WE ARE THANKFUL FOR THE TIME AND TALENT THAT OUR COMMITTEE VOLUNTEERS LEND TO WFSBP. THEIR DEDICATION MAKES OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
The work within the WFSBP is organized in 14 operational and two standing committees. They focus on several categories. To get more information, please click on each committee to open the full information, including:
- Chair
- Co-chairs
- Members
- Objectives and deliverables:
STANDING COMMITTEES
Advisory Committee
Chair
Möller, Hans-Jürgen (Germany)
Co-chair
Maj, Mario (Italy)
Members
Gaebel, Wolfgang (Germany)
Heinze, Gerhard (Mexico)
Kasper, Siegfried (Austria)
Okasha, Ahmed (Egypt)
Thibaut, Florence (France)
Objectives
- To advise the President and the executive committee as needed on all matters related to the activities of the WFSBP
- The chair and members to take on the role of ambassadors to promote the profile of the WFSBP
- To undertake specific tasks requested by the president or the executive that will aid the development or profile of the WFSBP
- To promote the activities of the WFSBP at meetings of other international organizations such as WPA or CINP
Deliverables
- To meet with the president and the executive at the WFSBP biennial congress to provide guidance and advise
- To meet at least once every two years at the WFSBP Congress to review the activities of the previous two years and develop a plan for activities for the next two years
- To provide a report summarizing the activities of the committee to the president and the executive for review at the WFSBP biennial meeting
Ethics Committee
Chair
Trimble, Michael (UK)
Co-chair
D'Souza, Russell (Australia)
Members
Altamura, Carlo (Italy)
Belmaker, Robert (Israel)
Cosyns, Paul (Belgium)
Osaki, Norio (Japan)
Taneli, Bilgen (Turkey)
Objectives
- To be cognizant of the activities of the WFSBP in order to ensure that the president and the executive conduct themselves within the ethical framework
- To advise the president and the executive on any ethical issues related to the activities of the WFSBP
- To undertake a review or investigation of incidents from an ethical perspective at the request of the president or the executive that involve the officers or members of the WFSBP
- To work with the other international organizations to promote ethical standards on practice of psychiatry internationally
Deliverables
- To develop an ethical framework for the activities of the WFSBP
- To meet at least once every two years at the WFSBP Congress to provide a summary statement to the executive for the previous two years
OPERATIONAL COMMITTEES
Constitution Committee
Chair
Soldatos, Constantin (Greece)
Co-chair
Udristoiu, Tudor (Romania)
Secretary
Tellez-Vargas, Jorge (Colombia)
Members
Bobes, Julio (Spain)
Heinz, Andreas (Germany)
Kasper, Siegfried (Austria)
Takeda, Masatoshi (Japan)
Yatham, Lakshmi (Canada)
Objectives
- To ensure that the constitution reflects the current mandate and needs of the WFSBP members
- To advise the president and the executive about any amendments required for the constitution
- To be cognizant of the activities of the WFSBP in order to ensure that all activities are conducted in accordance with the constitution
Deliverables
- To update the constitution as required in collaboration with the president and the executive
- To take responsibility for obtaining the membership approval for any amendments to the constitution
- To provide a summary statement at the biennial WFSBP congress to the executive for the previous two years.
Nominations Committee
Chair
Yatham, Lakshmi N. (Canada)
Members
Chen, Eric Yu-Hai (Hong Kong)
Kasper, Siegfried (Austria)
Larach Walters, Veronica (Chile)
Objectives
- In consultation with the president and the executive, to identify the best candidates for various officers positions in the WFSBP executive
- To ensure that the nomination process adheres to the procedures established in the WFSBP constitution
- To recommend any amendments to the nomination process in the constitution
Deliverables
- To nominate candidates for various WFSBP executive positions
- To seek nominations for WFSBP positions from the membership
- To verify credentials and ratify the nominations of candidates
Committee on Mentorship
Chair
Udristoiu Tudor (Romania)
Co-chair
Glenthoj, Birte (Denmark)
Secretary
Mikova, Olia (Bulgaria)
Members
Halaris, Angelos (USA)
Holsboer-Trachsler, Edith (Switzerland)
Larach, Veronica (Chile)
Shen, Winston (Taiwan)
Tang, S.W. (Hong Kong)
Objective
- To facilitate mentoring of young psychiatrists in biological psychiatry
Deliverables
- To establish a database of mentors in biological psychiatry
- To connect young psychiatrists with mentors to ensure that the mentorship needs of young psychiatrists in various countries are met
- To identify opportunities for young psychiatrists to work with their mentors
- Establish a forum for international mentor-mentee exchange. This could be web-based and/or in-person at meetings. The idea would be to have a database of international mentors with expertise in a specific field who are willing to mentor early career investigators. This could stimulate new thinking both on the mentor's and the mentee's side.
