Invited Speakers

• A. Carlo Altamura, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Milan, Italy, and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry , Fondazione IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico of Milan, Italy.
• He graduated as Medical Doctor in 1972 at the University of Milan where he completed the Residency School of Psychiatry in 1976. He  attended as visiting scientist in different Academic Institutions (University Psychiatry Hospital  Aarhus, DK; “Mario Negri Institute” for Pharmacological Research, Milan; Hospital Medical College, London; “Laboratoires d’Etudes et Recherches Synthelabo, Paris; Case Western University, Cleveland, Ohio). 
• He  has received Scientific Awards from the “European Science Foundation Training Programme in Brain  and Behaviour Research” (Strasbourg) and for “Scientific Production and Activities" at the University of Milan. He is Author of  more than 450 Scientific Publications in the fields of Psychopharmacology, Biological Psychiatry and Psychogeriatry. 
• He  is Member and Councilor of the following Professional Societies:
  

- European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (Executive Committee Member 1998-2002);     - Collegium Internationale NeuroPsychopharmachologicum  (CINP) (Councilor 2002-2004;Member of the CINP Nominating Committee since 2007);
- World Psychiatric Association (Member of the Section of Pharmacotherapy);
- World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry(WFSBP);
- International Society for Bipolar Disorders  (ISBD) (Councilor from 2010);
- Italian Societies of Psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry, Neuro-Psychopharmacology, Neuroscience and Psychogeriatrics.

• Prof. Altamura is Co-Author of  International “Consensus Statements” and “Treatment Guidelines” as following:
  

-  ECNP (Guidelines for Depot Antipsychotic Treatment in Schizophrenia [Kane et al., Eur         Neuropsychopharmacol. 1998;8(1):55-66]; Negative, depressive and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia .Nice, March 2004  [ Montgomery et al, Eur  Neuropsychopharmacol. 2007;17:70-77] ) - Manifesto for European Anxiety Disorders Research Network [ Baldwin et al.,2010 Eur. Neuropsychopharmacol. 2010;20:426-432]
-  WPA ( SSRIs/Antidepressants and Suicide Risk [Moeller et al., Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 258 Suppl 3:3-23. 2008]; Comparative Effectiveness of Antipsychotics in the Treatment of Schizophrenia [Tandon et al., Schizophr Res. 2008;100(1-3):20-38])
-  WFSBP (Guidelines for the Treatment of Schizophrenia [Falkai et al., 2005 World J Biol  Psychiatry. 2005;6(3):132-91]).

• He is Member of the Editorial Board of several International Scientific Journals including International  Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, International Clinical Psychopharmacology,  Journal of Affective Disorders, The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, Neuropsychiatry, Open Journal of Psychiatry (OJPsych) , World Journal of Psychiatry (WJP).
• Prof. Altamura is reviewer for Journals like Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, American Journal of Psychiatry, Archives of General Psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry etc.
• Prof. Altamura is Chairman of the Innovation in Psychiatry (INNOPSY), an International Forum  held  biennially in Milan on clinical and therapeutic innovations in Psychiatry.
  

Allen Doederlein

Allen Doederlein is President of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA), the nation’s largest consumer-led mental health organization focusing on mood disorders. DBSA reaches nearly 5,000,000 people each year with current, consumer-friendly information about depression and bipolar disorder, as well as empowering tools focused on an integrated approach to wellness and recovery. Allen facilitates DBSA’s strategic alliances and partnerships, serves as organizational spokesperson, and oversees generation of both contributed and earned revenues. Allen was previously DBSA’s Interim Executive Director of External Affairs, and DBSA’s Vice President of Development prior to that.

Allen is proud to be a member of the Advocacy Committee of the International Society of Bipolar Disorders. He also represents DBSA within the American Medical Association’s Major Depressive Disorder Committee and work groups, Mental Health Liaison Group, Depression is Real Coalition, and Coalition for Whole Health. Allen acted as judge and spokesperson for DBSA’s 2010 SPEAK And Be Heard...Living with Depression Campaign, a national education and anti-stigma campaign. Allen speaks regularly and has participated as a keynote and panelist for DBSA, DBSA-California, the University of California San Francisco Smoking Cessation Center, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and others.

Prior to DBSA, Allen worked for numerous nonprofits in key leadership roles, most recently as Director of Development for Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theater, where he facilitated contributions to the annual fund and $11.8-million capital campaign to renovate the historic Biograph Theater.

Allen is currently on the Board of Music in the Loft, a chamber music presenting organization. He has previously served on the Boards of Mordine & Company and the Neo-Futurists, the auxiliary Board of Urban Gateways, and the Chicago Community Trust/Wallace Foundation Audience Engagement Network Advisory Committee.

A recipient of a Ford Foundation Research Fellowship, Allen is a magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Knox College with a degree in Theatre and English Literature.

Andrew McIntosh studied Medicine and undertook his residency and doctoral level training in the UK. He is a Senior Research Fellow in Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh and a consultant psychiatrist for the NHS. He is a previous winner of the Association of European Psychiatrists Research Prize and has held clinical research fellowships from both the MRC and the UK Academy of Medical Sciences/Health Foundation. Andrew’s research interests are primarily focussed on the use of genetics and imaging to gain a better understanding of bipolar disorder and related conditions. He currently leads a prospective cohort study of people at high risk of bipolar disorder at the University of Edinburgh.

AYSEGUL OZERDEM MD, PhD

Dokuz Eylul Universtiy Medical School
Department of Psychiatry,
Director, Mood Disorders Program

Dokuz Eylul University Health Sciences Institute
Head, Department of Neuroscience        

Vice President, Multidisciplinary Brain Dynamics Research Center
İzmir-TURKEY

Istanbul Kultur University
Affiliated Professor of Psychiatry
Brain Dynamics, Cognition, and Complex Systems Research Center,
Istanbul-TURKEY

Memberships:
International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) (Vice President)
Psychiatric Association of Turkey (Mood Disorders Branch)
Izmir Chamber of Medical Doctors
Bipolar Disorders Association of Turkey (Executive Board member)
APA (American Psychiatric Association)
Lithium Society (Founder member; Past President / current Executive Board member)

Aysegul Ozerdem received her medical degree from Ankara University, Faculty of Medicine in 1985 and worked as a general practitioner at different hospital settings until 1989.  She completed her residency in Psychiatry at Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry in 1995.   Dr. Ozerdem worked as a research fellow at National Institute of Mental Health, Clinical Psychopharmacology Experimental Therapeutics Branch between 1992-1994.  She became a tutor in Psychiatry in 1995, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry in 1998, Associate Professor of Psychiatry in 2000 and got her full professorship at Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry in 2006.  She has gained her PhD degree in Biophysics in 2008.  
Dr. Ozerdem established the bipolar outpatient unit at her department in 1995 where she is currently working as the director.  She authored and co-authored several scientific papers, and book chapters, and won a number of national and international research project awards in the field of bipolar disorders. Dr. Ozerdem worked on both organizing and scientific committees of national and international conferences on bipolar disorder.  Her main research areas of interest are imaging (electrophysiology) and neurocognition, treatment, course and outcome in bipolar disorders. She is currently the Vice President of International Society for Bipolar Disorders.

