Speaker's Profile

Dr. Monika Roots is the President, Lyra Specialty Services at Lyra Health, where she leads strategy and partnerships to expand access to high-quality mental health care across the country. She joined Lyra following its acquisition of Bend Health in July 2025, the pediatric and family mental health company she co-founded and helped build into one of the most innovative care models in youth behavioral health. At Lyra, she builds on that work with an expanded focus - advancing scalable, evidence-based, relationship-centered care for children, families, and adults.A double board-certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist with more than 16 years of experience, Dr. Roots has held leadership roles at Teladoc, where she launched its behavioral health line of business, as well as at Sanvello, CogCubed, and Psych Hub, where she advanced work in telehealth, gamification, and digital therapeutics. Her contributions to mental health innovation earned her recognition as EY Entrepreneur of the Year Midwest in 2024 and as an Inc. Female Founder in 2025.Dr. Roots is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Member of its Committee on Innovation. She also serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, continuing to advance the field through research, education, and thought leadership. She has published extensively, holds several patents, and is frequently featured in the media as a trusted expert on youth mental health.Her passion for improving care is personal. Raised between two cultures and as the daughter of a mother with bipolar disorder, she often felt caught in the in-between. These early experiences shaped her belief that every child deserves to feel seen, supported, and understood - a belief that continues to guide her work today as both a clinician and a mom of two boys.