Lise Van Susteren, MD

Dr. Lise Van Susteren, a practicing general and forensic psychiatrist in Washington, DC, is an expert on the physical and mental health effects of climate change. Dr. Van Susteren has served as a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University and has been a consultant to the Executive Branch of the US Government profiling world leaders.After receiving her medical degree from the University of Paris, she practiced medicine in West Africa, at community health centers and homeless shelters in metropolitan Washington DC. In addition to community organizing on climate issues, Dr. Van Susterenhas served on the Advisory Board of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and is currently on the board of Physicians for Social Responsibility, Earth Day Network, and is co-founder of “Climate Psychiatry Alliance,” a professional group dedicated to promoting awareness and action on climate from a mental health perspective. In 2009 she co-convened the first gathering of experts on climate disruption and national security, communication and messaging, animal and plant extinction, community organizing, and disaster psychiatry to discuss the unfolding crisis and its future impacts on the mental health of the public. In 2011 she co-authored “The Psychological Effects of Climate Warming on the U.S. – Why the US Mental Health System Is Not Prepared”.
Her book, Emotional Inflammation, co-authored with science writer Stacy Colino, will be released in April 2020.
She is a frequent contributor on television, radio and in the print media. In 2006 Dr. Van Susteren sought the Democratic nomination for the US Senate from Maryland.