Adnan Çoban

M.D., Professor of Psychiatry Adnan Çoban Psychiatry & Psychotherapy Center, Istanbul Department of Psychology, Antalya Belek University, Antalya

In 1995, he graduated from Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine and completed his psychiatry residency at the same faculty. He adopted a biologically based approach in his psychiatric practice and worked in the fields of psychiatric electrophysiology and neuroscience. He focused on and gained experience in TMS treatment in cases with refractory depression. In addition to biological treatment approaches, he also applies trauma-oriented approaches such as EMDR therapy in her clinical practice. He is a European Accredited EMDR therapist. He works on individualized treatment strategies with pharmacogenetic axis in psychiatric disorders such as resistant depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, addiction. He is currently professor at Antalya Belek University, Department of Psychology. He teaches introduction to psychology, psychopharmacology, psychopathology and behavioral neurophysiology.

Ali Kerim Diler

M.D., Medical Aesthetic Doctor, Ali Kerim Diler Clinic, Istanbul

Dr.Ali Kerim Diler graduated from Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty in 1993. In the same year, he began his education in medical aesthetics at the Milan Medical Aesthetic, Thermal Medicine, and Thalassotherapy School, which was a relatively unknown and emerging field at the time. In 1997, he completed his education by submitting two theses in this field and started working in Turkey. He is still part of the school’s teaching staff. Additionally, he serves as the Secretary-General of the Milan Medical Aesthetic Doctors Union. Apart from the seminars and update meetings organized monthly by his school in Milan, he follows scientific meetings and important congresses around the world. He participates in international congresses organized by national medical aesthetic associations in Milan, Rome, and Paris, as well as world congresses and anti-aging meetings. Furthermore, he is the president of the Medical Aesthetic Association established in Istanbul, aiming to increase the visibility and respectability of this field in Turkey, as well as to foster communication between doctors and other specialties.

Allan Young

M.D., M.B., Ch.B., M.Phil., Ph.D., F.R.C.P.C., F.R.C.Psych., Professor of Pscychiatry Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology Imperial College London

Professor Allan Young joined King’s in 2013 and holds the Chair of Mood Disorders and is Director of the Centre for Affective Disorders. He has held academic appoint-ments at Oxford University; Newcastle University (latterly holding the Chair of General Psychiatry at Newcastle), University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, where he held the Leading Edge Endowment Fund Endowed Chair in Resear-ch in the Department of Psychiatry and was also the Director of the Institute of Mental Health and Imperial College London, where he held the Chair of Psychiatry and was Director of the Centre for Mental Health. Professor Young’s research interests focus on the cause and treatments for severe psychiatric illnesses, particularly mood disorders. He has received research grant funding from the UK Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the Stanley Medical Research Institute, the Canadian Institutes for Heath Research (CIHR), the National Institutes of Health (USA), and numerous other funding agencies. He has published over 400 peer-reviewed publications and a number of books about psychopharmacology and affective disorders including Bipolar Disorders: Basic Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications (2nd Ed) with J.C. Soares, and Practical Management of Bipolar Disorder with I.N. Ferrier and E. Michalak (Cambridge University Press, 2010). Professor Young was recently ranked as one of the world's leading scientific minds in the field of Psychiatry and Psychology, according to the 2014 Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers list. In all of science, a total of over 3,000 researchers worldwide earned this distinction and the academics listed rank among the top 1% most cited for their subject field and year of publication, a mark of exceptional impact. Professor Young is a member of several editorial boards and is a member of numerous professional and scientific societies. He is immediate Past-President of the International Society for Affective Disorders, President of the British Association of Psychopharmacology and the immediate past Chair of the Special Committee for Psychopharmacology of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Ana Gonzalez Pinto

M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry Department of Psychiatry University Hospital of Alava

Professor Ana González-Pinto is the Chair of the Psychiatry Department of the Hospital Universitario de Alava, Spain. She is also Professor of Psychiatry and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the Basque Country. She is the coordinator of the Scientific Director CIBERSAM (Network Center of Research in Mental Health, Spain). In addition, she is Chief of Research of Neurosciences in the BIOARABA Institute of Research, Basque Country. She has also been a member of the Educational Committee of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP). Dr González-Pinto has conducted her research on affective disorders and first psychotic episodes in Madrid, Bilbao, and Vitoria in Spain. She has published more than 400 articles in high impact factor journals. She has received research grant funding from the Horizon 2020, and other European Grants, and also National and Basque Government research grants. Her area of interest are bipolar, affective and psychotic disorders, focused especially in the first stages. Professor Ana González-Pinto has been President of the National Society of Biological Psychiatry and of the Fundación Española de Salud Mental. She is part of the Board of Councils of the International Society of Bipolar Disorders. And has been President of the Vasco-Navarra Society of Psychiatry. She belongs to Several Editorial Boards of European Journals, and has been awarded with the Premio Obieta de la Academia Española de Medicina.