- To provide a summary statement at the biennial WFSBP congress to the executive for the previous two years.
Committee on Scientific Publications
Chair
Kasper, Siegfried (Austria)
Co-chair
Rupprecht, Rainer (Germany)
Secretary
Nishikawa, Toru (Japan)
Members
Falkai, Peter (Germany)
Gattaz, Wagner F. (Brazil)
Lee, Chang Uk (Korea)
Möller, Hans-Jürgen (Germany)
Yatham, Lakshmi (Canada)
Objectives
- To enhance the profile of the WFSBP journal
- To seek and identify opportunities to publish the work of WFSBP task forces that potentially have high impact for the field in the WFSBP journal
- To seek scholarly reviews that have potential high impact from the membership for publication in the journal
- To develop a strategy and framework for publication of WFSBP guidelines on various topics
- To advise and assist on the opportunities for publication of books summarizing the activities of WFSBP committees or Task Forces or Members
Deliverables
- To develop strategies to increase the impact factor for the journal
- To develop a standard template that contains essential ingredients
(such as how evidence is evaluated, and what factors are taken into account in developing 1st , 2nd and 3rd line recommendations etc) for publication of WFSBP guidelines - To develop a template for publication of the work of WFSBP task forces
- To identify publication opportunities for young psychiatrists to work with their mentors
- To provide a summary statement at the biennial WFSBP congress to the executive for the previous two years
Committee on Education
Chair
Thibaut, Florence (France)
Co-chair
Yatham, Lakshmi (Canada)
Secretary
Hosak, Ladislav (Czech Republic)
Members
Castle, David (Australia)
Garcia, Frederico (Brasil)
Herpertz, Sabine (Germany)
Lamy, Sandrine (France)
Mital, Anu Kant (India)
Yu, Xin (China)
Objectives
- To facilitate training and education on various aspects of biological psychiatry
- To advise the president and the executive on establishment of various WFSBP task forces to develop guidelines / consensus statements in order to address specific knowledge gaps
- To work with various WFSBP task forces on guidelines to facilitate the development of guidelines / consensus statements
- To promote the use of empirical methodology in guideline development
Deliverables
- In collaboration with the national SBP presidents, to identify the educational needs in the field of biological psychiatry in individual countries
- To develop a framework in collaboration with the national presidents to address the specific identified needs for each country
- To implement specific activities to address the identified needs (eg. to assist the national SBP to organize local workshops or symposia or a meeting on a given topic; organize educational symposia on relevant topics at WFSBP congresses or WFSBP endorsed congresses; to work with various WFSBP task forces to facilitate publication of guidelines on various topics; to seek reputable authors to write review articles on the relevant topics for the World Journal of Biological Psychiatry)
Committee on Research
Chair
Yatham, Lakshmi (Canada)
Co-Chair
Courtet, Philippe ( France)
Secretary
Kapur, Shitij (UK)
Members
Alexopoulos, George (USA)
Berk, Michael (Australia)
Bernardo, Miguel (Spain)
Heinz, Andreas (Germany)
Udomratn, Pichet (Thailand)
Vaquez, Gustavo (Argentina)
Objectives
- To facilitate research in biological psychiatry through supporting research training opportunities for talented investigators with an interest in biological psychiatry
- To work with the WFSBP affiliated national societies to facilitate networking of researchers in order to conduct global multi center biological studies
- To work with the WFSBP affiliated national societies in order to enhance funding opportunities for biological studies
Deliverables
- To identify research training opportunities for investigators in different parts of the world
- To organize workshops at WFSBP congresses on research training related topics such as grant writing, publication of papers, research techniques etc
- To organize early career sessions at WFSBP congresses chaired by established investigators
- To work with the WJBP to develop a dissemination strategy for publication of work by young investigators (eg. by creating a new investigators' section with a review process focused on guidance to, rather than criticism to, new investigators and advertisement of their work in summary sections and alerts)
- Establish stipends for early career investigators to support research stays at a lab in another WFSBP member country.
