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Title : Community responses to persons with Psychoses

Symposium 1

Chair : Victoria Bird, UK

Dr. Victoria Bird is a Professor of Mental Health Care at the Centre of Psychiatry and Mental Health. She leads the Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry and serves as the deputy lead for the Centre. Additionally, she is a member of the Senate. Dr. Bird has a background in psychology and health services research. She leads several national and international research programs focused on improving community approaches to mental healthcare, funded by organizations such as the NIHR, MRC, Wellcome Trust, and ESRC. Her current work emphasizes strengthening community resources, including the use of art-based and community engagement methods in Latin America, South Asia, and Uganda. Dr. Bird is an expert panel member for various funding organizations, including the EU Horizon Europe program and the Norwegian Research Council. She collaborates closely with clinical services in East London and beyond to develop resource-oriented interventions aimed at enhancing the quality of life for individuals with mental illness. Her primary research interest is utilizing community resources to improve the quality of life for people experiencing mental health distress. This includes working with adolescents and young people, focusing on arts-based methods, and developing and evaluating evidence-based interventions within mental health services for adults with severe mental illness (SMI).

Title : First Episode Psychosis: An Indian Perspective

Symposium 2

Chair : Swapna Verma

Dr. Swapna completed her residency training in Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, USA and is a board-certified psychiatrist.She started her academic career with the Singapore Early Psychosis Intervention Programme (EPIP) in 2001 when EPIP was first established and thus has been closely involved in the development and establishment of its clinical, research and training initiatives. EPIP has won prestigious awards including the WHO award for research in health promotion in 2004 as well as the inaugural National Medical Excellence Team award in 2008. Later, she became the Chief of Department of Psychosis looking at developing innovative care models for Schizophrenia and driving research in the field of Psychotic Disorders, as well as the East Region and led an inter-disciplinary team in providing patient-centred, integrated care to patients in the East region of Singapore. She is the Programme Director of CHAT, a national youth mental health initiative which was won the National Medical Excellence Team award in 2023. Since December 2020, she has been appointed as the Chairman Medical Board of IMH. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and presented her findings in local and international conferences. She is also a National Examiner for the Singapore Board Exams in Psychiatry. She is the recipient of the Duke-NUS Outstanding Educator award in 2009, the NHG Outstanding Leader in Education award in 2012 and the IMH Clinical Mentorship award in 2016.

Title: First Episode Psychosis – An Indian Perspective
The World Psychiatric Association emphasizes early intervention for psychosis globally, focusing on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Over the past two decades, interest in research on first-episode psychosis in India is growing, providing valuable insights for clinicians. This symposium highlights recent developments in this field in India

Dr. Avinash Desouza, having more than 20 years of clinical experience will highlight the critical need for health care professionals to look at patients with FEP differently. He will discuss data collected from three major metro cities, specifically about the nature of early psychosis presentation in India, its clinical implications and pharmacological management.

Greeshma Mohan will share SCARF’s experience in running the FEP program and highlight how findings from research collaborations with PEPP Montreal, Canada and University of Warwick, UK have been integrated to improve services, the main outcome indicators and challenges associated with implementing the services. Dr.Suhas Ganesh will review existing literature on metabolic outcomes in FEP and will further systematically examine the literature for the utility of employing clinical and genetic predictors for accurate prediction of metabolic outcomes in FEP. Lastly, he will explore the recent advances in our understanding of genetic architectures of metabolic traits and psychosis from genome wide studies. These will be presented in the context of preliminary findings from an ongoing multi-centre longitudinal study on PGS, dietary and lifestyle factors in predicting treatment-emergent metabolic outcomes in FEP.

Title : Youth Mental Health in Singapore

Symposium 3

Chair : Swaran Preet Singh

Professor Swaran Singh (MBBS, MD, DM, FRCPsych) started training 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. He has published over 360 papers on early psychosis, youth mental health, mental health legislation, transcultural psychiatry, and transitional care. His current research involves improving mental health care for young people in the Indian subcontinent and sub-Saharan Africa. He led the Independent Investigation into discrimination (including Islamophobia) within the British Conservative Party (https://singhinvestigation.co.uk). 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, photography, music, cricket, cooking, gardening, and fishing. One day he will write a book on the meaning of life and create the perfect Sushi platter.