Andrew Nierenberg

M.D., Professor of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School Clinical Studies of Depression & Bipolar Disorder Director, Dauten Family Center for Bipolar Treatment Innovation Massachusetts General Hospital

Andrew A. Nierenberg, MD is the Director of the Dauten Family Center for Bipolar Treatment Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital, holds the Thomas P. Hackett, MD Endowed Chair at MGH, and is a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. In addition to directing the Dauten Center, Dr. Nierenberg is the MGH Center for Clinical Research Education co-director and associate director of the Depression Clinical and Research Program. Dr. Nierenberg focuses on clinical trials for bipolar disorder and depression, with over 615 published papers and a Google Scholar h-index of over 130 (meaning 130 papers have been cited by other authors at least 130 times). He has been listed among The Best Doctors or Top Doctors in America for the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders yearly since 1994. He has been honored with the International Society for Bipolar Disorders Mogens Schou Award for Research and the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation’s Colvin Prize. Dr. Nierenberg is currently the PI of the Sequential Multiple Assignment of Treatment study for bipolar depression (SMART-BD) (that compares treatments for bipolar depression) funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). He is also leading the Bipolar Action Network, a Learning Health Network of multiple healthcare systems, that breaks down the barriers between clinical, research, and quality improvement activities to get better outcomes. Dr. Nierenberg has an active clinical practice, supervises and teaches residents, serves on multiple non-profit advocacy group boards, is on multiple journal editorial boards, and is the editor-in-chief of Psychiatric Annals.

Ayşegül Yıldız

M.D., Professor of Psychiatry Ayşegül Yildiz Private Wellness Clinic, Izmir, Türkiye Dokuz Eylül University, Department of Psychiatry (ret.), Izmir, Türkiye Director, Depression & Bipolar Disorder Foundation, Izmir, Türkiye

Dr. Yildiz received her medical degree from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine (Eng) and completed her psychiatry residency at Dokuz Eylül University in Turkey. In 1998, she joined the Bipolar Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard University, as a clinical research fellow, where she conducted groundbreaking work on in vivo measurement of lithium targets in the human brain. Following her fellowship, she returned to Turkey in 2001 and was awarded a grant by the Stanley Medical Research Institute to lead the first proof-of-concept trial for a novel treatment of bipolar mania. This project became the largest single-site clinical trial of its kind, with findings published in JAMA Psychiatry (formerly Archives of General Psychiatry) in 2008. The study remains a notable example of translational neuroscience and continues to inform current treatment guidelines for bipolar mania. Between 2006 and 2008, Dr. Yildiz served as a guest faculty member at the Brain Imaging Center at McLean Hospital, Harvard University. Her research focuses on the mechanisms of anti-manic agents, evidence-based evaluation of psychotropic medications, and neuroimaging in mood disorders. She has received numerous awards and research grants, including the APA/AstraZeneca Young Minds in Psychiatry Award (2004), the ECNP Fellowship Award (Rising Star, 2002), and funding from the Stanley Medical Research Institute, Pfizer-USA, Harvard Medical School, and the International Sleep Research Foundation. Dr. Yildiz has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles and is the lead editor of The Bipolar Book: History, Neurobiology, and Treatment (Oxford University Press, USA). She has been a core member of the ECNP Bipolar Network since 2009 and served on the ECNP Scientific Program Committee in 2018. Since 2012, she has also been a member of the editorial board of European Neuropsychopharmacology. Her work on evidence-based treatment hierarchies for bipolar depression and mania, using advanced meta-analytic methods, has been published in top-tier journals such as The Lancet (2023) and has shaped clinical guidelines.Her research on tamoxifen and placebo-modifying factors has been highlighted at major international meetings, including ECNP and NIMH’s NCDEU. She has also been an invited speaker at leading conferences such as ECNP, APA, the Society of Biological Psychiatry, and the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology. From 2009 to 2020, Dr. Yildiz served as President of the Institutional Review Board at Dokuz Eylül University.

Dost Öngür

M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School Chief, Division of Psychotic Disorders, McLean Hospital Director, Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Research Program Director, LEAP Center, McLean Hospital

A native of Istanbul, Turkey, Dr. Öngür obtained his M.D./Ph.D. degree from Washington University in St. Louis and psychiatric residency training at the MGH/McLean Adult Psychiatry program. He is currently the William P. and Henry B. Test Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Chief of the Psychotic Disorders Division at McLean Hospital. Dr. Öngür is the author of more than 300 articles on research into neurobiology, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. His research uses brain imaging approaches to probe brain abnormalities in psychotic disorders as well as clinical studies to understand the trajectories of illness in early phases of these disorders. He is currently the principal investigator of a P50 Center grant from the NIMH focused on early psychosis research. He is also an active clinician and an administrator responsible for all clinical services serving patients with psychotic disorders at McLean. Dr. Öngür has won awards from McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Kempf Award from the APA for his teaching and mentoring. He has served on Council for ACNP, SOBP and SIRS. Finally, he is the Editor in Chief of JAMA Psychiatry, a premier journal in the field.

