Veerle Bergink, MD, PhD
- PROFESSOR | Psychiatry
- PROFESSOR | Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science
Specialty:
PsychiatryDr. Bergink is the director of Mount Sinai’s Women’s Mental Health Program, and is internationally renowned as an expert in the treatment of psychiatric disorders during pregnancy and the postpartum period. She a professor at the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Dr. Bergink specializes in mental health stability during pregnancy and the postpartum period, as well as the treatment of bipolar disorder. From 2004 to 2018, she treated patients at Erasmus University hospital in Rotterdam, where she led the Acute Inpatient Unit, the Mother-Baby Unit, and the Center of Excellence in Perinatal Psychiatry. She then moved to New York City to lead Mount Sinai’s Women’s Mental Health Program.
Her research career started in 2008 when she established a prospective postpartum psychosis study, currently the largest first-onset postpartum psychosis and mania cohort in the world. She has defined a highly effective clinical treatment algorithm for treatment of the acute phase and also for the prevention of postpartum relapse. Moreover, her research has provided intriguing evidence for an underlying immunological pathophysiology of postpartum depression, mania and psychosis. Since 2014 she is involved in epidemiological studies at the institute of registered based research in Denmark, examining intergenerational psychopathology and medication use during pregnancy. She has been the principle investigator on multiple research project including studies on lithium and antidepressant use during pregnancy, neuroimaging of new mothers and their offspring and the longitudinal course of severe perinatal mood disorders. Her work has been funded by various sources such as the NIH, European Union, the Dutch Government, and private foundations.
Dr. Bergink has published extensively in top-tier scientific journals. Two papers were listed as top 10 most important clinical studies in in the entire field of psychiatry, selected by the publishing group of the NEJM. She received prestigious awards, such as the price for the best research within all faculty in the last three years at Erasmus University and the Ramaer medal from the Netherlands Psychiatric Association, awarded to the person who contributed the most to the field of clinical and scientific Psychiatry over the last two years.
Clinical Focus
Mental health stability during pregnancy and the postpartum period
Bipolar Disorder
Research topics
Medication use during pregnancy
In utero brain development
Bipolar disorder
Postpartum mania, psychosis and depression
Immunology
Brain imaging
Epidemiology
Education
School of Medicine, University Groningen, The Netherlands 1991-1998 (summa cum laude)
Neurology residencies, OLVG West, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 1998-1999
Psychiatry residencies, University Hospital Utrecht, The Netherlands 1999-2001
PhD graduation, Erasmus University Rotterdam 2012 (summa cum laude)
Education
MD, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Residency, Psychiatry, UMC Utrecht
Fellowship, Psychiatry, Aarhus University Hospital
Fellowship, Psychiatry, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Physicians and scientists on the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai often interact with pharmaceutical, device and biotechnology companies to improve patient care, develop new therapies and achieve scientific breakthroughs. In order to promote an ethical and transparent environment for conducting research, providing clinical care and teaching, Mount Sinai requires that salaried faculty inform the School of their relationships with such companies.
Dr. Bergink did not report having any of the following types of financial relationships with industry during 2022 and/or 2023: consulting, scientific advisory board, industry-sponsored lectures, service on Board of Directors, participation on industry-sponsored committees, equity ownership valued at greater than 5% of a publicly traded company or any value in a privately held company. Please note that this information may differ from information posted on corporate sites due to timing or classification differences.
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