Title: Singapore Youth Mental Health Study
Many studies have shown that the onset of mental health conditions is highest among young people in their mid-teens to mid-20s. Unfortunately, most youths do not access or receive adequate and timely care that can enable them and their families to make educated and informed decisions about their mental health. Such barriers to mental healthcare access can have their roots in socio-cultural and systemic factors ranging from mental health stigma to unmet service needs specific to youths

In Singapore, we embarked on a National Youth Mental Health Study (NYMHS) with the main aims of (i) establish the prevalence of depression and anxiety among the youth of Singapore with a specific focus on working youths, those youth undergoing transition (i.e., secondary school to institutes of higher learning), those Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET), (ii) identify the psychosocial risk and protective factors for depression and anxiety among youths, and (iii) look at use of mental health services, level of unmet needs, and costs (financial, social & personal) associated with mental illness. We surveyed 2,600 persons between the ages 15 – 35 years old. This was a cross-sectional epidemiological study where household level sampling using randomly generated postal code and street intercept were employed to approach hard to reach groups. Additionally, we also conducted focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with 120 youths to understand the barriers to mental healthcare access and learn from their suggestions to mitigate these challenges.

The 3 presenters will share quantitative and qualitative findings from the study, as well as provide qualitative insights on the perspectives and experience of users who accessed webchat, an anonymous, synchronous chat- based platform for youths to access timely help for mental health related concerns.

Title : INTREPID 3

Symposium 4

Chair : Alex Cohen, UK

Dr. Alex Cohen is an Honorary Associate Professor in the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). He led the effort to establish the MSc in Global Mental Health, a joint programme of LSHTM and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience in King’s College London, and was one of the founders of the INTREPID research project.

Title : Psychosocial Rehabilitation across Settings

Symposium 5

Chair: P P Kannan

Title : Mental Health Interventions for Youth

Symposium 6

Chair : Tasneem Raja, India

Dr. Tasneem’s over 28 years of experience spans a wide array of mental health issues involving social change and human development. She has led large on-the-ground programs across India, working extensively with leading philanthropies. Working with both government and non-government stakeholders, Tasneem helped develop strategic frameworks across a wide range of mental health issues. For instance, as Lead for Mental Health at Tata Trusts, she helped develop, implement and scale innovative holistic mental health programs in Maharashtra’s Nagpur district. Earlier in her career Tasneem was a clinician providing direct service in addiction & HIV/AIDS. Tasneem has a PhD in health sciences from the Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick.

Title : Community Engagement for mental health services

Symposium 7

Chair : Jagadisha Thirthalli, India

Professor Jagadisha Thirthalli, has held the post of faculty in the Department of Psychiatry of NIMHANS, Bangalore since 2002. He has also previously held the position of head of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, Dept of Psychiatry, NIMHANS and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Mental Health. His areas of interest are Long-term outcome of persons with severe mental illness in the community; neuromodulation techniques including ECT and TMS, which has led to approximately 30 funded research projects and 325 publications in peer reviewed journals. In addition, he has also been awarded the Sir CV Raman Award of the Government of Karnataka, The Fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS), The Marfatia Award of the Indian Psychiatric Society and the Prof. Raguram Young Distinguished Teacher Award by the Indian Psychiatric Society – Karnataka Chapter.

Title : Mental health of vulnerable populations

Symposium 8

Chair : Dr.Srividya Iyer

Srividya N. Iyer, Ph.D., is the Canada Research Chair in Youth, Mental Health and Learning Health Systems (Tier 1). She is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and an Associate Member in the School of Population and Global Health at McGill University. She is a licensed psychologist and a Researcher at the Douglas Research Centre, Montreal, Canada.