Eduard Vieta

M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry University of Barcelona Head of the Psychiatry Unit at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona

Eduard Vieta is Professor of Psychiatry and Chair at the University of Barcelona and Head of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology at the Hospital Clinic, in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Over the past 7 years, Dr. Vieta has also served as Scientific Director of the Spanish Research Network on Mental Health (CIBERSAM). He has received the Aristotle award (2005), the Mogens Schou award (2007), the Strategic Research award of the Spanish Society of Biological Psychiatry (2009), the Official College of Physicians award to Professional Excellence (2011), the Colvin Price on Outstanding Achievement in Mood Disorders Research by the Brain and Behaviour Research Foundation (2012), the Clinical Neuroscience Lilly award by the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP 2014), the Simon Bolivar Award (American Psychiatric Association 2017) the Research Price of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP, 2017), the Trueta Prize (2021), the University of Barcelona award on scientific dissemination and humanities (2022), and the Maimonides award from the University of Cordoba. Moreover, he has been named best psychiatrist in Spain (Monitor sanitario, El Español), Admirable (Diario Médico), honorary member of the Spanish Society of Biological Psychiatry, Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Valencia, and member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Catalonia. He has authored more than 1300 original articles, 500 book chapters and 50 books. His current h index is 167 and has over 115.000 citations (Google Scholar), which makes him the most cited scientist worldwide in the field of bipolar disorder over the last 9 years and one of the world’s most influential scientific minds, according to Clarivate Analytics ranking (Highly Cited). His papers have over one million downloads. Furthermore, he is Editor-in-Chief of European Neuropsychopharmacology and has served as invited professor at McLean Hospital and Harvard University, and as neuroscience scientific advisor to the European Presidency.

Eva Reininghaus

M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., Professor of Psychiatry Director, University Clinic of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics & Psychotherapy Medical University of Graz, Austria

Eva Reininghaus is a distinguished academic and clinical expert in psychiatry, specializing in bipolar disorder, neurobiological markers, and somatic comorbidities as well as digital mental health. She currently holds the position of Director at the University Clinic of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics & Psychotherapy at the Medical University of Graz, where she also serves as Vice Speaker of the Neuroscience Research Field. She holds an MBA in Health Care Management from Danube University Krems and has a medical doctorate from the University of Graz. She has received numerous research grants, including from Horizon Europe and the FFG. Eva is a recipient of the LExA Leadership Excellence Award and is deeply involved in various international research collaborations, particularly in the fields of bipolar disorder, neurobiology, and digital mental health. As a committed mentor and educator, Eva has taught over 100 ECTS in medical and psychological disciplines and is an active member of several renowned psychiatric and neuroscience networks. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of Neuropsychobiology and co-chairs the ECNP Bipolar Disorders Network. Her research focuses on the clinical and neurobiological aspects of mental health, with an emphasis on metabolic syndrome and inflammation in severe psychiatric diseases. Eva has authored numerous publications and is a respected figure in psychiatric research and education as well as female leadership.

Feyza Arıcıoğlu

Ph.D., Professor of Medical Pharmacology Marmara University, Institute of Health Sciences

Feyza Arıcıoğlu graduated from Istanbul University in 1986. Professor Arıcıoğlu started her career as a medical residency student at Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology,completed her master's degree in 1988 and doctorate in 1993 at the same department, and received the titles of assistant professor in 1994, associate professor in 1998, and professor in 2004 at Marmara University, Faculty of Pharmacy,Department of Pharmacology. Concurrently, she served as visiting or permanent faculty member at Cornell University, School of Medicine, Department of Neuroscience; University of Mississippi, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry; Temple University, School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, and Max-Planck Institute, Department of Psychiatry. Her main research area is neuropsy-chopharmacology. Professor Arıcıoğlu is the founding president of Psychopharmacology Research Unit (1996) within the body of Faculty of Pharmacy at Marmara University, the founder and chief editor of the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Health Sciences (2011-2015, 2018- ), and the academic editor of journals named Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology (2020- ) and Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences (2020-). She currently is the Director of Institute of Health Sciences at Marmara University (2012-2015, 2018- ), the Ambassador to Turkey (2013- ) for the Organisation for PhD Education in Biomedicine and Health Sciences in the European System (ORPHEUS), and a Member of the Education Commission (2016-2021 ) of the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP). Professor Arıcıoğlu has been serving as the Council Member of Turkish Higher Education Quality Council, since January 2022.

Frank Bellivier

M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry Head and Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine Expert Centres Paris-Cité University INSERM UMR-S1144 - Team 1 leader Therapeutic response and relapse biomarkers in neuropsychiatric disorders www.umrs1144.com Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris Fondation Fondamental http://www.fondation-fondamental.org H2020 R-LiNK: http://www.r-link.eu.com

Frank Bellivier received his medical degree at the University of Paris (René Descartes).His current roles include Professor of Adult Psychiatry at University Paris-Cité in Paris, Head of the Departments of Psychiatry and Addiction at Saint-Louis - Lariboisière – F. Widal hospitals in Paris. He is also director of a research team on neuropsychopharmacology of bipolar disorders and addictions at the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM UMRS_1144, www.umrs1144.com). Professor Bellivier’s principal research interest relates to understanding the molecular basis of bipolar disorder and its treatments. His research is particularly focused on the genetic vulnerability factors in bipolar disorder and suicidal behaviors. Professor Bellivier has led several large clinical programmes for patients with mood disorders, including the Early Onset Bipolar Disorders Program, funded by the INSERM, ANR and the Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP). He received several research prizes: University Paris 12 Research Prize (2000), the Jules Baillarger Prize (2002) and the NARSAD Independent Investigator Award (2004). For the research program on biomarkers of lithium response, the National Research Agency (ANR générique), the Sorbonne Paris Cité University, the French Ministry of Research (PHRC) and the FondaMental/Dassault Fondations Research Prize (2013) fund his team. In September 2015, he set-up the R-LiNK project, a European consortium project on biomarkers of Lithium response. This project has received funding from The European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme Under Grant Agreement N° 754907. 453 publications (PubMed, May 2025), more the 26K citations, h-Index=79. According to https://expertscape.com/ex/bipolar+disorder/c/fr, Frank Bellivier is ranked second, sixth and tenth among researchers on bipolar disorders in France, Europe and worldwide, respectively. In May 2019 Frank Bellivier was appointed Ministerial Delegate for Mental Health and psychiatry at the Ministry of Health and Solidarities in charge of the governmental roadmap for mentalhealth and psychiatry.

