Helen Lavretsky

This oral presentation will build on 20 years of clinical and translational research documenting underlying mechanisms of mind-body therapies in adults with mood and cognitive disorders, chronic stress and pain that documented whole person and brain health benefits with the help of multi-system neural and peripheral biomarkers (inflammatory, epigenetic, biological aging) of response to yoga, Tai Chi, meditation, as well as compares neural response to transcendent human experiences of interacting with nature, art and cosmic soul during meditative experiences. Dr Lavretsky proposes multi-component interventions that could provide benefits of longevity and well-being across the lifespan and build resilience and brain health to offset environmental stressors and biological aging, as well as elevation of counsciousness.

Dr. Helen Lavretsky is a Professor In-Residence in the Department of Psychiatry at UCLA, the Semel Scholar in Integrative Mental Health, and directs Brain Health Innovation program and serves as the Director of Research for the UCLA Integrative Medicine Collaborative. She is a geriatric integrative psychiatrist with federally funded research program in geriatric depression and integrative mental health (NIMH, PCORI, DOD, and NCCIH) using mind-body interventions. She is a recipient of the Career Development award from NIMH and the NCCIH, and other prestigious research awards. Her current research studies include investigations of Tai Chi and yoga for treatment and prevention of late-life mood and cognitive disorders. She is the Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, and the Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and the recipient of the Distinguished Investigator awards for research in geriatric psychiatry from the American College of Psychiatrists and the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. She is one of the leaders of the global Brain Health and Brain economy movement, and the author of the new book "Living from the Soul: the Neuroscience of Spiritual Awakening (2026)."