Her research spans youth mental health and early intervention for psychosis, in Canada and India, where she was born and initially trained and worked.

She is proud of her long-standing collaboration with the Schizophrenia Research Foundation, particularly around early psychosis.

Srividya has received many prizes and recognitions, including the prestigious Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize for Mental Health Research in 2023. She was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists and named on the inaugural list of Canadian Women leaders in Global Health. Srividya is Vice President of the International Association for Youth Mental Health.

Title :Climate Change

Symposium 9

Lakshmi Vijayakumar

Dr. Lakshmi Vijayakumar, consultant psychiatrist based in Chennai, India, is the Founder of SNEHA, a pioneering suicide prevention organisation in India and is the Head, Department of Psychiatry in the Voluntary Health Services, a multi specialty hospital in Chennai. She is an Honorary Associate Professor of the University of Melbourne, Australia. She is also on the World Health Organisation’s International Network for Suicide Research and Prevention. She has been conferred Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (FRCPsych), U.K. for her work on suicide prevention and also has been conferred FRCP (EDIN). She was awarded the Ringel Service award by IASP.
She has published widely in peer reviewed journals and has authored several chapters and edited two books. Her area of interest and expertise includes developing cost effective community intervention to prevent suicide.

Title : Indian Research in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: Bench to Bedside

Symposium 10

Chair : Laxmikant Rathi

Dr. Laxmikant Rathi is the current President of the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) and a consulting psychiatrist with 42 years of practice at his private nursing home, Govardhan Hospital, in Amravati. He has previously served as the President of the West Zone of IPS, the Maharashtra State Chapter of IPS, and the Amravati Psychiatrists Society. Dr. Rathi has also held significant positions in the Indian Association of Private Psychiatry (IAPP) and Lions Clubs International, where he served as District Governor (2007-2008) and Multiple Council Chairperson (2008-09). He has contributed to mental health awareness through articles in print media and has published papers and articles on depression. Recently, he was nominated as a member of the Constitution Committee of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

Multi-level, holistic interventions for youth wellbeing

Symposium 11

Chair:Matt Hughsam

Matthew Hughsam, CPC, MPH, is a seasoned public health professional and certified coach with extensive experience in global health and youth mental health initiatives. He holds a Master of Public Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Bachelor's degree from McMaster University. Currently, he serves as the Director of Strategic Initiatives at citiesRISE, where he leads research and program initiatives, including an innovation accelerator for mental health. Matthew has also coached students at Harvard Kennedy School and consulted for the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program, demonstrating his commitment to leadership and innovative health solutions.

Title : Enhancing Outcomes for Schizophrenia and Psychosis

Symposium 12

Chair : Sadanand Rajkumar

Dr. Sadanand Rajkumar, MD, FRANZCP, is a seasoned psychiatrist with over 20 years of experience in HNE Mental Health and various public and private hospitals. Since 1998, he has been a conjoint Professor with the University of Newcastle. Dr. Rajkumar specializes in the mental health of the elderly, focusing on dementia, depression, substance abuse, family issues, memory problems, personality disorders, psychosis, and stress-related mental health issues. He serves as a Psychiatrist Panel member with the NSW Ministry of Health's Mental Health Review Tribunal and is actively engaged with The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP), particularly in Specialist International Medical Graduate Education (SIMGE). Additionally, he is an accredited member of the Faculty of Psychiatry of Old Age (FPOA) and the Faculty of Adult Psychiatry.

Title : Lived Experience Panel

Symposium 13

Chair : Dr. M. Suresh Kumar, India

Dr. M. Suresh Kumar is an experienced and accomplished psychiatrist based in Chennai, currently serving as the Director and Consultant at Psymed Hospital in Chetput. With extensive expertise in mental health, he has dedicated his career to providing comprehensive psychiatric care and treatment. Dr. Kumar's commitment to his patients and contributions to the field of psychiatry have established him as a respected figure in the medical community.

Title : Psychoses in Elderly

Symposium 14

Chair : Malaiappan M

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