Gary S. Sachs

M.D., Professor of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School Director, Bipolar Clinic and Research Program Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

Gary Sachs, MD, is the founding Director of the Bipolar Clinic and Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sachs is also the Clinical Vice President of Signant Health. He is an internationally recognized expert clinician and clinical trialist with extensive experience in rater training and clinical trial methodologies for mood and anxiety disorder research. As Principal Investigator of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIHM) Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD), Dr. Sachs led the largest treatment study ever conducted for bipolar disorder. His areas of academic interest include clinical trial methodology, placebo response mitigation, psychopharmacology, patient centric outcome measures, bipolar mood disorder, and development of measure-based practice guidelines. Dr. Sachs has authored over 200 peer reviewed articles. He has also been recognized as a “Top Doctor” by US News and World Report, and by Reuters as among the world’s 100 most influential Psychiatrists, Neurologists and Neuros-cientists. He served on the board of directors for the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. In February of 2022, he became president of the International Society for CNS Clinical Trial Methodology (ISCTM). After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Maryland Medical School, he completed his residency at MGH.

Hakan Türkçapar

M.D., Ph.D., M.A., Professor of Psychiatry Department of Psychology Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Social Sciences University, Ankara

Dr. Türkçapar graduated from Hacettepe University School of Medicine in 1990 and completed residency medical training in Psychiatry at Hacettepe University in 1995. After his residency, in 1997, he had cognitive psychotherapy training at the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research in the United States in the field of Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapies. After Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) training at New York Ellis Institute, he was awarded Primary Certificate in 1999 and Advance Certificate in 2008. He became an Associate Professor in 2000 and a Professor of Psychiatry in 2012. Additionally, Dr. Türkçapar received MA and PhD degrees in Social Anthropology. He was certified as a Cognitive Therapist by Academy of Cognitive Therapy (ACT) which evaluates proficiency in the field of Cognitive Therapy. In 2003, he was certified as a cognitive therapist by the International Academy of Cognitive Therapy -the Academy of Cognitive Therapy (ACT) - which evaluates proficiency in the field of cognitive therapy. In the same year, he became the Academy's fellow member for his contributions to the field, and appointed to the Academy's certification board in 2005. In 2013, he was certified by the Academy as a Cognitive Behavior Psychotherapy trainer and consultant. Dr. Türkçapar has published three books, “Bilişsel Terapi Temel İlkeler ve Uygulama” (2007) and “Klinik Uygulamada Bilişsel Terapi: Depresyon” (2009), “Fark Et Düşün Hisset Yaşa” (2019), and over 100 articles in the field of cognitive behavioral therapy. Since 1999, he has conducted training activities for cognitive behavioral therapy professionals in various centers and scientific meetings. He is also the founding editor of the Journal of Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy and Research, which includes scientific studies in the same field. He was the chief of the psychiatric clinic of Ankara Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Training Research Hospital between 2005 and 2012 and the founding chief of the psychiatric clinic of Etlik İhtisas Hospital between 2008 and 2011. Dr. Türkçapar is currently the President of the Association of Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapies. Between 2012 and 2019 he worked at the Department of Psychology, Hasan Kalyoncu University. As of 2019, Dr. Türkçapar is a Full Professor in Psychology at Ankara Social Sciences University.

Kadir Özdel

M.D., Professor of Psychiatry University of Health Sciences Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Teaching and Research Hospital Ankara

Dr. Kadir Özdel is a therapist, consultant, trainer, and supervisor at the Academy of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and the Cognitive Behavioral Therapies Association (Turkiye), a member of the EABCT. Additionally, he is a second-level certified metacognitive therapist and supervisor affiliated with the MCT-I he is the author of CBT-based self-help books titled 'Journey to Life from Social Phobia' and 'What Will I Do with These Obsessive Thoughts.?'

Kemal Sayar

M.D., Professor of Psychiatry Department of Psychiatry Marmara University, Faculty of Medicine

Prof. Dr. Kemal Sayar graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine (English program). Between 1989 and 1995, he completed his residency in the Department of Psychiatry at Marmara University Faculty of Medicine. He became an associate professor in 2000 and was promoted to full professor in 2008. Throughout his academic career, he has served as a consultant and reviewer for numerous national and international journals. He has participated as both an organizer and speaker in many congresses and symposiums focused on psychiatry. In 2002, he worked as a visiting faculty member at the Transcultural Psychiatry Division of McGill University in Canada. He served as clinical chief at both Bakırköy and Erenköy Mental Health and Neurological Diseases Hospitals. He currently serves as the Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Marmara University Faculty of Medicine. In addition to his professional work, Prof. Dr. Kemal Sayar has been active in the media. He produced and hosted the programs Labyrinths of the Soul on Açık Radyo and Star TV, and The Human Condition on TRT.