Committee on Budget and Resources
Chair
Müller, Norbert (Germany)
Co-chair
Bourin, Michel (France)
Secretary
Lee, Min-So (Korea)
Members
Ceskova, Eva (Czech Republic)
Jakovljevic, Miro (Croatia)
Kanba, Shigenobu (Japan)
Lam, Raymond (Canada)
Tellez-Vargas, Jorge (Columbia)
Wegener, Gregers (Denmark)
Objectives
- To provide oversight on budget and finances of the WFSBP
- To advise the WFSBP executive and Treasurer of opportunities to enhance the financial position of the WFSBP
Deliverables
- To review the budget prepared by the Treasurer once a year and advise him as appropriate
- To assist the Treasurer and WFSBP executive on budget related matters of the society activities
- To provide a summary statement to the WFSBP executive of the committee activities once every two years for a review
Planning Committee
Chair
Takeda, Masatoshi (Japan)
Co-chair
Yatham, Lakshmi (Canada)
Secretary
Dikeos, Dimitris (Greece)
Members
Boutros, Nashrala (USA)
Halaris Angelos (USA)
Hatzinger, Martin (Switzerland)
Krishnawamy, Soraja (Australia)
Valdez, Victoria (Ecuador)
Objectives
- To advise on the opportunities for future WFSBP activities
- To work closely with the president and the executive in planning for the WFSBP policies
- To collaborate with the WFSBP affiliated societies to identify opportunities for WFSBP endorsed meetings and other meaningful activities
Deliverables
- To provide a list of locations for future WFSBP congresses
- To work with the WFSBP affiliated societies to assist them with the WFSBP bids
- To assist the WFSBP executive with the review of WFSBP Congress bids
- To provide advice on planning strategies to the WFSBP executive to increase the scope of goals and related activities
- To work closely with the CPO Hanser to assist with the WFSBP Congresses
- To assist national presidents and executive with the planning of WFSBP endorsed meetings and related activities
Committee on Membership
Chair
Takeda, Masatoshi (Japan)
Co-chair
Soldatos, Constantin (Greece)
Secretary
Valdez, Victoria (Ecuador)
Members
Gorelick David (USA)
Lam, Raymond (Canada)
Levkovitz, Yechiel (Israel)
Marcolin, Antonio (Brasil)
Relvas, João (Portugal)
Siever, Larry (USA)
Yu, Xin (China)
Objectives
- To recruit a national society with a focus on biological psychiatry from as many countries as possible to join WFSBP
- To increase the individual membership of the WFSBP
Deliverables
- To develop and execute a strategy to increase the number of societies and individual members joining the WFSBP each year
- To advise the president and the executive on strategies that might enhance the value of the membership to make it attractive for societies and members to join the WFSBP
- To meet at WFSBP congress and to provide a summary statement to the WFSBP executive every two years
Committee on Awards
Chair
Yatham, Lakshmi (Canada)
Co-chair
Takeda, Masatoshi (Japan)
Wegener, Gregers (Denmark)
Secretary
Hatzinger, Martin (Switzerland)
Members
Berk, Michael (Australia)
Falkai, Peter (Germany)
Kato, Tadafumi (Japan)
Objectives
- To provide recommendations to the executive of the names of members for various awards
- To advise the Executive on establishing new awards
Deliverables
- To take responsibility for the nomination and review process to recommend the members for various awards
- To develop specific criteria and adjudication process for various awards
- To provide a business case to the executive for establishing any new awards
Committee on History of Biological Psychiatry
Chair
Trimble, Michael (UK)
Co-chair
Krieg, Christian (Germany)
Secretary
Ciprian-Ollivier, Jorge (Argentina)
Members
Germanavicius, Arunas (Lithuania)
Ibanez, Jorge (Venezuela)
Möller, Hans-Jürgen (Germany)
Sato, Mitsumoto (Japan)
Silva, Enrique Galli (Peru)
Udomratn, Pichet (Thailand)
Objectives
- Preservation of the memories of past events within WFSBP
