Dr. Sue Varma

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Board Certified Psychiatrist, Sharecare Emmy Winner, Clinical Assistant Professor at NYU

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    Dr. Sue Varma: Biography at a Glance

    • Dr. Sue Varma is a board-certified psychiatrist and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at New York University (NYU) Langone Health and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the highest honor bestowed upon its members.
    • Dr. Varma was the first medical director and attending psychiatrist at the World Trade Center Mental Health Program at NYU Langone where she treated first responders and civilians impacted by 9/11.
    • Dr. Varma can regularly be seen on multiple media outlets including The Today Show, NBC News, MSNBC, CNN, CBS News, ABC News, NPR, PBS, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Nightly News, and Conde Nast.
    • She was part of a groundbreaking, one-month-long national campaign and a two-hour live special for conversations on mental health called "Stop the Stigma" and was nominated for a Sharecare Emmy for this work.
    • Dr. Varma was awarded the inaugural Sharecare Emmy for a six-episode web depression series and has been nominated 9 total times in the categories of behavioral health, caregiving, men’s mental health, and health/science news. 
    • She also received the 2022 Ivan Goldberg Outstanding Service Award from the New York County Psychiatric Society for her pioneering work in educating the public in psychiatry and decreasing stigma through grassroots education.
    • She is the author of the highly anticipated forthcoming book, Practical Optimism, a tangible pathway to boosting health, happiness, resilience, success, and longevity. 

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    Biography

    Dr. Sue Varma is a board-certified psychiatrist and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at New York University (NYU) Langone Health. She is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the highest honor bestowed upon its members. Dr. Varma was the first medical director and attending psychiatrist to the World Trade Center Mental Health Program at NYU Langone where she treated first responders and civilians impacted by 9/11. Dr. Varma is considered the nation's leading "Go-To" psychiatrist and mental health expert, called upon for breaking news and evergreen topics, across the networks. She received the 2022 Ivan Goldberg Outstanding Service Award from the New York County Psychiatric Society for her pioneering work in educating the public in psychiatry and decreasing stigma through grassroots education.

    Through scientific solutions and tangible takeaways, Dr. Varma engages, informs, motivates, and inspires audiences to make actionable change. Dr. Varma is passionate about empowering people to take a holistic, 360' approach to wellness. Her 4 M's of mental health- movement, meaningful engagement, motivation, and mindfulness have resonated with people across the globe. Dr. Varma isn't just interested in helping people go from a state of dysfunction to function, but rather as a way of thriving in the zone of optimal functioning. As a cognitive behavioral therapist and couples counselor, Dr. Varma integrates nutrition, mindfulness, yoga, and exercise into her comprehensive mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual wellness approach.

    An informative and engaging presence, Dr. Varma can regularly be seen on multiple media outlets including The Today Show, NBC News, MSNBC, CNN, CBS News, ABC News, NPR, PBS, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Nightly News, and Conde Nast. She provides insight into the impact of everything from mass shootings, poverty, suicide, and homelessness to trends in marriage and relationships, burnout, work-life balance, collective trauma, self-care, toxic positivity, men's mental health, optimism, self-compassion, loneliness, women's mental health, and parenting.

    In addition to participating in hundreds of interviews over the last 15 years, Dr. Varma has also been an on-air contributor for hour-long specials by Nightly News (Covid and families, school re-openings with Lester Holt), ABC World News Tonight, Dateline, 20/20 as well as numerous specials for NBC’s Today Show including specials on mass shootings (addressing a nation on mourning), state of women’s health (with Maria Shriver), longevity, climate grief, pandemic parenting. She was part of a groundbreaking, one-month-long national campaign and a two-hour live, Stop the Stigma special, with CBS This Morning, and was nominated for a Sharecare Emmy for this work. She was also a part of a two-night, ABC primetime documentary special on the history of the Royal Family. Dr. Varma has been an on-air expert for 20 stories, over two seasons of the National Geographic show Taboo. As a trusted voice on managing mental health and wellness, Dr. Varma is quoted several times a month in print outlets including Huff Po, WSJ Magazine, New Yorker, Health, Shape, Women's Health Magazine, Oprah Magazine, New Beauty, New York Times, Washington Post etc. Dr. Varma is a member of SAG-AFTRA.

    Dr. Varma is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards. She was a recipient of the inaugural Sharecare Emmy and a Mayor Proclamation by Mayor Ravi Bhalla for her mental health advocacy. She was awarded the Outstanding Public Sector Award (from the Indo American Psychiatric Association, IAPA) Dr. Varma has now been nominated for 9 total Sharecare Emmys in the categories of behavioral health, caregiving, men’s mental health, and health/science news. She is the author of the highly anticipated forthcoming book, Practical Optimism, a tangible pathway to boosting health, happiness, resilience, success, and longevity. 

    Dr. Varma has played an integral role in guiding the nation through the emotional ravages of the coronavirus pandemic contributing on-air on topics of anti-racism, specials on women, frontline workers. Dr. Varma has also been on the forefront of mental health treatment for frontline worker via direct patient care. She has been the leading expert for corporate wellness, delivering keynote and virtual presentations and panel discussions on mental wellness to audiences ranging from journalists to healthcare professionals, to seniors, to C-Suite leaders throughout the world. In these conversations, Dr. Varma talks about work-life balance, navigating a new normal. Her talks for journalists and media personnel included CBS, NBC Universal (worldwide and on-demand for 50,000 employees), VIP Roundtable for Washington Post, Barron's and Marketplace, among others. Dr. Varma's insights are received as scientific and credible as much as they are reassuring, optimistic and hopeful during these unprecedented times.

    As part of an international benefit for coronavirus relief sponsored by Global Citizen in conjunction with the World Health Organization, Lady Gaga, and the United Nations, Dr. Varma appeared in a prime-time special aired across networks, streaming and globally alongside Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Oprah, Elton John, Jennifer Lopez, Alicia Keys, John Legend, the Rolling Stones and all three late-night show hosts. Her mental health tips were recognized amongst the “Top 7 Highlights” and she was honored as one of the “Top Five Health Experts” along with the WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros, Bill and Melinda Gates.

    Topics

    Practical Optimism: A Doctor's Prescription for Greatnessarrow-down

    An NYU Professor of Psychiatry, Dr. Sue Varma, will take an in-depth look at the science of optimism and how it can be applied to everyday life. It is research and fact-based, with clear takeaways and useful action steps. When Dr. Varma says practical optimism, she means an approach to optimism that can be learned and replicated. If optimists are more successful on average, it is a skill that can be cultivated. Combining philosophy, medicine, psychiatry, psychology, neuroscience, and research, Dr. Varma will lay out the 8 P’s – 8 principles to lead to a more optimistic future.

     

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