Endowed Chair in Early Onset Bipolar Disease
Professor of Psychiatry
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic
Pittsburgh, PA

Boris Birmaher, MD, is the Endowed Chair in Early Onset Bipolar Disease and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine.  He has board certifications in both general psychiatry and child psychiatry.  He received his medical degree from Valle University in Cali, Colombia and completed; training in general psychiatry at the Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel; training in biological psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York; and training in child psychiatry at Columbia University, New York Psychiatric Institute in New York.  

Dr. Birmaher has been involved in clinical work and research in pediatric mood and anxiety disorders for over 25 years.  His research interests include areas of phenomenology, course and outcome, etiology, and pharmacology and psychosocial treatments. He is currently involved in several NIMH studies including:  1) “Course and Outcome for Adolescents with Bipolar Illness,” aimed at describing the phenomenology, course, and associated factors in children and adolescents with bipolar spectrum disorder; 2)  “Children of Bipolar Parents: A High Risk Follow-up Study,” aimed at studying the longitudinal psychopathology of children of parents with bipolar disorder compared with children of community controls; and 3) “Longitudinal Assessment of Manic Symptoms,” aimed at evaluating the predictive value of early-onset manic symptoms in a large sample of children ages 6-12 years old. Together with Dr. David Axelson, he is the Co-Director of the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Services (CABS) program, a program for the service, teaching and research of bipolar disorder in youth.

Dr. Caleb M. Adler received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and completed a residency in psychiatry at the Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, DC. After residency, he completed a senior staff fellowship in the Experimental Therapeutics Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). He is currently an associate professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, where he co-directs the Division of Bipolar Disorder Research and is an assistant director of the Center for Imaging Research. Dr. Adler is a member of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders, Society of Biological Psychiatry and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Carlos A. Zarate, M.D. is Chief Experimental Therapeutics & Pathophysiology Branch and of the Section on Neurobiology and Treatment of Mood and Anxiety Disorders, Division Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Zarate completed his residency training in psychiatry at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center/Brockton VAMC division. He later completed a fellowship in Clinical Psychopharmacology at McLean Hospital of the Consolidated Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and remained on staff at McLean Hospital as the Director of the Bipolar and Psychotic Disorders Outpatient Services and Director of the New and Experimental Clinic. From 1998 to 2000 Dr. Zarate was the Chief of the Bipolar and Psychotic Disorders Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. In 2001, he joined the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at NIMH. His achievements and awards include the Ethel-DuPont Warren Award and Livingston Awards, Consolidated Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Outstanding Psychiatrist Research Award, Massachusetts Psychiatric Association; Program for Minority Research Training in Psychiatry, APA; the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Young Investigator Award; National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Independent Investigator Award; and the National Institutes of Health Director’s Award Scientific/Medical. Dr. Zarate has been elected to membership to the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, to the Board of Councilors for the International Society for Bipolar Disorders. He is also a member of the Society of Biological Psychiatry and the Society for Neuroscience. Dr. Zarate’s research focuses on the pathophysiology and development of novel therapeutics for treatment-resistant mood disorders as well as the study of biosignatures of treatment response.

 

Leonard M. Miller Professor and Chairman
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Director, Center on Aging

Dr. Nemeroff was born in New York City in 1949 and educated in the New York City Public School System.  After graduating from the City College of New York in 1970, he enrolled in graduate school at Northeastern University and received a Master's degree in Biology in 1973.  He received his MD and PhD (Neurobiology) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His residency training in psychiatry was conducted at both the University of North Carolina and at Duke University, after which he joined the faculty of Duke University.  At Duke he was Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology and Chief of the Division of Biological Psychiatry before relocating in 1991 to Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, where he served as the Reunette W. Harris Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences until 2008.  In 2009 he joined the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine as the Leonard M. Miller Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.  His research has concentrated on the biological basis of the major neuropsychiatric disorders, including affective disorders, schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders.  His clinical research is focused on the use of genetic, neuroendocrine, neuroimaging and neurochemical methods to comprehensively understand the pathophysiology of depression.  In recent years he has uncovered the neurobiological mechanisms that mediate the increased risk for depression in victims of child abuse.  He has also contributed to seminal findings in the burgeoning area of research concerning the relationship of depression to cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Nemeroff has received numerous honors during his career, including the A.E. Bennett Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry (1979), the Judith Silver Memorial Young Scientist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (1989), both the Kempf Award in Psychobiology (1989) and the Samuel Hibbs Award (1990) from the American Psychiatric Association (APAP, and the Gold Medal Award and the Research Prize (1996) from the Society of Biological Psychiatry.  In 1993 he was awarded the Edward J. Sachar Award from Columbia University and the Edward A. Strecker Award from The Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital.  In 1997, he was the recipient of the Gerald Klerman Award from the National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Disorders Association and the Selo Prize from the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression.  In 1998 he was the recipient of the Research Award in Mood Disorders from the American College of Psychiatrists and in 1999 he received the Bowis Award from the same organization.  He was awarded the Menninger Prize in 2000 from the American College of Physicians, the Research Award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in 2001, and the Burlingame Prize from the Institute of Living in 2002.  In 2006 he received the American Psychiatric Association Research Mentoring Award and Vestermark Award, and in 2008 The Judson Marmor Award for Research. Dr. Nemeroff served as the Editor-in-Chief of Neuropsychopharmacology (2001-2006).  With Alan F. Schatzberg, MD, he is co-Editor of the Textbook of Psychopharmacology, now in its Fourth Edition, published by the American Psychiatric Press Inc. He has served on the Mental Health Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Mental Health and the Biomedical Research Council for NASA. He is past President of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the American College of Psychiatrists. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He is chair of the APA Committee on Research Training. In 2002 he was elected as a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

He has published more than 900 research reports and reviews.  

David J. Kupfer, M.D., Thomas Detre Professor of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, received his bachelor’s (magna cum laude) and M.D. degrees from Yale University.  Following completion of an internship, Dr. Kupfer continued his postgraduate clinical and research training at the Yale New Haven Hospital and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).  In 1970, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine.  Dr. Kupfer joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh in 1973 as Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Research and Research Training at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.  He was promoted to Professor of Psychiatry in 1975.
    
Between 1983 and 2009, Dr. Kupfer served as Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Director of Research at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. During that time, he facilitated the coordination and expansion of investigations among the department's 200 faculty. He promoted widespread collaborations between clinical investigators in psychiatry and those in the basic neurosciences.  These studies are not limited to depression and other mood disorders, but encompass virtually every psychiatric disorder and every age group, from infants to the "oldest old." Under Dr. Kupfer's direction, WPIC has become one of the nation's preeminent university-based psychiatric research centers as evidenced by the quality and number of publications as well as the amount of peer-reviewed federal funding for mental health research. A prolific writer, Dr. Kupfer has authored or co-authored a combination of more than 973 articles, books, and book chapters.  Dr. Kupfer's own research has focused primarily on long-term treatment strategies for recurrent mood disorders, the pathogenesis of depression, and the relationship between biomarkers and depression.
    
