40^th Global Psychiatry and Mental Health Conference July 17-18, 2023 Prague, Czech Republic

Dr. Nitschke is a neuroscientist, clinical psychologist, and associate professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Wisconsin. His research centers on the neuroscience of human emotion, anxiety, and depression, with a primary emphasis on anxiety disorders. His studies use clinical and nonclinical samples and employ an array of MRI methodologies alongside the measurement of behavior, genetics, and peripheral psychophysiology. With trainees and staff in his lab, he has developed a laboratory-based model of anxiety that targets anticipatory processes preceding a range of emotional stimuli. Other prominent research interests include the power of expectancy and positive emotion.

Psychiatry and Psychology.

Huang Wei Ling, born in Taiwan, raised and graduated in medicine in Brazil, specialist in infectious and parasitic diseases, a General Practitioner and Parenteral and Enteral Medical Nutrition Therapist. Once in charge of the Hospital Infection Control Service of the City of Franca’s General Hospital, she was responsible for the control of all prescribed antimicrobial medication and received an award for the best paper presented at the Brazilian Hospital Infection Control Congress in 1998. Since 1997, she works with the approach and treatment of all chronic diseases in a holistic way, with treatment guided through the teachings of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Hippocrates. Researcher in the University of São Paulo, in the Ophthalmology department from 2012 to 2013.Author of the theory Constitutional Homeopathy of the Five Elements Based on Traditional Chinese Medicine. Author of more than 100 publications about treatment of variety of diseases rebalancing the internal energy using Hippocrates thoughts.

Floral Therapy

Dr. Francesco is a Doctor of medicine and currently serving at Sapienza University, Italy.

Cognitive Science, Experimental Psychology, Emotion

Mohamad Qasim Abdullah is currently professor of clinical psychology, Dept. Counseling Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Aleppo (Syria). Dr. Abdullah received Bachelor of Psychology degree (University of Damascus 1985), And obtained PhD. In Clinical psychology, From Hungarian Academy of Science and University of Budapest (ELTE) "in English" (1992). Dr. Abdullah received many honor certificates, diploma, and Prizes for his contribution, researches and supervision of psychological practice and training programs at couples of Health, Social and Academic organization and institutions. Dr. Abdullah was Vice –dean of faculty education for scientific affairs (1997-2001),Vice-dean of faculty of education for Students and Administrative Affairs (2008-2011), Dean of Faculty of education (20012-2015) and currently, Vice-president of university of Aleppo (2015-present ). Dr. Abdullah has been contributed in many workshops and conferences in the fields of psychological sciences and Special Education, many TV meetings programs. He is a Full member in the Arab Union of Lecturers and researchers, Member and President of many juries and committee at university of Aleppo,President of Committee of student affairs (University of Aleppo),Committee president of National Academic References Standards of Psychological Counseling program (NARS.), Supervisor of Psychological and social support program at university of Aleppo, Editorial Board of Current Opinion in Neurological sciences Journal (CONS) and Psychology and psychological research international journal (PPRIJ). He has published more than 70 article and 27 books in psychological and educational fields.

Psychopathology, Clinical Psychology, Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, counseling theories and psychotherapy. Research and science ethics, Personality theories and clinical implications. Adolescent and child mental health. Topics of positive psychology and psychological research methodology.

Alistair D. Sweet MA (PsyA), MSSc, Dip.Couns (PsyD), MBACP is a Senior Psychotherapist and Head of Clinical Services with Addiction NI (Previously Northern Ireland Community Addiction Service/ NICAS) and a Lecturer and Clinical Supervisor in the School of Psychology, Queen’s University, Belfast. Mr Sweet joined NICAS in 2001, as a Senior Therapist and became Head of Clinical Services in 2009. Mr Sweet holds a Master of Arts degree in Psychoanalytic Studies (QUB), a Master of Social Science degree with distinction in Criminology (QUB) and a Diploma in Psychodynamic Therapeutic Counselling. Mr Sweet has also undertaken further psychotherapeutic trainings with specialisms in the addictions, dual diagnosis mental health issues and psychodynamic psychotherapy. He is, as a Psychotherapist, a Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. Mr Sweet’s published work has appeared internationally in a range of peer reviewed journals including The British Journal of Psychotherapy, The International Forum of Psychoanalysis and The American Journal of Psychotherapy.

Assessment of personality and psychological defence mechanisms, Disturbances of attachment, Psychotherapy for the addictions, The history and clinical application of object relations theory in psychoanalytic psychotherapy.

