Professor Norman Sartorius, 14 chemin Colladon, 1209 Geneva, Switzerland Fax: (41-22) 788 2334; Tel: (41-22) 788 2331 sartorius@normansartorius.com
Professor Sartorius obtained his M.D. in Zagreb (Croatia). He specialized in neurology and psychiatry and subsequently obtained a Masters Degree and a Doctorate in psychology (Ph.D.). He carried out clinical work and research and taught at graduate and postgraduate levels at the University of Zagreb, at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, at the University of Geneva and elsewhere. He joined the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1967 and soon assumed charge of the programme of epidemiology and in social psychiatry. He was the principal investigator of several major international studies on schizophrenia, on depression and on health service delivery. He was responsible for WHO’s work on the classification of mental and neurological disorders. The growth of the programme under his leadership lead to the elevation of the programme from a Unit to the Division of Mental Health of which he was the first director. He held this position until 1993 when he was elected President of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA). He served as the President of WPA until August 1999. Subsequently he became President of the Association of European Psychiatrists (EAP) a position held until December 2001. He is the President of the Association for the Improvement of Mental Health Programmes and a member of the Geneva Prize Foundation having previously been its President. Professor Sartorius holds professorial appointments at the Universities of London, Prague and Zagreb and at several other universities in the USA and China. Professor Sartorius has published more than 400 articles in scientific journals, authored or co-authored books and edited a number of others. Professor Sartorius is a corresponding member of the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Spanish Royal Academy of Medicine and a honorary member of the Medical Academies of Croatia, Mexico and Peru. He holds honorary doctorates of the Universities of Bath, Copenhagen, Prague and Umea and is a honorary fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, of the American College of Psychiatry and of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. He is also a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He is an Honorary Member of numerous professional associations and advisory boards, both national and international. He is the co-editor of three scientific journals and a member of editorial and advisory boards of many scientific journals. He speaks Croatian, English, French, German, Russian and Spanish.
Plenary lecture: 6th of June, 09:30-10:30
“The Future of Medicine and Psychiatry”
Abstract: The future of medicine and psychiatry will be shaped by powerful social and economic trends – such as urbanization and horizontalization of human relationships – and it is of essential importance to adjust the training in medicine and psychiatry as well as the organization of mental health services to the changes of society and of medicine which these trends will produce. The presentation will describe these trends and their impact and make suggestions about the way in which medicine and psychiatry should respond in order to remain useful and effective.
Prof. Anita Riecher-Rössler is Professora emerita of Psychiatry at the University of Basel, Switzerland. She has specialized in psychiatry, psychotherapy/psychoanalysis, consultation/liaison psychiatry, and geronto-psychiatry. In 1998, she was the first woman to be appointed to a full chair for psychiatry in a German-speaking country. Her research interests include schizophrenic psychoses, gender differences in mental disorders, and mental disorders in women. In the field of schizophrenic psychoses, she has mainly worked on the onset and early detection of these disorders, but also on late-onset schizophrenia. In the field of women’s mental health, she is particularly interested in the peripartum and the menopausal transition and in psycho-neuroendocrine and psychosocial risk factors. She was a founding member/president of several interdisciplinary societies for women’s mental health. In 2018 she was awarded the Constance Pascal - Helen Boyle Prize by the European Psychiatric Association for outstanding achievements by a woman in working to improve Mental Health Care in Europe. According to the Web of Science, she belongs to the most highly cited researchers. Currently, she is Editor-in-Chief of the “Archives of Women’s Mental Health” and is active in publishing, teaching, counseling, and mentoring, and in many national and international societies and advisory boards.
Plenary lecture: 7th of June 10:40-11:40
“Mental health in the perimenopause”
Abstract: Menopause is a natural event, which women experience around age 50. It is defined as the final menstrual period and is preceded by many years of “menopausal transition” associated with marked biological, especially hormonal, changes. Although it is a physiological process, especially the fluctuations and final loss of estrogen activity may have a negative impact on mental well-being; lead to vasomotor symptoms, sleep disturbances, sexual problems, cognitive decline, and depressive symptoms; and may even contribute to an upsurge in the incidence of severe mental disorders such as depressive disorders or schizophrenic psychoses. In addition to these biological changes, for women this phase of life is often burdened with numerous psychosocial stressors, role changes, losses, and the experience of aging. This has many implications for the clinic and for research. In the clinic the specific diagnostic and therapeutic needs of women of this age group have always to be taken into account. Appropriate treatment strategies should not only include specific psychotherapeutic and psychosocial interventions but also consider estrogen replacement where indicated in addition to standard psychiatric care. The latter of course has always to be based on a thorough individual risk-benefit assessment and decided on in close cooperation with gynecologists and the well-informed woman herself. While many studies suggest a benefit in perimenopausal depression, there still is a lack of well-designed studies on the indications and contraindications of estrogen replacement in perimenopausal women at risk for or suffering from other mental disorders. Further research is needed, especially regarding perimenopause and schizophrenic psychoses, the relative risk of hormone replacement as compared to treatment with psychoactive drugs or the best augmentation strategies. Last but not least, we need more research on psychotherapies addressing the specific needs of women of this age group.
Prof. Katharina Domschke, MA, MD, PhD is Full Professor and Chair of the Dept. of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Freiburg, Germany, as well as Adjunct Professor at the Medical University Vienna, Austria. Her clinical and teaching focus is on the treatment and prevention of anxiety, stress-related and affective disorders. Scientifically, Prof. Domschke is a renowned expert in genetics, epigenetics, imaging genetics and pharmacogenetics in the targeted treatment and prevention of anxiety, stress-related and affective disorders as reflected by to date over 400 publications in international journals and an h-index of 57. She has received funding from the EU, the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF). She is a full member or fellow of ACNP, ECNP, ISPG, SOBP and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Prof. Domschke serves on the editorial boards of 15 international journals. Her work has been recognized by e.g. the WFSBP Research Award, an ECNP Fellowship Award and several research awards of the German National Societies of Psychiatry and Biological Psychiatry.
Plenary lecture: 6th of June, 13:30-14:30
“Update on Anxiety Disorders – Epidemiology, Taxonomy, Etiology and Treatment”
Abstract: With a 12-month prevalence of 14% and around 61.5 million people affected in the European Union, anxiety disorders are among the most common mental illnesses and are associated with a high socio-economic burden. This plenary lecture will present the latest data on epidemiology, taxonomy, etiology as well as psychotherapeutic and pharmacotherapeutic approaches to anxiety disorders.
Professor Swaran Preet Singh (MBBS, MD, DM, FRCPsych) initially trained as a surgeon in New Delhi, changing to psychiatry after witnessing the impact of 1984 killings on Sikh children. He has been a clinical academic in UK for thirty years, pioneering reform of youth mental health care across UK, Europe, Australia and Canada. He was a Commissioner for Equality & Human Rights Commission (2013-19), mandated by the UK Parliament. His current research involves improving mental health care for young people in the Indian subcontinent and sub-Saharan Africa. He also leads the Independent Investigation into discrimination (including Islamophobia) within the British Conservative Party. His eternal struggle is between being focussed and productive and wasting time on idle speculation and meaningless meandering. When he can, he enjoys literature, poetry, theatre, blues, jazz, cricket, cooking, gardening and fishing. One day he will write a book on the meaning of life and create the perfect Sushi platter.