In recognition of his contributions to the field, Dr. Kupfer has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the A.E. Bennett Research Award in Clinical Science (1975), the Anna-Monika Foundation Prize (1977), the Daniel H. Efron Award (1979), the Twenty-Sixth Annual Award of the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital in Memory of Edward A. Strecker, M.D. (1989), the William R. McAlpin, Jr, Research Achievement Award (1990), the 1993 American Psychiatric Association Award for Research in Psychiatry, the First Isaac Ray Decade of Excellence Award (1994),  the Twelfth Annual Edward J. Sachar Award (1996), the 1996 Gerald L. Klerman Lifetime Research Award (jointly with Dr. Ellen Frank), the Institute of Medicine’s 1998 Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health, and the American Psychopathological Association’s 1999 Joseph Zubin Award (jointly with Dr. Ellen Frank), and the 2009 C. Charles Burlingame Award.     Dr. Kupfer was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1990.  He is the Founding President of the International Society of Bipolar Disorders. Dr. Kupfer chairs the American Psychiatric Association Task Force for DSM-5.

Eduard Vieta is Professor of Psychiatry and the Director of the Bipolar Disorders Program of the Hospital Clinic at the University of Barcelona, in Barcelona, Spain.  His research focuses on the neurobiology, epidemiology, and treatment of bipolar disorder. He is the current Director of the Bipolar Research Program at the Centro de Investigación en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and one of the leaders of the European Network on Bipolar Expert Centers (ENBREC).  He has also been nominated the official advisor on mood disorders research for the EU Presidency (Hungarian Government) and sits in the Executive Committee of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP). He has made significant contributions to many of the current bipolar disorder treatment guidelines, and with an H index of 47, has authored more than 400 original articles in peer-reviewed, top-ranking journals, 160 book chapters and 28 complete books. He is the most cited psychiatrist in Spain and sits on the editorial board of 19 international scientific journals and reviews articles for more than 30 others. He recently received the Aristotle Award and the Mogens Schou Award for excellence in bipolar disorder research.

Ellen Frank is Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Director of the Depression and Manic Depression Prevention Program at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

A cum laude graduate of Vassar College, Prof. Frank earned a masters’ degree in English at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and her doctorate in psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Prof. Frank and her colleagues developed interpersonal and social rhythm therapy (IPSRT) for the treatment of bipolar disorder under a MERIT award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).   IPSRT has now been adapted for both group and individual treatment of bipolar and unipolar mood disorders. Most recently, she has completed a study conducted jointly with the University of Pisa, Italy, aimed at achieving a better understanding of the clinical importance of subsyndromal mood and anxiety conditions and their impact on the outcome of both pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy  for unipolar depression.  Her current work is focused on understanding the biological basis of the response to IPSRT and on the development of statistical methods for the simultaneous evaluation of both harms and benefits of treatments.

An internationally-recognized expert in mood disorders, Prof. Frank has published nearly 400 peer-reviewed papers on the diagnosis, biological and psychosocial correlates, and treatment of unipolar and bipolar disorders.  From 1994 to 1996 she served as Chair of the US Food and Drug Administration Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Panel. She  is also a former member of the U.S. National Advisory Mental Health Council. She currently serves on the Mood Disorders Workgroup of the American Psychiatric Association Task Force on DSM-5 and is an Honorary Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.  In 1999, Prof. Frank was elected to the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine.

Eric Youngstrom, Ph.D., is a professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is also the Acting Director of the Center for Excellence in Research and Treatment of Bipolar Disorder. He is the first recipient of the Early Career Award from the Division of Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology, and is an elected member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He has served as the Director of the Data Management and Statistical Analysis Unit and Research Methods Core of the Center for Research in Bipolar Disorder across the Life Cycle. He earned his doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Delaware, and he completed his predoctoral internship training at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic before joining the faculty at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Youngstrom is a licensed psychologist who specializes in the relationship of emotions and psychopathology, and the clinical assessment of children and families. He teaches courses on assessment and therapy, developmental psychopathology, research design, and multivariate statistics, and has earned the Carl F. Wittke, Glennan Fellowship, and the Northeastern Ohio Teaching Awards.

Dr. Youngstrom studies ways of improving the use of clinical assessment instruments for making better differential diagnoses, predictions about future functioning, or monitoring of treatment progress – particularly with regard to bipolar disorder across the lifespan. He speaks on the topic of pediatric bipolar disorder at scientific meetings in Canada, Europe, South America, and Asia, as well as around the United States. Dr. Youngstrom has published more than 140 peer reviewed publications on the topics of clinical assessment and emotion, and he has served as an ad hoc reviewer on more than sixty prominent psychology and psychiatry journals as well as being on the editorial boards of Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, and Psychological Assessment. He is currently on the Education Committee and the Research Committee of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders. Dr. Youngstrom was the principal investigator on a five year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH066647) and co-investigator of a second, multi-site R01, both designed to improve the assessment of bipolar disorder in diverse community samples. He has received grants from the NIMH, the Ohio Department of Mental Health, Cuyahoga County, and the Schubert Center for Child Development, and has been principal or co-investigator on research with continuous funding since 1999.

Eric Taylor is Emeritus Professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry; and an honorary consultant at 'The Maudsley'.  He has researched, practised clinically, and taught child neuropsychiatry  since 1971.  His special interests have been in the causes, course and treatment of ADHD, and the research has included longitudinal epidemiology, nosological distinctions within the ADHD spectrum, neuropsychology and neuroimaging, molecular genetics and treatment trials. He chaired the NICE guidelines development group for ADHD; is on a working party for the revision of DSM; and until recently was a Trustee of the National Academy of Parenting Practitioners and a Non-Executive Director of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. His research won the Ruane Prize from NARSAD for severe child psychopathologies and he is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Chair of the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Professor of Psychiatry
Affective Disorders Unit
Ege University School of Medicine
Izmir, Turkey

Dr. Akdeniz received a M.D. from Ege University in 1990. She attended residency trainig in internal medicine for nine months, then completed residency training in psychiatry at Ege University Hospital in 1996. After serving as a psychiatrist in the outpatient unit at Ege University for 3 years, she went to NIMH, USA to work with Dr. Ellen Leibenluft for six months in 1999. She got the masters of science degree on affective neuroscience from Maastrich University, Holland in 2003. She became a professor of psychiatry at Ege University in 2011.

The focus of her work is rapid cycling bipolar disorder, special issues in women with bipolar disorder, course and treatment of mood disorders during pregnancy and postpartum period, and adverse events of psychotropic drugs on reproductive and metabolic systems.

Dr. Francesc Colom

Francesc Colom is the Head of the Psychoeducation and Psychological Treatments Area at the Barcelona Bipolar Disorders Program (IDIBAPS- Hospital Clinic University of Barcelona). The Barcelona Psychoeducation Program, designed by Dr. Colom and co-workers is nowadays the strongest evidence-based psychoeducational program for bipolar patients.  His book “Psychoeducation Manual for Bipolar Disorder” has been published in several languages including English, Spanish, Italian, French and Polish.
He has lectured all over the world and published over a hundred scientific articles, with an H index of 32. Dr. Colom has also written 12 books and a number of book chapters. Dr. Colom’s current research focuses on psychological treatments and its biomarkers of response, treatment adherence, pharmacological issues, cognitive impairment and its remediation and on clinical issues such as predominant polarity, mixed states and temperament.
He has been a member of the Board of Councilors of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders, a member of the Nomenclature Committee and Chair of the Website Education Committee of the same society, and is currently a member of the Scientific Advisory Pannel of the ECNP. He sits rather comfortably on the editorial board of 5 international scientific journals and enjoys reviewing articles for more than 30 others in his leisure time.
In June 2007, Francesc Colom was awarded with the prestigious “Mogens Schou Award” for the excellence of his research.

