Helen Herrman is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Orygen and the Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, and Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre in Mental Health, Melbourne.  She is former president of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA – 2017-2020) and the International Association of Women’s Mental Health. She is appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.

Her research and development interests as psychiatrist and public health physician include promoting mental health, community mental health care, and women’s mental health. Previously she was Professor and Director of Psychiatry in St. Vincent’s Health Melbourne, and for a year acted as regional advisor in mental health for the WHO’s Western Pacific Region. She led the WPA’s action plan 2017-2020, concerned with supporting the contribution of psychiatrists to global mental health. She has published and presented extensively on these topics, including as chair of The Lancet-WPA Commission on depression whose report: “time for united action on depression” was published in February 2022.