Konstantinos N. Fountoulakis

M.D., Professor of Psychiatry Aristotle University of Thessaloniki AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

Dr. Fountoulakis received his medical degree (1989), performed his residency in psychiatry (1998), and earned his doctorate in psychiatry (1999) at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He received a 3-year fellowship in psychosomatic medicine and a 1-year postdoctoral fellowship for research from the State Scholarships Foundation of Greece. Until 2003 he served as a medical officer in the Greek Armed forces retired with the rank of major. In 2005, Dr. Fountoulakis was a Research Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Neuropsychiatry, at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Dr. Fountoulakis’ areas of clinical and research interest are reflected in the topics that he teaches: general psychiatry, biological psychiatry, psychopharmacology, mood disorders, schizophrenia and personality disorders. He has coauthored more than 400 papers and more than 250 of them are published in international journals such as the LANCET, BMJ, Am J Psychiatry, British Journal of Psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry, International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, Journal of Affective Disorders, Schizophrenia Research, Psychiatry Research, Bipolar Disorders, and the Annals of General Psychiatry among others, with approx. 10,000 citations and h=50.

Mustafa Arıcı

M.D., F.E.R.A., Professor of Nephrology Department of Nephrology Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine

Dr. Mustafa ARICI is a Professor in the Department of Nephrology & Department of Internal Medicine in Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine. He is the treasurer of ERA (European Renal Association) since 2024. Dr. Arıcı, a member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences. He served as the Secretary General of the Turkish Society of Hypertension and Kidney Diseases and Turkish Society of Nephrology. He was a member of the Executive Board of KDIGO (Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes), ordinary council member of ERA and registry committee member of ERA. His main research areas are hypertension, chronic kidney disease, diabetic kidney disease, glomerular diseases and fluid-electrolyte disorders. He serves as the “theme editor” of the journal “Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation” and as an associate editor of the “BANTAO Journal”. He is a member of the editorial boards of the journals “Kidney and Blood Pressure Research”, “European Journal of Internal Medicine”, “Internal and Emergency Medicine” and “Blood Pressure”. He is the editor or co-editor of the books “Management of Chronic Kidney Disease: A Clinician’s Guide. 2nd edition” (Springer Nature, 2023) and “Oxford Desk Reference in Nephrology” (2nd edition, 2021). He is the co-editor of the books “Temel Nefroloji” (Güneş Kitapevi,2019) and “Türk Nefroloji Derneği Nefroloji Kitabı” (Akademisyen Kitapevi, 2012) in Turkish. His publications received more than 13000 citations and currently his Hirch(h)-index is 46 (Google scholar). He regularly reviews papers for many nephrology journals. He is married and the father of two beautiful daughters.

Nefize Yalın

M.D., Ph.D., M.R.C.Psych., Senior Researcher National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, USA

Dr Nefize Yalin graduated from the School of Medicine, Ege University, Turkey, in 2008. She started her psychiatry training at the Department of Adult Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey, in 2009. While training in adult psychiatry, she was accepted to the PhD programme on Basic Neuroscience at the Graduate School of Health Sciences, Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey, in 2012. As a part of her PhD, she worked a visiting researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College of London (KCL), for a year between 2013 and 2014. She became a consultant in 2014 with the thesis 'The Association of Treatments in Bipolar Disorder and Metabolic Syndrome Comorbidity'. She was awarded a PhD in Basic Neuroscience in 2017 with a thesis on 'The Structural Brain Changes in Bipolar Disorder and their First-Degree Relatives'. She moved to the UK in 2015 after completing her psychiatry training and started working as a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Centre for Affective Disorders, IoPPN, KCL. During her time as a Post-Doctoral Researcher, she focused on using neuroimaging in clinical trials and translational psychiatry and worked on several studies on this area of interest. In 2020, Dr Yalin started working as a National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) Academic Clinical Lecturer in General Adult Psychiatry, a higher training programme with a protected research time, with a specific interest in translational psychiatry in King’s College London and South London and Maudsley National Health Services Trust. She completed her higher training in February 2023 and become a consultant in General Adult Psychiatry with endorsement in Liaison Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry. Since 2023 October, she has been working at the Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch (ETPB), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), USA, under the supervision of Dr.Carlos Zarate, where she leads the bipolar disorder research programme focusing on novel therapeutics, translational neurobiology and multi-modal neuroimaging. At this point in time, she has clinical and research expertise on bipolar disorder for more than fifteen years and has several publications on the disease course, treatment, and neuroimaging of bipolar disorder.