Professor of Psychiatry and Director of International Mood Center
San Diego Veterans Administration Medical Center

Dr. Akiskal obtained his medical degree (Alpha Omega Alpha) from the American University of Beirut in 1969. Thereafter he settled in the United States and obtained his psychiatric training at the Universities of Tennessee, Memphis and Wisconsin, Madison. He was appointed Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at the University of Tennessee (1972-1990), and subsequently recruited as the Senior Science Advisor to the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (1990-1994). He is presently Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the International Mood Center at the University of California at San Diego. He holds an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Lisbon. Since 1996, he is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Affective Disorders.
Professor Akiskal rose to prominence with his integrativetheory of depression (Science, 1973). Subsequently he established chronicdepressions as treatable mood disorders. His research on cyclothymia paved theway for understanding the childhood antecedents of bipolarity, and helped in theworldwide renaissance of the temperament field. His focus on subthreshold mooddisorders enlarged the boundaries of bipolar disorders. He has received the GoldMedal for Pioneer Research (Society of Biological Psychiatry), the German AnnaMonika Prize for Depression, the NARSAD Prize for Affective Disorders, the JeanDelay Prize for international collaborative research (World PsychiatricAssociation), as well as the French Jules Baillarger and the Italian AretaeusPrizes for his research on the bipolar spectrum.
Professor Akiskal has pioneered in the study of outpatientmood disorders. At the University of Tennessee, he established mood clinicswhich have had worldwide appeal because of his philosophy of conducting clinicaltraining and research while delivering high quality care. His clinical expertiseranges from dysthymia to bipolar spectrum disorders, as well as comorbidity,resistant depression, interface of personality with mood disorders, mixedstates, anxious bipolarity, and PTSD. In 2003, he received the Ellis IslandMedal of Honor “for exceptional national humanitarian service.” He consults andlectures internationally.

Dr. Ihsan Salloum

Ihsan Salloum, MD, MPH, is a Professor of Psychiatry and Chief, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse: Treatment and Research, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Salloum graduated from the University of Bologna School of Medicine, in Bologna, Italy and completed the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) post graduate fellowship program in alcohol research at the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Dr. Salloum’s research interest has focused on developing effective interventions for comorbid mood and addictive disorders and on addressing the diagnostic and therapeutic complexity of comorbidity and on Person-centered Medicine. He has published on the treatment of co-occurring disorders and is a frequent speaker at National and International scientific meetings.

Dr. Salloum is the recipient of grant awards from the National Institute of Health. He is a member of the National Institute of Health Scientific Review Group and a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology with added Qualifications in Addiction Psychiatry. Dr. Salloum is Member of the Board of the Executive Committee of the International Network on Person Centered Medicine. He is also the Chair, Section on Classification Diagnostic Assessment and Nomenclature of the World Psychiatric Association, and he is also the Secretary of the International Society on Bipolar Disorders. Dr. Salloum is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Honorary Member of the World Psychiatric Association.

Joseph Calabrese holds the Bipolar Disorders Research Chair and is Professor of Psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University. He is also the Director of the Mood Disorders Program within the Department of Psychiatry at the University Hospitals Case Medical Centre.
Dr. Calabrese co-directs an NIMH-funded ‘Bipolar Disorders Research Centre, whose projects include child and adolescent research conducted by Bob Findling, geriatric research conducted by Martha Sajatovic, dual diagnosis research conducted by Keming Gao, metabolic research conducted by Dave Kemp, and molecular genetics conducted by Jinbo Fan.
The research centre is dedicated to the improvement of clinical outcomes in under-served populations of bipolar disorder, including those with bipolar depression, rapid cycling, children and adolescents, adults currently abusing alcohol and/or drugs, forensic complications of bipolar disorder, older adults, and members of the Ohio Army Guard.
Dr Calabrese has received numerous research grants from the NIMH and other Federal agencies, and has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers. Dr. Calabrese was chosen by psychiatry residents to receive the ‘Best Teacher of the Year Award’ in three different years, and has received the NARSAD Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, and the Gerald L. Klerman Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.

Kyooseob Ha, MD, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry
Seoul National University
Director, Korea Translational Research Center for Bipolar Disorders
Seoul, Korea

After graduating from Seoul National University with a degree in Medicine, Professor Ha completed his residency and a research fellowship in psychiatry at Seoul National University Hospital. He also received extra training in cognition and imaging of bipolar disorders at the University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Professor Ha is currently a professor of psychiatry at Seoul National University, and director of the Mood Disorders Clinic and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory of the Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. The clinic is one of the most active clinical service programs for bipolar disorders in Korea and East Asia, with more than 1,300 registered bipolar patients. Professor Ha is in charge of the Korea Translational Research Center for Bipolar Disorders, and he currently leads the Bipolar Disorders Research Network of Korea.

An advocate of closer collaboration among Asian psychiatrists to improve bipolar disorder management across the region, Professor Ha is vice president of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders, chairman of the Asian Network of Bipolar Disorder, and chairman of the East Asian Bipolar Forum.

Professor Ha has also been the President of the Korean Association for Suicide Prevention since 2010. He has led the movement advocating for legislation to prevent suicide and the establishment of a Suicide Prevention Center in Korea.

PROFESSOR OF PSYCHIATRY,
VICE CHAIR FOR RESEARCH AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
Lakshmi N. Yatham, MBBS, FRCPC, MRCPsych (UK), is Professor of Psychiatry and Vice Chair for Research and International Affairs in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. His major areas of research interest include neurobiology and treatment of bipolar disorder and major depression. Dr. Yatham has received a number of awards during his career including the Michael Smith Foundation Senior Scholar Award, Mogen Schou Award for international education and advocacy on bipolar disorder and the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology Medal for his contributions. Dr. Yatham’s work has been funded by a number of peer-reviewed funding agencies such as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canadian Psychiatric Research Foundation, Stanley Foundation, and National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, USA. Dr. Yatham leads a Canadian consortium on bipolar disorder, which is currently pursuing testing of new treatments for bipolar disorder using pragmatic and controlled trials with substantial funding from CIHR.
Dr. Yatham co-led the development of Canadian guidelines for treatment of bipolar disorder in 1997 and his group revised the guidelines for 2005 with International Commentaries. The CANMAT guidelines are widely used for treatment of bipolar disorder around the world as these are updated and published every 2 years in Bipolar Disorders Journal with the most recent update published in May 2009. He is Chair of the bipolar group of the Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT), and is actively involved at a national and international level in continuing medical education and public education on diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder for psychiatrists, family physicians, and the general public. Dr. Yatham was the past President of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders. He sits on the editorial boards of a number of journals including Bipolar Disorders, World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, Human Psychopharmacology, Quarterly Journal of Mental Health etc. He has published over 180 papers in peer-reviewed international journals and presented his research work at numerous international conferences. He has also edited a number of journal supplements and books

Dr. Tamam is  Professor  of Psychiatry  in the Department of Psychiatry  Cukurova University  Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey.  He is also acting as chair  of   Department  of  Consultation Liasion Psychiatry in the same faculty. 

