Regina Canuso, MS, RN, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse-clinician, who specializes in working with pregnant women and families with young children.

Regina retired from the NYS Council on Children and Families where she was the Project Manager for the Governor’s Early Childhood Advisory Council and then the Coordinator for the Unit for Hard-to-Place Children and Youth.

From 2009-2010, she was a National Head Start Fellow at the Administration for Children and Families under Dr. Joan Lombardi, where she worked on maternal depression materials, and contributed information on infant/early childhood health to the federal Taskforce on Healthy Weight, the basis for first lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign.

She was the Head Start-Early Head Start Mental Health Coordinator in Onondaga County, NY, where she created and led their mental health program, including a maternal depression intervention she developed with Dr. Linda Beeber, PhD, RN, and was the Co-Investigator, with Dr. Beeber, on an NIMH-funded research project that tested their home-based maternal depression intervention for Early Head Start moms and babies. She became a Research Faculty member at UNC-CH School of Nursing, implementing maternal depression research in several sites across northern and southern states. She also has been a mental health therapist in private practice and at NY state-affiliated outpatient clinics. Regina has also worked as both a community and union organizer, including for the women-led 925 SEIU clerical workers union, where advocating for safe working conditions for clerical workers and safe childcare options for their children were her passion. Regina continues to advocate for families with young children locally and at the state and national level.