Maria Muzik, MD, MS

Dr. Muzik is a clinician, scholar and educator, whose work is grounded in reproductive health and justice and mental health equity across the childbearing years. Professionally, she is faculty and Professor of Psychiatry and Obstetrics & Gynecology at Michigan Medicine and serves as Medical Director of the Perinatal and Reproductive Psychiatry Services at Michigan Medicine. In this function she oversees perinatal psychiatric care delivered within psychiatry and also integrated in obstetrics, family medicine and pediatrics. Within Michigan Medicine she also co-directs Zero To Thrive, a multidisciplinary program in psychiatry aiming to promote health and resiliency for families from pregnancy through early childhood with research, education, community partnership and service. She co-developed the Strong Roots™ programs, a menu of resiliency-oriented evidence-based interventions. Her research work focuses on the impact of adversity and mental illness in the context of childbearing on caregiving and the developing parent-child relationship, and how to support families in overcoming psychological and environmental adversity and how to implement and test effective interventions. Dr. Muzik also co-directs the Partnering for Future program, an integrated multidisciplinary service for perinatal people with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. She is the past president of the North American Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Dr. Muzik holds a master’s degree in Clinical Research and Statistical Analysis from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the impact of stress, trauma and mental illness in the context of childbearing on caregiving and the developing parent-child relationships, and how to support families in overcoming psychological and environmental adversity. Dr. Muzik also conducts global health work in Latin America (Ecuador) and focuses on women’s mental health during pregnancy and postpartum, gender-based violence, child mental health, and multigenerational perspectives. Her interests in global health equity aligns around themes of empowering women, strengthening systems for health, and technical solutions for health equity.

She has published over 180 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters, edited books, and her work is funded by the National Institute of Health, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services-Administration for Children and Families, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid in Michigan.

You can visit her website at https://www.zerotothrive.org