Nevzat Tarhan

M.D., Professor of Psychiatry President of Uskudar University Founder Rector of NP Istanbul Brain Hospital Chairman of the Board of Directors, Istanbul

Dr. Tarhan earned his medical degree from Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine and completed his specialization in psychiatry at Gülhane Military Medical Academy in 1982. Following his service as a psychiatrist in various medical institutions, he continued his academic and clinical career in Istanbul. In 1997, Dr. Tarhan was appointed as the Turkish representative of the Memorial Center of America, he initiated Turkey's first brain functional imaging studies and continued theCenter’s work in brain mapping. In 2006, he founded Turkey’s first neuropsychiatric hospital, and in 2011, he established Üsküdar University. Today, the university serves over 24,000 students and maintains active programs through its Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, and Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Engineering Since 2003, Dr. Tarhan has played a leading role in establishing the infrastructure for neuromodulation therapies in Turkey and continues to advance these treatments, including the application of deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). In 2009, Dr. Tarhan established a center dedicated to “Personalized Treatment” and introduced the use of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) for assessing blood drug levels in psychiatric treatment. He also developed a laboratory infrastructure to support genotyping for “Pharmacogenetic” research. These efforts have enabled the active implementation of personalized approaches in psychiatric care. He holds international memberships in the following professional organizations: the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the Turkish American Association of Neuropsychiatry (TANPA), the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), and the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (SBMT). International Society for Neuroimaging in Psychiatry (ISNIP), International Psychogeriatric Association (IPA), Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA), EEG and Clinical Neuroscience Society (ECNS), International Society For Neurofeedback &Research (ISNR, The Journal of Neurobehavioral Sciences, World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP), European Psychiatric Association (EPA).

Neşe Direk

M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry Department of Psychiatry Istanbul University, Faculty of Medicine

Dr. Nese Direk is a Professor of Psychiatry at Istanbul University, where she leads the Mood Disorders and Geriatric Psychiatry Units. She received her PhD in Epidemiology and MSc in Genetic Epidemiology from Erasmus University and NIHES in the Netherlands, following her medical and psychiatric training at Istanbul University. Her research focuses on affective disorders, psychiatric genetics, and old age psychiatry. She has authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications and is an active member of international consortia including the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and CORNET. Dr. Direk has extensive teaching and supervision experience in psychiatry, neuroscience, and research methodology, and has led or participated in several nationally and internationally funded projects.

René Ernst Nielsen

M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry Aalborg University President of IGSLi

René Ernst Nielsen is a professor of psychiatry at Aalborg University and consultant psychiatrist at Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark. He currently serves as President of the International Group for the Study of Lithium Treated Patients (IGSLi). With a long-standing focus on the clinical management and safety of lithium treatment, his work has contributed to international guidelines and evidence-based practices addressing renal side effects and monitoring strategies. Professor Nielsen has led or contributed to numerous clinical studies and real-world investigations, particularly leveraging the rich Danish national healthcare registers to explore treatment outcomes and long-term effects in psychiatric populations. His research spans affective disorders, psychopharmacology, and the physical health burden of severe mental illness.

Rodrigo Machado - Vieira

M.D., Ph.D., M.Sc., Professor of Psychiatry Director, UTHealth Bipolar Disorder Program Director, Experimental Therapeutics and Molecular Pathophysiology Program Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences McGovern Medical School The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Dr. Machado-Vieira is Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Bipolar Disorder Program and Experimental Therapeutics and Molecular Pathophysiology Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas, Houston. He was Director of the Translational Clinic in Mood Disorders at Intramural NIMH, developing early studies on biomarkers of ketamine rapid antidepressant response and other glutamate modulators in treatment-resistant depression. He published more than 250 articles published (h index 76), his articles were cited more than 20,000 times and received diverse grants and awards including the National Institutes of Health Fellows Award for Research Excellence, the Brazilian Psychiatric Association Award, the Gerald Klerman Young Investigator Award from the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA), the Sao Paulo Young Investigator Research Award, and the Stanley Medical Research Institute Research Award. Dr Machado-Vieira has been the PI in government (NIH) and Foundation grants, such as the Milken Foundation and Stanley Medical Research Institute, and led numerous clinical trials at NIMH, Texas, and Brazil. He is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Sara Poletti

Ph.D., Senior Researcher, Project Leader Psychiatry and Clinical Biology Unit San Raaele Hospital, Milan, Italy

Sara Poletti is a senior researcher and Project Leader at the Psychiatry and Clinical Biology Unit of San Raffaele Hospital in Milan. Dr. Poletti graduated in experimental psychology at San Raffaele University in Milan and a PhD in Neuroscience and behavioral disorders from University of Palermo. She is lecturer in Physiology and in Clinical Psychopathology at San Raffaele University in Milan. Her research interests include neuroimaging, imaging genetics, and neuroimmunology. Her work is aimed at understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of psychiatric disorders with a particular focus on mood disorder and using a multidisciplinary approach which joins neuroimaging, genetic, neuropsychological, and immunological data. Furthermore, she is focusing on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the response to treatment in mood disorders. She is part of several international consortium for the investigation of the role of the immune system in mood disorders and the identification of new targets for the implementation of novel effective treatments in mood disorders. She authored/coauthored hundreds of publications on peer reviewed journals on mood disorders.