Dr. Lut Tamam  received his medical degree from  Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine in 1994 and completed his residency in Psychiatry at  Cukurova  University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry in 1999.   After becoming a psychiatrist, he worked at Cukurova University and got his  professorship at  Cukurova University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry in 2010. 

Dr.  Tamam acted an active role in establishment of the bipolar outpatient unit at his department in 1999 where he is currently working as co-director. He also established psychotic disorder outpatient unit and became director of it in 2006.  Dr.  Tamam actively participated in the Mood Disorders working committee of Psychiatric Association of Turkey and worked within the projects of developing national guidelines for bipolar disorders and depression. 

He authored and co-authored several scientific papers, and book chapters, and he edited a book in the field. His main research areas of interest are comorbidity in bipolar disorders,  the impact of comorbidity on the course and treatment of bipolar disorders, impulse control disorders and  scientific publication  for psychiatry . 

He is the editor and co-editors of several national psychiatry journals including Turkish Journal of Psychiatry, Current Approaches in Psychiatry. In addition he serves as a reviewer for  many  national and international journals  including  Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, Bipolar Disorders,  General Hospital Psychiatry, Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry. He is also the founder and  editor of Turkish Psychiatry Index, an ongoing project affiliated with Psychiatric Association of Turkey aiming to cover and index  Turkish psychiatric journals and other related journals in the field.   

 

MANUEL SANCHEZ DE CARMONA, MD


Dr. Sánchez de Carmona earned his Medical Degree from the School of Medicine of the Anáhuac University in Mexico City. Received his psychiatric education at the National Psychiatric Institute Ramón de la Fuente in Mexico City and from the Autonomous National University of Mexico. Received the award for obtaining the highest score in the Psychiatric Residency Exam. He completed his training with studies at the Jackson Memorial Hospital, University of Miami, and at the New York Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, USA.
He worked in Mexico´s National Psychiatric Institute in the Obsessive Compulsive Clinic doing clinical research and the validation of the Yale Brown Scale in Spanish.

He began working 15 years ago with bipolar disorders in the outpatient clinic and developed an educational program for bipolar family members. Since then he has participated in numerous research and clinical projects in different aspects of bipolar disorder. He completed a national survey of demographic and clinical information about Mexican bipolar patients.
 
Dr. Sánchez de Carmona actively participated with the Latin American Network for Affective Disorders and just finished a pharmacological survey in collaboration with other seven latin american countries. He is working with the IANBD  (Iberoamerican Network for Bipolar Disorders) in a project investigating social stigma and quality of life for the bipolar patient.
Currently he has developed the Bipolar Connection program, a non profit community educational project designed to reach patients and family members that need to receive and learn about the disorder.  He  is an activist working with advocacy groups in his country and is currently developing a media campaign to fight bipolar disorders stigma.
At the present time Dr. Sánchez de Carmona is President of the ISBD Mexican Chapter (International Society for Bipolar Disorders), an ISBD Board Councilor and Co-chair of the ISBD Advocacy Committee. He works as a private practice physician in Mexico City.

Marcella Rietschel is Professor of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and Medical Geneticist. She is director of the Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry and of the molecular genetic laboratory at the Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH) at Heidelberg University/Medical Faculty Mannheim. She has worked as a consultant psychiatrist at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy from 1995 until leaving for the CIMH  in 2002.  Her research focus is the search for genetic and environmental risk factors for psychiatric disorders, mainly affective disorders, schizophrenia, and alcohol dependence, with a specific emphasis on refining phenotype-genotype correlations across diagnostic categories applying statistical analysis using advanced techniques. To this end she has established large databases from psychiatric patients and the general population and a biomaterial bank of DNA, plasma, serum and RNA samples. Her group has published numerous papers on genetic findings in the above mentioned disorders, among them the first genome-wide significant association finding for bipolar disorders. Her other research interests include pharmacogenetics, public health genetics, and the study of the ethical, legal, and social aspects of psychiatric genetics.

Chair, Department of Psychiatry & Psychology
Professor of Psychiatry
Director, Integrated Mood Group
Mayo Clinic

Dr. Frye is Chair of the Department of Psychiatry & Psychology, Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Frye received his medical degree from the University of Minnesota and completed his psychiatric training at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute.  He completed a subsequent research fellowship in the Biological Psychiatry Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, Maryland. While at NIMH, his area of research was focusing on the neurobiology of depression and bipolar disorder.

Formerly the Director of the UCLA Bipolar Disorder Research Program (1998-2006), he is now Director of the Integrated Mood Group at Mayo Clinic.  His clinical interests are in mood disorders (bipolar disorder, treatment resistant depression) with a research focus in clinical trials, pharmacogenomics, and brain imaging.

He has received numerous honors and awards both as an educator and researcher, including three UCLA departmental medical student and resident teaching awards, the Gerald Klerman Young Investigator Award from the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, and the 2011 Mogens Schou Award for Education and Advocacy.

His research funding has been from National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), The Stanley Medical Research Institute, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and industry.  He is an active author, publishing more than 150 papers in peer-reviewed publications such as the New England Journal of Medicine, American Journal of Psychiatry, Journal of Affective Disorder, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, and Biological Psychiatry.  Dr. Frye is on the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance and is the Vice President of Global Outreach for the International Society of Bipolar Disorder.

Head of the Division of Mood and Anxiety Disorders
Aaron and Bobbie Eliott Krus Chair Endowed Professor in Psychiatry
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, TX

Dr. Mauricio Tohen graduated as a doctor of medicine from the National University of Mexico and as a doctor of public health (epidemiology) from Harvard University. His postdoctoral training included a residency in psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a fellowship at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He also obtained an MBA degree from Indiana University Kelly School of Business.
From 1988 to 1997, he was clinical director of the Bipolar and Psychotic Disorder Program at McLean Hospital. From 1997 to 2008 he worked at Lilly Research Laboratories attaining the highest possible scientific level of Distinguished Lilly Scholar. In 2009 he joined the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio as Head of the Division of Mood and Anxiety Disorders and the Aaron and Bobbie Eliott Krus Chair Endowed Professor in Psychiatry

He received a National Service Award in Psychiatric Epidemiology from NIMH and Harvard University. He also received a FIRST award from NIMH, the Pope Award from McLean Hospital, and a NARSAD Young Investigator Award. Dr. Tohen's research, supported by grants from NIMH and the pharmaceutical industry, has focused on the epidemiology, outcome, and treatment of bipolar disorder.
In 2011 Dr. Tohen received the Simon Bolivar Award from the American Psychiatric Association. He has served on the Council on Research and the committee on Health Services Research of the American Psychiatric Association. He has also served in the Epidemiology & Genetics and the Clinical Centers and Special Projects Review committees at NIMH. Dr. Tohen has over 200 publications. He has co-edited four books, Psychiatric Epidemiology (1995, second edition 2003), Mood Disorders Across the Life Span (1996) ). Bipolar Disorder: The Upswing In Research and Treatment (2005) and Bipolar Psychopharmacotherapy (2006). He also edited the book Comorbidity in Affective Disorders (1999).

Professor Michael Bauer, MD, PhD, is Director and Executive Chair at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Medical Faculty of the Technische Universität Dresden, and physician-in-chief of the psychiatric hospital and outpatient clinics at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus in Dresden, Germany.