Dr Pires-Yfantouda obtained her BSc at Middlesex University, her MSc in Health Psychology at the University of Bath and her Health DPsych at City University London. She studied her Clinical DPsych at Royal Holloway, University of London and is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist and a Chartered Health Psychologist.

Applied clinical and health psychologist in mental health, Neuro-rehabilitation and clinical health settings.

Dr Andrew Weyman is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath. He has over 20 years experience of research in applied psychology and human factors, specialising in the Psychology of Risk.

Public understandings of risk and risk communication, Hazard risk assessment and risk management - including systems design and emergency planning.

Richa Bhatia, MD, FAPA is a Child, Adolescent and Adult psychiatrist, serving as Medical Director of the Child and Adolescent OCD residential program at McLean hospital and Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She is dual board certified in General and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Previously, she served as the Acting Medical Director of the Inpatient Psychiatry units at Dartmouth. Her clinical practice involves an empathetic, evidence based approach, utilizing nuances of psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic modalities, tailored to the individual patient. She is involved in clinical research examining various aspects of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in children and adolescents. She is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry and the Journal of Clinical Case Reports. She serves as a Councilor on the Executive Committee of the Association of Women Psychiatrists. She enjoys teaching and mentoring medical students, residents, and fellows, and is passionate about global mental health advocacy.

Global mental health advocacy, Psychiatry

Dr. Rajesh is an Associate professor of Psychiatry at Yales School of Medicine, USA. He is now involved in Psychiatry, Geriatric Psychiatry Inpatient Program.

Treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and behavioral disturbances in dementia and late life psychiatric disorders.

Sam Vaknin is Visiting Professor of Psychology, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia and Professor of Finance and Psychology in CIAPS (Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies). Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self-love: Narcissism Revisited and other books about personality disorders. His work is cited in hundreds of books and dozens of academic papers. He spent the past 6 years developing Cold Therapy: a treatment modality for Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). Over the years, with dozens of volunteers, he found that it was effective with clients suffering from a major depressive episode as well.

Personality Disorders

Don Cooper, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. He received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the Chicago Medical School in 2000. He moved to Northwestern University in the Dept of Neurobiology and Physiology for postdoctoral training until 2004. In 2004, he moved to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, as an Assistant Professor in the Dept of Psychiatry. In 2009, he moved to the University of Colorado, Institute for Behavioral Genetics. Dr. Cooper is the recipient of an NIH career award to investigate gene expression in cocaine addiction. His laboratory is funded by the NIH to study Ecstasy and cocaine in the brain memory and reward system. He is a member of a number of professional organizations in neuroscience. He has served as an ad hoc member of a number of committees for the National Institutes of Health and chair of the National Academy of Science Kavli US/Japan Frontiers program. He has also served as peer reviewer for numerous journals. The long-term goals of Dr. Cooper’s laboratory are to understand information processing in the brain motivation/reward memory circuitry and characterize the adaptations and impaired neural memory mechanisms associated with depression, addiction and schizophrenia.

Psychostimulant drugs alter neuronal impulse activity leading to short and long-term changes in communication within mesolimbic dopamine system,Complementary levels of analysis

Professor Elizabeth Midlarsky has a Ph.D. from Northwestern University. Her clinical training was in both psychodynamic and social learning approaches, across the lifespan, and in both individuals and in family groups. She has research and scholarly interests in altruism and aggression through the life-span, gender and racial differences in mental health health-seeking, eating disorders, gender roles, and helping behavior as a means for coping with stress.

Altruism and religiousness through the life span, rescue during the Holocaust and responses by survivors and their progeny.Development and consequences of altruism and violence.

Isaac Carreon has more than 20 years experience in community building, program development and mental health. Prior to joining Pacific Oaks College as an Affiliate Faculty, Isaac served as Kaiser Permanente’s Psychiatry Department’s Chronic Care Coordinator. Isaac implemented the short-term model program for Kaiser Permanente’s members, developed innovative groups for children and adults (i.e. Social Skills, Dialectic Behavioral Therapy), and developed networking strategies to increase community resources. Prior to this he served as the as the Director of Community Initiatives for the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA). Isaac grew the Community Initiatives department from 1 employee to 35 employees. His department was primary responsible for the implementation of SAHA’s Moving to Work Program, ROSS Public Housing and Housing Choice Voucher Self-Sufficiency Programs, HOPE VI CSS Endowment Grants, Education Investment Foundation (a non-profit Affiliate of SAHA), the National Demonstration Jobs-Plus Program, Section 3 initiatives, and the grants department and develop and implemented the Agency Plan. Additionally, under Isaac’s leadership he also implemented health and wellness initiatives bringing in more than 600K in funding for Farmers’ Market, walking and bike trails, community gardens and Ride to Own bicycle program. He was able to raise an additional $4.5 million in grants. In 2005, Isaac co-pioneered CareMore Medical Group’s Mental Health Program. For 3 years Isaac developed and implemented mental health services, wellness programs and resources for the elderly population. His leadership resulted in the augmentation of mental health services to the elderly population from 0 to more than 10,000 members. He implemented support groups, individual, and family therapy. Isaac created a network of Primary Care Physicians (PCP)-thus creating a seamless referral system. From the ground up Isaac created depression surveys, referral forms, authorization system, communication policy between mental health and PCPs, tracking forms, and educational seminars. His programs resulted in a savings in inpatient hospitalizations.

