Steffi Riedel-Heller

Steffi Riedel-Heller is a Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health (ISAP) at the University of Leipzig, Germany. She holds a Full professor (W3) position and has led ISAP since 2010. Her academic career includes a Medical Degree (MD) from Leipzig University (1991), a PhD in Medicine (1994), and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from Johns Hopkins University (1995).

Research Interests: Focus on Public Mental Health, Epidemiology of Mental Disorders, Social Psychiatry, and Health Service Research. Her work emphasizes scalable interventions like m-health, prevention strategies, and guideline development for mental health care. She leads projects such as the National S3 Treatment Guideline on Psychosocial therapies for severe mental disorders and chairs the Division of Mental Health in the German Network for Health Services Research (DNVF).

Awards & Leadership: Recipient of the Hermann-Simon-Preis (2007) and the Hans and Ilse Breuer Research Award (2017). She serves on editorial boards of journals like Psychiatrische Praxis and holds leadership roles in organizations including the German Association for Psychiatry (DGPPN) and the European Psychiatric Association (EPA). She co-chairs the Public Mental Health Division at the German Society of Public Health.

Grants & Initiatives: Leads the University Center for Health Services Research (UZVF) and oversees the @ktiv trial on digital mental health interventions. Her work bridges clinical practice, policy, and public health, with a focus on aging populations and mental health disparities.

Labs/Teams: Directs the ISAP, a multidisciplinary institute addressing social medicine, occupational health, and public health challenges. Collaborates with international networks like the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and the International Federation of Psychiatric Epidemiology (IFPE).