 

Dr. Bauer received his MD from the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, and his PhD from the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry also at Freie Universität Berlin. From 1990-1996 he completed a residency in psychiatry and neurology at Benjamin Franklin University Medical Center in Berlin, Germany. From 1998 to 2002 he was a Visiting Professor of Psychiatry at the Neuropsychiatric Institute of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). From 2002-2006 he was Deputy Head in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at Charite-University of Medicine Berlin, in Berlin, Germany, and also Director of the Mood Disorders Research and Clinical Program at the Charité.

 

Dr. Bauer’s research interests include the neurobiology and treatment of mood disorders with an emphasis on bipolar disorder, and refractory depression and investigation of the thyroid system in mood disorders using neuroendocrine and functional brain imaging techniques.

He currently is the President of the International Group for the Study of Lithium-treated Patients, Chair of the German Society of Bipolar Disorder, Chair of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry Task Force on Treatment Guidelines for Unipolar Depressive Disorders, and editor of the journals “Pharmacopsychiatry” and “Der Nervenarzt”.

 

He has published more than 160 articles in peer-reviewed journals, 10 edited books and 54 book chapters and has been the recipient of several honors and awards, including the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Young Investigator Award, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Independent Investigator Award 2005, the Judson Braun Research Scholarship at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Research Scholarship.

 

Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Obstetrics & Gynecology
Director, Center for Neuroscience in Women’s Health

Dr. Rasgon received her MD and PhD at the Academy of Medical Sciences in Moscow, Russia in 1980.  After a distinguished career at the University of California, Los Angeles, she joined Stanford in 2002.
At Stanford, Dr. Natalie Rasgon is a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Obstetrics and Gynecology, and she founded and directs the Stanford Center for Neuroscience in Women’s Health.  The goal of the center is to establish a new standard for women’s mental health services through integration of biomedical research, clinical practice and education. Among the center’s main areas of focus are the different ways that women manifest stress and it’s consequences, and the impact of reproductive events on women’s mood and cognitive function.
Dr. Rasgon is the author of over 140 peer-reviewed articles, more than 25 book chapters, and she edited two books.
Her honors and awards include:
International Scientist of the Year from Cambridge, England;
Women Scientist (Endocrine), Best Doctors;
 Lila A. Wallis Award from American Medical Women’s Association.   
Dr. Rasgon is currently a Chair of the Academic Senate, Stanford University School of Medicine and serves on numerous committees within Stanford and at the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Ruiz is Professor and Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.  Born in Cuba, Dr. Ruiz completed his medical education at the University of Paris, France in 1964. Subsequently, he conducted his graduate training in psychiatry at the University of Miami Medical School & Affiliated Hospitals (1964-1968).  After completion of his graduate training, Dr. Ruiz joined the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, where he rose from instructor to professor of psychiatry, and occupied a series of administrative positions such as Director of the Lincoln Hospital Community Mental Health Center (1969-1977), Assistant Dean (1977-1979), and Director of the Bronx Psychiatric Center and Vice-Chair of the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences (1979-1981). In 1981, he moved to Houston, Texas, and joined the Baylor College of Medicine as a tenured Professor of Psychiatry and Chief of Psychiatry Service at the Harris County Hospital District/Ben Taub General Hospital, where he stayed until 1993.  In 1993,   Dr. Ruiz joined the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston as a Tenured Professor and Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs.  He also was appointed as Medical Director of the University of Texas Mental Sciences Institute.  In 2007, Dr. Ruiz became Interim Chair of the Department as well as Interim Executive Director of the Harris County Psychiatric Center, an acute 250 bed state hospital.  In 2009, he became Vice Chair for Education in this Department.

Dr. Ruiz is certified in general psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology and in Administrative Psychiatry by the American Psychiatric Association.  He is a Fellow of The American College of Psychiatrists, The American Psychiatric Association, The American Orthopsychiatric Association, The American Group Psychotherapy Association, The American Association for Social Psychiatry, The World Psychiatric Association and The Benjamin Rush Society.  He is also a member of The Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry and an Honorary Member of the World Psychiatric Association.  Dr. Ruiz has also served as President of the Houston Psychiatric Society (1999-2000), the American College of Psychiatrists (2000-2001), the American Association for Social Psychiatry (2000-2002), the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (2001-2002), and the American Psychiatric Association (2006-2007).  Currently, Dr. Ruiz is the President Elect and Vice President of the World Psychiatric Association (2008-present).

Dr. Ruiz has served in Senior national leadership positions in the Federal government and in professional organizations.  Among them, the Community Alcoholism Services Review Committee of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)(1976-1979), the Board of Directors of The American Orthopsychiatric Association (1978-1979), the Liaison Task Panel on Psychoactive Drug Use/Misuse of the President's Commission on Mental Health (1978-1979), the Psychiatric Education Review Committee of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)(1980-1982), the National Advisory Council of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)(1982-1986), The Council on National Affairs of the American Psychiatric Association (1984-1989), a component he chaired from 1985 to 1988, The Psychiatric Test Committee of the National Board of Medical Examiners (ABME)(1985-1988), the  Program Committee of the Institute on Psychiatric Services of the American Psychiatric Association (1989-1994), a component he chaired from 1993 to 1994, the Council on Graduate Medical Education (COGME) of the Department of Health and Human Services (1990-1993), the Board of Directors of The Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (1990-1992), the Board of Regents of The American College of Psychiatrists (1992-1995), the Board of Directors of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc. (1995-2002), the Council of International Affairs of the American Psychiatric Association (1994-1998), a component he Chaired from 1994 to 1998, the Scientific Program Committee of the American Psychiatric Association (1998-2000), a component he Chaired from 1998 to 2000, the WPA Standing Committee on Education (1996-1999), the WPA Standing Committee on Meetings (1999-2002), the Council on Addiction Psychiatry of the American Psychiatric Association (2000-2002), where he was Vice Chair from 2000 to 2002, Secretary of the American Psychiatric Association (2001-2003), Chair of the Ethics Appeal Board of the American Psychiatric Association (2001-2003), and Vice President of the American Psychiatric Association (2003-2005), Chair of the Joint Reference Committee of the American Psychiatric Association (2005-2006), Committee on Advocacy and Litigation Funding of the American Psychiatric Association (2004-2005), Council on Global Psychiatry of the American Psychiatric Association (2005-2009), Finance and Budget Committee of the American Psychiatric Association (2005-2006), Financial Oversight Committee Psychiatric Association (2005-2006), Executive and Officer Compensation Committee of the American Psychiatric Association (2005-2006), Long Term Financial Planning Committee of the American Psychiatric Association (2005-2006), APIRE Board of Directors (2005-2006), APPI Board of Directors (2005-2010), Alternate Delegate APA/AMA Delegation (2005-2006), Board of Directors of the American  Psychiatric Foundation (2005-2006), and the Committee on Long-Range Planning and Policy  of the American College of Psychiatrists (2009-2012).

