Seleni Institute Taps Healthcare Operations Veteran to Lead Growing Organization as Executive Director
January 10, 2023 – The Seleni Institute, a leading maternal mental health clinic and training institute, is pleased to announce the appointment of Seema Bajaj as executive director. Founded in 2011 by Nitzia and George Logothetis, Seleni is a recognized leader in treating, training, supporting and advocating for the emotional health of women, caregivers and their families during the family-building years. It does this through a unique hybrid approach that includes a maternal mental health clinic serving individuals and families in the U.S. and through its accredited mental health training institute for practitioners around the world. Seleni was launched based on a simple yet powerful insight: Change a mother’s life, change a child’s life.
Seema joins Seleni’s executive team amid a growing demand for the organization’s clinical services and training curriculum. Seleni reached a milestone of 50,000 patient appointments in 2022 and has trained more than 5,000 health professionals in 60 countries through in-person and online CE-accredited courses developed by Seleni clinicians, at times in partnership with other maternal mental health experts and institutions. Deeply committed to democratizing access to its professional trainings, Seleni has awarded more than 160 training scholarships to clinicians working with underserved mothers and families worldwide in the last two years, with plans to expand its scholarship program further.
Seema brings a diverse healthcare perspective that is attuned to the needs of patients, providers and staff and responsive to the fast-changing healthcare world. She has led clinical operations, financial management, and strategic planning for large medical institutions for nearly 20 years. Most recently, Seema served as administrator of the Department of Pediatrics at Stony Brook Medicine for more than a decade, where she provided financial accountability for the clinical and research department and served as chief of staff to the chair of pediatrics, overseeing large scale operations with accountability for over 120 physicians, 200 staff and 10 ambulatory sites. As executive director, Seema will work hand in hand with Seleni’s founder, Nitzia Logothetis, who will continue her role of clinical director and psychotherapist.
“Seema’s expertise in healthcare operations will clearly be invaluable to Seleni as we scale our impact both at home and abroad,” said Nitzia Logothetis. “However, it’s her deep understanding and empathy for the population we serve that will help us deploy innovative ways to broaden our reach and ensure that clinicians around the world have the training they need as they treat and support mothers and other caregivers everywhere.”
“Seleni has led the way in raising awareness and helping to destigmatize maternal mental health treatment. I’m honored to join the team at a time when expanding access to both training and treatment is critical to addressing the maternal mental health crisis exacerbated by the pandemic,” said Seema. “Seleni is working to close the gap between access and care, to break the stigma, and to change the conversation so that mental health is prioritized in the same way as physical health. This impact is exponential and cascades into the health of future generations.”
About Seleni
Seleni is a nonprofit organization founded in 2011 on a simple yet powerful insight: Change a mother’s life, change a child’s life. As a recognized leader in maternal mental health, Seleni is dedicated to destigmatizing maternal mental health care and supporting the emotional health of individuals and families during the family-building years. By removing many barriers to therapy through in-person and virtual treatment for individuals and couples and its CE-accredited training and scholarships for health professionals, Seleni helps scale access to treatment and expand practitioner knowledge worldwide. Visit seleni.org and explore the organization’s professional training curriculum at training.seleni.org.
View the press release on CSR Wire.
