was Co-Chair of 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 in 2017 and the American Psychological Association Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to Psychology in 2021(link is external and opens in a new window).