Dr. Ruiz has also served in several editorial boards such as the Journal of Psychiatric Treatment and Evaluation (1979-1983), Hospital and Community Psychiatry (1981-1987), "Medico Interamericano" (1981-2001), "PRITE" (1990-1993), the American Journal on Addictions (1990-2001), the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse (1991-2007), the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry (1994-2004), the Journal of Cultural Diversity and Mental Health (1995-1998), “Psicopatologia” (1995-present), Medical Update for Psychiatrists (1996-present), Treatment (1997-1998), the American Journal of Psychiatry (1998-2002), the Journal of Practical Psychiatry and Behavioral Health (1998-2000), "Revista Argentina de Clinica Neuropsiquiatrica" (1998-present), Arab Journal of Psychiatry (1998-present), the American Psychiatric Press, Inc (1998-2000), Neurociencias y Humanidades (Argentina)(1999-present), Neuropsiquiatria Clinica (Honduras)(1999-2001), the Journal of Psychiatric Practice (2000-present), Psychiatric Quarterly (2000-present), “Studi di Psichiatria” (Italy) (2000-2003), Psychiatric Services (2001-2009) and Addictive Disorders and Their Treatment, where he is Editor-in-Chief (2001-present), Archivos de Psiquiatria (Spain) (2001-present), Actas Españolas de Psiquiatria (2001-present), World Psychiatry (2002-present), “Annales Medico Psychologiques” (2002-present), Egyptian Journal of Psychiatry (2002-present), Evidence-Based Mental Health (Spain) (2005-present), Indian Journal of Psychiatry (India) (2005-present), "Revista Latinoamericana Virtual de Psquiatria" (2006-present), Revista Latinoamericana de Psiquiatria (2006-present), "Cross-Cultural Mental Health" (2007-present) and International Review of Psychiatry (2007-present), Romanian Journal of Psychopharmacology (2007-present), FOCUS: The Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry (2007-present), Revista Española de Psiquiatria y Salud Mental (Spain) (2008-present), SAARC Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics (2008-present), Community Mental Health Journal (2008-present), Asian Journal of Psychiatry (2008-present), Current Psychiatry (Egypt) (2008-present), Academic Psychiatry (2009-present), “Revista Colombiana de Psiquiatria” (Colombia) (2009-present), and the “Revista de Neuro-Psiquiatria” (Peru) (2009-present).

Dr. Ruiz has been honored nationally with the "Simon Bolivar Award” of the American Psychiatric Association in 1991, the "Rafael Tavares, M.D. Memorial Award” of the Association of Hispanic Mental Health Professionals in 1991, the "Exemplary Psychiatrist Award” of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in 1992 and 2002, the "Mental Illness Professional of the Year Award” of the Foundation for Mental Illness Awareness in 1992, the "Isaac J. Perez Award” of the South Bronx Council Inc., in 1993, the “Dean’s Excellence Award” of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1999, the “Distinguished Service Award” of the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians in 1995, the “Bowis Award” of The American College of Psychiatrists in 1996, the “Administrative Psychiatry Award” of the American Psychiatric Association in 1996, "Nationally recognized Honors in Clinical Service" by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001, "Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Service" by the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 1997, 1998 and 1999, "Outstanding Achievement in Research" by the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 1998 and 2002, “Nationally Recognized Honors in Community Service” by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 1996, 2001 and 2002, "The Nancy C.A. Roeske, M.D., Certificate of Excellence" by the American Psychiatric Association in 1999, "Special Presidential Commendation" by the American Psychiatric Association in 1999, “The Dr. Luis Manuel Morales” Lecture by the “Academia de Psiquiatria de Puerto Rico” in 2000, the “George Tarjan Award” by the American Psychiatric Association in 2002, “International and National Honors in Research, Teaching, and Community Services” by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2003 and National Honors in Clinical Services” by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2003, International and National Honors in Community Service by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2004, The Irma J. Bland Award for Excellence in Teaching Residents by the American Psychiatric Association in 2005, Honorary Membership in the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry in 2005, and the Presidential Commendation and the Honorary Fellowship in the World Psychiatric Association in 2005, “Honor Roll” by the Latino Behavioral Health Institute in 2005, International or National Honors in Teaching by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2005, International or National Honors in Clinical Service by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2005,  Honorary Membership of the Mexican Psychiatric Association (2006), Federic L. Weniger Lecture in 2006 in the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, The Hamilton Ford Lecture (2006) in the Titus Harris Society and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston,. The Okasha Lecture in 2006 at Ain Shams University, Honorary Fellowship of the Egyptian Psychiatric Association in 2006, Honorary Membership of the Bolivian Psychiatric Association in 2006, Stuart Asch Memorial Lecture in 2006 in The New York  Academy of Medicine & New York State Psychiatric Association, Honorary Membership of the "Sociedad Dominicana de Psiquiatria" in 2006, International or National Honors in Research by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2006, International or National Honors in Clinical Service by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2006, International or National Honors in Community Services by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2006, Honorary Membership of the Spanish Psychiatric Society in 2006, Doctor Honoris Causa Degree in the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania in 2007, Keynote 133rd Presidential Address, 160th Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in 2007, the “Latino Mental Health Conference Leadership in Research” Award, Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine in 2008, President Elect and Vice President, in the World Psychiatric Association in 2008, the “Irving Blumberg” Award of the American Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation in 2008, and the Distinguished Service in Psychiatry Award from the American College of Psychiatrists in 2009.

Dr. Ruiz is nationally and internationally known in the field of psychiatric education, cross-cultural psychiatry, administrative psychiatry and health services research.  He has extensively lectured nationally and internationally, and has authored over 600 publications.  Among his publications, he co-edited the book "Substance Abuse: A Comprehensive Textbook" in 1980, 1992, 1997, 2005, and now in press which has become the most respected nationally and internationally textbook in the field of substance abuse. He also co-edited the Ninth Edition of the Kaplan & Sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry; this book is also considered the most respected textbook in general psychiatry nationally and internationally.

Undoubtedly, Dr. Ruiz is a very distinguish psychiatrist in the United States and abroad.  Dr. Ruiz strong leadership and visionary qualities has led to numerous outstanding contributions in the field of public psychiatry.  Also, he has trained and mentored a large number of psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals over the years.  


Biosketch, 02/08/2010

Rasmus W. Licht is chief psychiatrist and the director of the Mood Disorders Research Unit at the Aarhus University Hospital in Risskov. He is an associated professor in psychiatry and an associated professor in clinical pharmacology at the University of Aarhus.
Since completing his training as a psychiatrist in 1992, Rasmus W. Licht has specialized in the psychopathological assessment and the psychopharmacological management of affective disorders. His research is focused on clinical epidemiology of affective disorders, including drug evaluation and trial methodology. In 1999 he finished his Ph.D. from the University of Aarhus with a thesis entitled: The validity of randomized controlled trials on antimanic drug effect – from clinical research to clinical practice. Rasmus W. LIcht is active in national and international research networks. e.g. the Danish University Antidepressant Group (DUAG) and the international Group for the Study of Lithium (IGSLi).

Under the Danish Psychiatric Association, Rasmus W. Licht was the chairman of a subcommitte drawing up recently published guidelines for the use of mood-stabilizers. He is also a member of the Steering Comitte on Treatment Guidelines for Affective Disorders established under the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry. He has co-authorized several of these guidelines.
 
Rasmus W. Licht is the assistant to the editor in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica and a member of the editorial board of European Psychiatry, Pharmacopsychiatry and Bipolar Disorders. In addition he serves as a reviewer of other journals, e.g. the American Journal of Psychiatry, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry and Lancet. He has published several original papers, review articles, editorials and book chapters.