- Dissemination of information related to the evolution and past activities of WFSBP
- Creation of databases related to the past of WFSBP for the purpose of reinforcing a sense of continuity to its future officers and/or members
Deliverables
- To collect significant pictures and any other audiovisual material capturing historical moments of WFSBP
- To make historical material available to WFSBP members through printed or electronic means
- To prepare the presentation of historical material for special occasions, i.e. anniversaries, commemorations etc
Committee on Industrial Relations
Chair
Takeda, Masatoshi (Japan)
Co-chair
Wegener, Gregers (Denmark)
Secretary
Yatham, Lakshmi (Canada)
Members
Belmaker, Robert (Israel)
Boyer, Patrice (France)
Gattaz, Wagner (Brasil)
Kasper, Siegfried (Austria)
Vieta, Eduardo (Spain)
Objectives
- To increase the profile of the WFSBP with the Industry
- To establish a close but ethical relationship with the Industry in order to increase the success of WFSBP congresses
Deliverables
- To develop a key contact list for each company with frequent updating
- To ensure that the Industry is aware of the vision and mission of WFSBP
- To consult regularly with the Executive Director of WFSBP and the person-in-charge at the WFSBP headquarters for contacting prospective sponsors
- To work with the WFSBP executive and industry contacts closely in order to increase sponsorship for the WFSBP Congresses
- To meet at WFSBP congresses and to provide a summary statement of the activities to the WFSBP executive
Committee on International Relations
Chair
Zohar, Josef (Israel)
Co-chair
Papadimitriou, George (Greece)
Secretary
Heinz, Andreas (Germany)
Members
Belfort, Edgard (Venezuela)
Dean, Brian (Australia)
Schulze, Thomas (Germany)
Moussaoui, Driss (Morocco)
Rujescu, Dan (Germany)
Objectives
- To bolster the growth and understanding of biological psychiatry throughout the world with a particular focus on developing countries
- To establish working relationships with the other major international organizations such as WPA, ECNP, CINP, ISBD etc
Deliverables
- To work with national Societies to try and bring international speakers to their meetings at a reasonable cost
- Provide a continuously updated list on the WFSBP website of WFSBP endorsed and other major biological psychiatry meetings in WFSBP member countries
- To facilitate promotional opportunities for WFSBP meetings at congresses of other major international organizations such as CINP, ISBD
- Establish country-specific focus days at an international meeting. For instance, at the WFSBP in Athens, a given National Society could present its structure, its work, its activities etc. This could allow for a “cross-fostering” of ideas/strategies that have proven successful.
Committee for the Advancement of Biological Psychiatry in the Developing World
Chair
Valdez, Victoria (Ecuador)
Co-chair
Mital, Anu Kant (India)
Secretary
Krishnawamy, Soraja (Australia)
Members
Ayuso-Guttierez, Jose Luis (Spain)
Okasha, Tarek (Egypt)
Seedat, Soraya (South Africa)
Tanra, Andi (Indonesia)
Udomratn, Pichet (Thailand)
Objectives
- To identify the challenges for advancement of Biological Psychiatry in the developing world
- To work with the national societies to develop a strategy to address the barriers for advancement of biological psychiatry
Deliverables
- To prepare a report that describes challenges for biological psychiatry in various countries
- To develop strategies to address unique challenges for each country
- To encourage all national societies of biological psychiatry, including the societies from the developing world, to meaningfully participate in the scientific program of any World Congress of Biological Psychiatry
- To design courses or workshops to provide psychiatrists from the developing countries with a better understanding of biological psychiatry methods and treatments