Social Skills, Dialectic Behavioral Therapy and developed networking strategies to increase community resources.

Rocco de Filippis completed his MD and PhD from Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome. He holds a Master’s degree and he improved respectively in Bipolar Disorders and Addictive behavior in the years 2011/2012. He currently works at the Institute of Psychopathology, Rome as a Psychiatrist and Addictive Medicine, and up to now presented as scientific coordinator of CME and Master of Addictive Behaviors; he is also an official candidate at the Psychoanalytic Italian Society of the First Italian Center of Rome.

Psychiatry and Bipolar disorders

Diana Kljenak is an Assistant Professor and a Cognitive-Behavior Therapy Lead for the University of Toronto. She is a Staff Psychiatrist in the Community Mental Health Program at the University Health Network in Toronto and a Consulting Psychiatrist for the Central Toronto and Regent Park Community Health Centers. Her primary teaching and clinical interests include both collaborative care and psychotherapy. She is a Psychotherapy Coordinator at the UHN Centre for Mental Health as well as the CBT Psychotherapy Core Curriculum Block Coordinator and CBT seminar Co-lead. She is a collaborative care supervisor and CBT supervisor at the UHN Centre for Mental Health. She is the President of the Ontario Psychiatric Association and a Co-chair of the Ontario Coalition of Psychiatrists. She is active in the Canadian Psychiatric Association as a Member of its Membership Affairs Committee. She was formerly a Co-chair of the Collaborative Mental Health Working Group at the University of Toronto. She has also been invited as a Visiting Professor to University of Tampere and Southern Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Centre, Helsinki, Finland. She is the 2012 recipient of the Ivan L Silver Award for Excellence in Continuing Mental Health Education, University of Toronto.

Dr. Kljenak interests include continuous medical education, inter professional education, public education, collaborative care and psychotherapy. Her special interest is in the development of a higher level of course evaluation that would reflect how CME enhances competency and performance.

Clare Henn-Haase obtained her PsyD in Clinical Psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology, Illinois, USA. She worked in the field of trauma for over 15 years. Prior to taking a position at NUS, she was involved in clinical research and academia as well as clinical practice where she worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, USA and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs for over 10 years followed by accepting a position as Assistant Professor and Clinical Director of the PTSD Research Program at New York University Medical Center, New York, USA across four years. She is a licensed Clinical Psychologist in USA and is certified in several types of trauma treatment including dialectical behavior therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, cognitive processing therapy, and prolonged exposure for the treatment of PTSD. She is an active member of the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) and the American Psychological Association. Her research interests include randomized controlled treatment trials for PTSD using evidence based CBT treatment, epidemiological and neuropsychological studies of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, evidence based treatment trials using cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of PTSD and ASD, particularly with women survivors of interpersonal violence, veterans and police officers. She has over 26 peer reviewed publications.

PTSD using evidence based CBT treatment, epidemiological and neuropsychological studies of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, evidence based treatment trials using cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of PTSD and ASD, particularly with women survivors of interpersonal violence, veterans and police officers

Peter Norrie has held clinical management positions since 2002 and currently is the Chief Psychiatrist and Director of Clinical Services for Mental Health, Justice Health and Alcohol & Drug Services, ACT Health. In addition, he is Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at The Australian National University Medical School and is also a jurisdictional member of the Safety and Quality Partnership Standing Committee of the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council. (This committee launched the National Mental Health Recovery Framework in 2013). He is also an ACT and bi-national representative on a number of committees for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. He has clinical and research interests in schizophrenia and psychopharmacology. He has also focused on support for international medical graduates and education and training for colleagues, registrars and general practitioners.

schizophrenia and psychopharmacology