Besides his research activities, Rasmus W. Licht is active in consulting and in passing on knowledge within his field of expertice at all levels, nationally and internationally. He is also clinically working.

Dr. Belmaker received his BA from Harvard College in 1967 and his MD from Duke Medical School in 1971.  From 1972-74 he was a Clinical Associate at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD.  Since 1974 he has held positions in academic psychiatry in Israel, first at the Jerusalem Mental Health Center 1974-1984 and then at Ben Gurion University of the Negev 1985 to the present.  Dr. Belmaker was a pioneer in biological psychiatry in Israel, and chaired the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) meeting in Jerusalem in 1982.  

His research interests include affective disorders, especially mania, ECT, and second messenger mechanisms.  In 1993 he submitted a grant request to National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression proposing that TMS could be therapeutically useful in psychiatry, and was awarded the prestigious Distinguished Investigator Award to pursue this hypothesis.  He has received the Anna Monika Prize for Research in Depression (1983), the Ziskind-Somerfeld Prize for Senior Research in Psychiatry (1993) and the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Lilly Research Award (1996), and the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Lifetime Achievement Falcone Award for research in affective disorder (2000) and the Research Prize of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (2004).  He was President of the CINP 2008-2010 (International College of Neuropsychopharmacology). Husband of  over 40 years, father of six children and grandfather of five  and counting, Dr. Belmaker is an avid amateur archaeologist in Israel and scuba diver.

Professor of Psychiatry
Ege University Medicine faculty
Department of Psychiatry
Affective Disorders Unit
İzmir-Turkey

Simavi Vahip was born in Cyprus in 1957. He graduated from Ege University Medicine Faculty in 1980. He was trained as a psychiatrist at the same university and became a psychiatrist in 1986. He became associate professor in 1989 and professor in 1998. He was the director of Ege University Medicine Faculty, Department of Psychiatry between 2000 and 2003.

He founded and directed several inpatient and outpatient units in Ege University Medicine Faculty, Department of Psychiatry. Some of are Affective Disorders Unit (founded in 1986), Clinical Psychopharmacology and Research Inpatient Unit (founded in 1989), Affective Disorders and Research Inpatient Unit (founded in 1997). He has worked as the Residency Training Coordinator in Ege University Medicine Faculty, Department of Psychiatry for many years. He is a board member in Ege University Brain Research and Applied Sciences Center. He worked as the coordinator of Mood Disorders Study Group of Psychiatric Association of Turkey between 1999 and 2001.

Mood disorders, especially bipolar disorder and related phenomena such as bipolar depression and manic switch; classification in psychiatry, and psychiatry training are among his main areas of interest. He has written over 80 papers in Turkish and English, and 20 books or book chapters. He is one of the editors of Treatment Guidelines for Bipolar Disorders of Psychiatric Association of Turkey and Source Book of Treatment Guidelines for Depression of Psychiatric Association of Turkey. He was the editor of the Turkish version of Bipolar Disorders which is originally published in English. He is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Psychiatric Association of Turkey for Continuing Education/Continuing Professional Development.

He is president of the Society for Bipolar Disorders of Turkey (ISBD affiliated). He is member of the Board of Councilors of the International Society for Bipolar Disorder (ISBD). Also, he is director of the Training Award Committee of ISBD.

Dr. Sophia Frangou is Reader in Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London where she head the Section of Neurobiology of Psychosis since 1997.  Dr. Frangou graduated from the Medical School of the University of Athens, Greece. She then moved to the UK where she trained in at the Maudsley Hospital, London. In parallel with her psychiatric training she obtained a Masters Degree in Neuroscience and a doctoral degree from the University of London.
Dr. Frangou’s research work focuses on the investigation of the pathophysiological processes underlying psychosis using clinical, cognitive and neuroimaging techniques. Research into the aetiology and pathophysiology of psychosis is vital for providing a theoretical framework for developing long-term treatment strategies.   She has received numerous awards including the Psychopharmacology Prize from the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Dr. Frangou is the Editor of “European Psychiatry”, the official Journal of the European Psychiatric Association. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and of the European Psychiatric Association. She has served on the Council of the British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) and co-authored the BAP guidelines for the treatment of Bipolar Disorder. She is Secretary and founding member of the EPA Section of NeuroImaging and heads the Brain Imaging Network of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Tezer Orhan is a founding board member and the current deputy chair of Lithium Association, the first Bipolar Support Group established in Turkey.  He has done work on facilitating the strategic plan for the association.  Mr. Orhan himself suffers from bipolar disorder since late twenties.

Mr. Orhan started his professional career at a public company, consequently served as a planning manager and then as the chief information officer.  He then co-started and managed a market research and consulting company with his wife, for fifteen years. He has been working as a business consultant for the last twenty years. Mr. Orhan holds an undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering from Middle East Technical University, Ankara.

M.B., B.S., F.R.C.P.(C)

Psychiatrist, Regional Mental Health Care London
Professor of Psychiatry and Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

Dr. Verinder Sharma is a medical graduate of Punjabi University, India, and completed his residency training in psychiatry at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.  Currently, he is a psychiatrist with the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at the Regional Mental Health Care London.  He is also a Professor of Psychiatry and has a cross-appointment to the department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario His former roles include Head of the Mood Disorders Program at the Regional Mental Health Care London.  

    His major areas of research interest include neurobiology and treatment of bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and postpartum mood disorders. Over the past few years he has focused his attention on the diagnosis and treatment of ‘subtle’ bipolarity. He is widely published and well funded by peer reviewed granting agencies in these areas. He has published over 100 papers in journals and presented his research work at many international conferences.
    

Professor of Psychiatry, especially Affective Disorders
Head of Department for Affective Disorders
Department of Psychiatry
University Medical Center Groningen
Groningen, The Netherlands

Willem Nolen is head of the Department for Affective Disorders and scientific coordinator for the clinical studies in affective disorders. From 2004-2011 he was principle investigator of the Groningen site of the Netherlands Study on Depression and Anxiety (NESDA), a Dutch multi-center 8 years follow-up study in respondents (n=2,981) with depressive and/or anxiety disorders and since 2008 he is principle investigator for the bipolar cohort in MOODINFLAME, a collaborative European study on inflammation and autoimmune disturbances in mood disorders.
Before he moved to Groningen he worked in The Hague and in Utrecht, where he was principle investigator of the Utrecht site of the international Stanley Foundation Bipolar Network

His major research interest is mood disorders, both bipolar disorder and major depression, in which he is doing research on epidemiology, etiology, long-term course and treatment. A main part of his research has focused on the different pharmacological treatment options in bipolar and unipolar mood disorders and their place in guidelines and algorithms.

He has published over 400 papers, many of them in international journals or as chapters in international books. He has been member of the editorial board of the Dutch Journal of Medicine (NTvG) and of the Dutch Journal of Psychiatry (TvP), is currently member of the editorial board of Bipolar Disorders, and serves as editorial consultant for several international journals.
In 2007 he received the annual award for scientific research of the Dutch Psychiatric Association (NVvP).

For the ISBD he his board member since 2011, chairman of the Educational Committee, and was recently chosen as incoming president.

(Updated November 2011)