Schahram Akbarian

M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences Professor of Neuroscience Dr. Akbarian's Laboratory of Epigenetic Regulation of the Human Brain Mount Sinai Conte Center on Epigenetic Mechanisms of Depression

Schahram Akbarian is a board certified psychiatrist and molecular neuroscientist who trained at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge and the University of California at Irvine. In 2002, he joined the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester where he established a research program in psychiatric epigenetics and served as the Director of the Brudni-ck Neuropsychiatric Research Institute. Presently, he heads the Division of Psychiatric Epigenomics in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is a former recipient of the Klerman award from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, the Judith Silver Memorial award of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the Outstanding resident award of the National Institute of Mental Health and the Eva King Killam Research Award of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Dr. Akbarian has been a principal investigator on National Institutes of Health-funded research projects and grants since 2001 and published close to 100 articles in scientific journals and book chapters. He is a member of professional societies such as the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) and presently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF, formerly NARSAD), the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS). Dr. Akbarian’s research includes epigenetic mechanisms, the study of heritable changes that occur without a change in the DNA sequence, and the neurobiology of major brain and behavior disorders, including depression, schizophrenia and related neurodevelopmental disease. This includes the exploration of the underlying molecular and cellular pathologies in the diseased brain, and the testing of novel treatments in preclinical (mouse) model systems. Dr. Akbarian heads the Division of Psychiatric Epigenomics in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Prior to this, he was the Director of the Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute and Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. A board certified psychiatrist and molecular neuroscientist, he trained at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge and the University of California at Irvine. Dr. Akbarian is a member of professional societies such as the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) and presently serves on the Editorial Board of the journals, Biological Psychiatry, Neuropsychopharmacology, Schizophrenia Bulletin and European Neuropsychopharmacology. He is the founder of Dr. Akbarian's Laboratory of Epigenetic Regulation of the Human Brain and Mount Sinai Conte Center on Epigenetic Mechanisms of Depression.

Spyridon Siafis

M.D., Clinical Scientist, Post-doctoral Researcher in Psychiatry Technical University of Munich

Spyridon (Spiros) is a clinical scientist and post-doctoral researcher in psychiatry. He obtained his medical degree from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2016 and completed his doctorate at the Technical University of Munich in 2023. Since 2018, he has been working at the Section of Evidence-Based Medicine in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. Spiros has extensive expertise in different types of meta-analyses, shared-decision making, clinical trials, drug safety, and pharmacoepidemiology, all with a strong emphasis on evidence-based medicine.

Tevfik Bedirhan Üstün

M.D., Professor of Psychiatry Professor of Health Informatics Koç University, School of Medicine, Istanbul

Tevfik Bedirhan ÜSTÜN has obtained Medical and Specialty Degrees and his Docent in Psychiatry (Associate Professor degree) at Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey in 1993. He has worked in WHO since 1990 first in Mental Health, then in Information, Evidence and Research Cluster as an international health officer and formed multiple collaborative networks on:

- Mental Health Epidemiology

- Primary Care applications of classification and training programs.

- WHO’s Family of International Classifications (ICD, ICF and other health classifications);

- Health terminologies and health Information Standards:

He has obtained multiple NIH, EU and other grants and raised over 25 million dollars for WHO projects. Traveled widely more than 70 Countries; actively participated in more than 200 international scientific meetings and congresses; served on the scientific review boards and advisory boards of various international projects. He has retired from WHO in 2016 and has started his current position as Professor of Psychiatry (until now) and Chief Health Informatics Officer (until 2020) at the Koç University, Istanbul. Üstün is the author and co-author of more than 420 articles, 10 books on psychiatry, primary care, health assessment, and surveys mainly in English, also in Turkish, French, Spanish and Italian. h index= 105 from Google Scholar He has served in the editorial board of eight journals; and served as peer reviewer in several journals. He has been awarded as a Distinguished Fellow from American Psychiatric Association; Honorary Fellow from Royal College of Psychiatrists from UK; Fellowships from National Scientific Council of Turkey and Vehbi Koç Foundation.

Thomas G. Schulze

M.D., F.A.C.N.P., F.A.P.P.A., Professor of Psychiatry Director, Institute of Psychiatric Phenomics and Genomics (IPPG) LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich

Professor Thomas G. Schulze, born in 1969, studied medicine in Erlangen(Bavaria), Manama (Bahrain), Barcelona (Catalonia), and Chapel Hill and Winston-Salem (both North Carolina). He trained as apsychiatrist and held various positions in Germany (Bonn, Mannheim, Göttingen, Munich) and the USA(Chicago,IL; Bethesda, MD; Baltimore, MD; Syracuse, NY). He is a citizen of Germany and the USA. Since 2014, he has held the position of Chair and Director of the Institute of Psychiatric Phenomics and Genomics (www.ippg.eu) at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (IPPG). He is a research affiliate with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, MD, and Adjunct Professor with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. In 2019, he also joined the Faculty of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA, where he holds an appointment as Clinical Professor. He is licensed to practice medicine in the European Union and the State of New York. Dr. Schulze’s research focuses on genoty-pe-phenotype relationships and personalized medicine approaches in psychiatric disorders. He coordinates a German-wide center grant on longitudinal psychosis research (www.PsyCourse.de) and spearheads an international study on the genetic basis of response to lithium treatment in bipolar disorder (www.ConLiGen.org),comprising several research groups from Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Australia. He has authored over 400 papers, his h-index being 74 (Web of Science) and 102 (Google Scholar), respectively. In addition to national German awards, he is the 2006 recipient of the Robins-Guze-Award of the American PsychopathologicalAssociation (APPA), the 2006 recipient of the Theodore-Reich-Award of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics (ISPG), and the winner of the Colvin Prize 2016 of the Brain & Behavioral Research Foundation(BBRF). He is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP), the APPA, and served as President of the APPA from 2015 through 2016. Between 2016 and 2020, he also held the office of President of the ISPG. From 2011 through 2017, he served as the Chair of the Section on Psychiatric Genetic of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), which he is an Honorary Member of. In 2017, he was elected to the Executive Committee of the WPA, starting a 6-year term as Secretary of Scientific Sections. In 2021, he was elected to the German Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina.org). In 2023, he was elected President-Elect of the WPA, with the three-year term as President commencing in 2026. Thomas G. Schulze speaks German, English,French, Catalan, Spanish, Latin and has a basic knowledge of Italian and a beginner’s knowledge of Arabic.

