Dr Marisa Casanova Dias is a clinical academic psychiatrist at Cardiff University. She was awarded an MRC (Medical Research Council) Clinical Research Training Fellowship to pursue a PhD to study bipolar disorder in the perinatal period, which she combines with being an honorary consultant psychiatrist.

Marisa was seconded to the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology where she worked on a policy briefing on the Mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. She has worked at King’s College London, researching women’s mental health, and contributing to the Policy Research Unit work. Marisa trained at the Maudsley and University College London schemes and holds an MSc in Psychiatric Research from University College London. During her training, she was awarded a year-long leadership fellowship at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), where she contributed to the Bipolar Guideline.

She is president of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) Section of Psychiatry, secretary of the European Psychiatric Association’s (EPA) Section on Women’s Mental Health and member of the EPA's Publication Committee. She is an executive committee member of the Faculty of Perinatal Psychiatry and the International Advisory Committee of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. She is a past president of the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) and set up the EFPT Exchange Programme.

Marisa was appointed to the Lancet Psychiatry ‘Commission on the Future of Psychiatry in Ukraine: A Vision for Change’ and is chairing the Education and Training group.