Researching Myrna Weissman

Weissman worked with Gerald Klerman in developing Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) as one of the first evidence-based treatments for depression. IPT is defined in a manual and now has over 140 clinical trials, numerous transitions, and adaptations. They co-authored with Bruce Rounsaville and Eva Chevron the influential volume Interpersonal Psychotherapy of Depression: A Brief, Focused, Specific Strategy. Extending the approach to adolescents, Weissman co-authored the book Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Adolescents, with Laura Mufson, Kristen Pollack Dorta, and Donna Moreau. Other books co-authored by Weissman, including The Guide to Interpersonal Psychotherapy: Updated and Expanded Edition, offered further developments of their psychotherapeutic approach. Weissman and Klerman were jointly honored by the National Academy of Medicine in 1994 as recipients of the Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health. In 1996, they jointly received the Joseph Zubin Award established by the American Psychopathological Association for seminal contributions to psychopathology research.

Weissman has received numerous other awards for her accomplishments, including but not limited to the Rema Lapouse Award for significant contributions to psychiatric epidemiology in 1985, the Joseph Zubin Award for lifetime achievement from the Society for Research in Psychopathology in 1995, the Distinguished Service Award from the American Psychiatric Association in 2001, the Gold Medal Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry in 2007, and Thomas William Salmon Medal from the New York Academy of Medicine in 2009. In the same year, she was selected by the American College of Epidemiology as 1 of 19 epidemiologists in the United States who has had an impact on public policy and health. The summary of her work on depression appeared in a special issue of the Annals of Epidemiology Triumphs in Epidemiology. In 2019, she was invited to give the named lecture (100 years of women) at Yale University. In 2020, she received the Pardes Humanitarian Award from the Brain and Behavioral Research Foundation. In 2021, she received the Research Prize from the American Psychiatric Association.