Tomas Hajek

M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry Mood Disorder Clinic Departments of Psychiatry & Neuroscience University of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Tomas Hajek MD, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University, has performed some of the largest studies of the impact of obesity on the brain in bipolar disorders or schizophrenia. He also investigates the effects of clinical at variables on brain ageing in psychiatric disorders and is particularly interested in the neuroprotective effects of Li. Dr. Hajek established brain imaging program at Dalhousie University, which has collected data from over 400 individuals and has led international multi-site brain imaging studies including thousands of participants. He has published 150+ papers with over 7000 citations and h index of 44. His research has been supported by grants from CIHR, BBRF/NARSAD, NSHRF, NIH, AZV. Dr. Hajek has mentored a number of MSc and PhD students in Canada and Europe. He works as a clinician at the Mood Disorders Clinic, specializing in treatment of bipolar disorders. For more information please visit https://hajeklab.com

Veerle Bergink

M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry Professor of Obstetrics,Gynecology and Reproductive Science Department of Psychiatry Director of Women's Mental Health Center Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, New York

Veerle Bergink is Director of the Womens Mental health Center and tenured Professor at the department of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is internationally recognized as an expert in the treatment of psychiatric disorders during pregnancy and the postpartum period with a specific interest in bipolar disorder. Dr. Bergink established a prospective postpartum psychosis study in 2008, currently the largest first-onset postpartum psychosis and mania cohort in the world. She has defined a highly effective clinical treatment algorithm for treatment of the acute phase and for the prevention of postpartum relapse. Moreover, her research has provided intriguing evidence for an underlying immunological pathophysiology of postpartum depression, mania, and psychosis. She is leading epidemiological studies and clinical cohort studies and she is the principle investigator on multiple research projects including studies on medication use during pregnancy, neuroimaging of new mothers and their offspring, and the longitudinal course of severe perinatal mood disorders. Work from her group has been consistently funded over the 10 years by large grants from the CDC, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the European Union. She has won multiple prestigious prizes and has published extensively in top-tier journals.

William T. Regenold

M.D.C.M., Professor of Psychiatry Department of Psychiatry Senior Research Physician and Medical Director for the Noninvasive Neuromodulation Unit (NNU) Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

William T. Regenold, MDCM is a board certified general and geriatric psychiatrist in the United States. He is a Senior Research Physician and Medical Director for the Noninvasive Neuromodulation Unit (NNU) in the Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch of the National Institute of National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). At the NIMH, he collaborates with a research team investigating electroconvulsive therapy and transcranial magnetic stimulation, primarily in the treatment of major depression. Dr. Regenold studied medicine at McGill University in Montreal. He trained in Medicine, Neurology and Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore and in Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and in Old Age Psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital in London. Prior to joining the NIMH, he was at the University of Maryland Department of Psychiatry where he was Director of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, the Adult Inpatient Service, and the Electroconvulsive Therapy Service. His research at the University of Maryland focused on mood disorder pathophysiology and electroconvulsive therapy.

Xenia Gonda

M.A. Pharm.D. Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology Clinical Psychologist Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

Xenia Gonda, M.A. Pharm.D. Ph.D., is an associate professor clinical psychologist and psychotherapist working at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Semmelweis University, Hungary. She is also Head of Department at the Department of Clinical Psychology at Semmelweis University and is currently part of the NAP-3-SE Neuropsychopharmacology Research Group, which is part of the Hungarian Brain Research Program. Professor Gonda is engaged in full-time clinical work in an acute psychiatric department, leads and outpatient psychotherapy clinic, as well as participating in teaching and research. Her main research areas include bio-psycho-social aspects and gene-environment interaction effects in affective disorders and suicidal behaviour. Professor Gonda has published more than 300 works, including more than 250 papers in international peer reviewed journals across various topics, such as genetic background and pharmacological and psychological interventions in depression and suicidal behaviour. Xenia Gonda, M.A. Pharm.D. Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and pharmacist currently working as assistant professor at the Department of Clinical and Theoretical Mental Health at Semmelweis University, Budapest. She is also affiliated with the Department of Pharmacodynamics at Semmelweis University, with the Neuropsychopharmacology and Neurochemistry Research Group of Hungarian National Academy of Sciences and Semmelweis University, and the Laboratory for Suicide Research and Prevention of the National Institute of Psychiatry and Addictions. Currently she is recipient of the Bolyai Janos Research Fellowship of The Hungarian Academy of Sciences. She is engaged in full clinical work in addition to teaching at various universities and research. Her main research fields include the genetic background of personality and psychiatric illnesses, pharmacotherapy of bipolar disorders and biopsychosocial approach to suicidal behavior. She is the author of more than 100 scientific publications, primarily on the biopsychosocial and genetic aspects of personality, mood disorders, and suicide.