Nancy K. Grote, Ph.D., a beloved and respected member of the International Society of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (ISIPT), passed away on December 23, 2021 at the age of 77.  Nancy was a wise, generous, and esteemed researcher, teacher, and clinician.  Among her many contributions to the field, Nancy developed and tested culturally-relevant Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) for perinatal depression, demonstrated that a culturally-informed engagement session reduced barriers to treatment-seeking in pregnant women with low income, and showed that an IPT-based collaborative care intervention for perinatal depression (MOMCare, the program she founded) was superior to treatment as usual in pregnant women, who are socio-economically disadvantaged.  See below for a selection of Nancy’s publications on these topics.1-11  Click here to learn more about MOMCare.

To honor her life and legacy, Nancy’s husband and children have established a fund at ISIPT, an organization close to her heart. The Nancy K. Grote Memorial Fund will be used to support and further activities that Nancy championed in her personal and professional life, including teaching, training, and disseminating IPT with the goal of improving outcomes for low-resourced communities and women with perinatal depression. Examples of planned fund disbursements include a) grants to support IPT clinicians and investigators from low- and middle-income countries to attend the ISIPT biennial conference, b) support for a Nancy K. Grote lecture delivered at the ISIPT biennial meeting focused on issues that were important to Nancy (i.e., perinatal IPT; diversity, equity and inclusion in mental health teaching and delivery; IPT dissemination and implementation), and c) funding to support IPT training and supervision of minoritized or low-resourced clinicians, especially those committed to delivering IPT to vulnerable perinatal populations.

Embodying Nancy’s values of cultural humility, compassion, and human connection, the Nancy K. Grote Memorial Fund will train, support, and inform the next generation of IPT clinicians who deliver this evidence-based, life-changing, psychotherapy to individuals equitably across the globe.  Your gift will make a difference for people living with depression, especially those with perinatal depression and on low incomes.  Donations to the fund are tax-deductible as allowable by local laws.