Manish Jha

Saundra Jain, MA, PsyD, LPC, is an Adjunct Clinical Affiliate in the School of Nursing at The University of Texas at Austin and a psychotherapist in private practice. Dr. Jain is a co-creator of WILD 5 – A Proven Path to Wellness and co-author of The Science and Practice of Wellness: Interventions for Happiness, Enthusiasm, Resilience, and Optimism (HERO). She is the co-creator of the Psychedelics and Wellness Survey (PAWS), exploring the intersection between psychedelics and wellness. She is the co-host of the newly launched podcast Happy Human 3.0, which explores how modern humans can move beyond merely surviving 21st-century stressors and begin to flourish by integrating neuroscience, positive psychiatry, and compassionate, human-centered care.

In addition, Dr. Jain serves on the Psych Congress Steering Committee, helping guide educational priorities and identify emerging needs in mental health practice. She also teaches with Fluence Training, a leading provider of psychedelic education for mental health professionals, where she serves as faculty in their certification programs in Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration (PHRI) and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP).

Manish Jha is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and O’Donnell Clinical Neuroscience Scholar at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX. He received his medical degree from Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, India and completed his psychiatry residency training at UT Southwestern. His program of research is focused on developing novel interventions for psychiatric disorders, personalizing the use of currently available treatments, and bringing these scientific discoveries to clinical practice. In addition to his research and educational activities, Dr. Jha maintains an active clinical practice focusing on evidence-based interventions for difficulty-to-treat depressive and anxiety disorders.He has authored/co-authored over 200 manuscripts.

Vanessa Joy Walker, MPH, is a national speaker and healthcare strategist who works at the intersection of lived experience, education, and healthcare strategy. She serves on the Psych Congress Steering Committee, contributing to the direction of programming and advancing the integration of lived experience experts within clinician education.

Her background spans executive operations, educational design, coalition leadership, and strategic communications. She has co-founded national women’s health coalitions, advised federal advocacy campaigns, and partnered with organizations such as the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance and biotech leaders on advocacy and engagement strategy.

Her work centers on women’s health, survivorship, and behavioral health — bringing both formal training and lived experience across complex health journeys to the way healthcare is designed, taught, and delivered.

Rakesh Jain, MD, MPH, attended medical school at the University of Calcutta in India. He then attended graduate school at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, where he was awarded a “National Institute/Center for Disease Control Competitive Traineeship”. His research thesis focused on impact of substance abuse. He graduated from the School of Public Health in 1987 with a Masters of Public Health (MPH) degree.

Dr. Jain served a three-year residency in Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. He followed that by obtaining further specialty training, by undergoing a two-year fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. In addition, Dr. Jain completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Research Psychiatry at the University of Texas Mental Sciences Institute, in Houston. He was awarded the “National Research Service Award” for the support of this postdoctoral fellowship.

Manish Jha is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and O’Donnell Clinical Neuroscience Scholar at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX. He received his medical degree from Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, India and completed his psychiatry residency training at UT Southwestern. His program of research is focused on developing novel interventions for psychiatric disorders, personalizing the use of currently available treatments, and bringing these scientific discoveries to clinical practice. In addition to his research and educational activities, Dr. Jha maintains an active clinical practice focusing on evidence-based interventions for difficulty-to-treat depressive and anxiety disorders.He has authored/co-authored over 200 manuscripts.