Abiodun Olugbenga ADEWUYA was born on January 1^st, 1974. He had his MBChB from the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife Nigeria in 1998. He had his psychiatry residency training in Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC) and became a Fellow of the faculties of psychiatry of both the West African College of Physician (2006) and the National Postgraduate Medical College of Physician (2007).

He is presently a Senior Lecturer at the Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM) and a Consultant Psychiatrist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Nigeria.

He has over 40 academic publications in indexed journals and an editorial board member of 4 international journals of psychiatry. He has won various awards including Elli Lilly Young investigators fellowship award in Bipolar disorders (2007), GSK-ISBD Young Researcher travel award in Bipolar disorders (2008), Schizophrenia International Research Society travel award (2007), WHO-ISAM Travel fellowship award (2008), and recently CINP Rafaelsen Young Investigators travel award (2008).

His major research interests include Schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, stigma and women mental health.

Dr. Ashish Dhir is presently working as Senior Research Fellow in Pharmacology Division of the University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Panjab University, Chandigarh. His research area includes Psychoneuropharmacology and he is currently working on discovering new generations of antidepressant drugs particularly the triple reuptake inhibitors as antidepressant drugs. His research work addresses to the mechanism based elucidation of New Chemical Entities (NCEs) using different behavioral paradigms in animals. The study addresses to the role of sigma receptors and L-arginine-nitric oxide (NO)-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathway in the mechanisms of various antidepressant drugs. Further, these studies are supported by extensive neurochemical and biochemical approaches including the estimation of norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin and their metabolites in discrete brain areas.  Prior to these studies, he has also extensively worked in the area of epilepsy during his graduate studies wherein he investigated modulatory activity of COX-2 inhibitors as protective substances in preventing epileptic episodes in animals. A link between inhibitors GABAergic and/or adenosinergic neurotransmission and various COX-2 inhibitors have been worked out.

Dr. Dhir research work has been extensively published in peer reviewed and high impact value International and National journals. He has also contributed to book chapters and other review articles.

His research work has been recognized by the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) and recently has received the Rafaelsen Young Investigator Award, Munich, Germany.  Earlier, he has been invited for the presentation at the 8th World Congress on inflammation held at Copenhagen, Denmark (Europe). He is also the recipient of various IBRO and SfN grants to attend International conferences including the IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience 2007 held at Melbourne, Australia.

Presently, he is working as Lecturer (Temp.) in University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Panjab University, Chandigarh and pursuing his Ph.D. under the guidance of Professor S.K. Kulkarni

Dr.Bai Han has been working in the field of psychiatry for 18 years. After obtaining his Doctor of Medical Science in 1998 from the Shanxi Medical University at Taiyuan City, China, he then completed a postdoctoral thesis (habilitation) in psychiatry at the Julius-Maximilians-University, Würzburg in 1999. Dr. Bai Han specialised in psychiatry and postgraduate training in psychiatry at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich in 2004. Dr. Bai Han obtaining his Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Science in 2008 from the Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science & Technology at Wuhan, China. From 2003 to 2008 he was Associate Professor and from 2008 full Professor of psychiatry in Department of Psychiatry, First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University at Taiyuan City, China. Professor Dr. Bai Han main scientific contributions include clinical and neurobiological research into psychiatry, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease. He has been a member of the boards of several national psychiatric societies. In addition to authoring and co-authoring over 50 national and international publications and 2 books. Professor Dr. Bai Han was awarded Fellows of international congress, e.g. Regional Meeting of WPA in Beijing 1997, XI WPA in Hamburg 1999, The International Congress of WPA in Madrid in 2001, 7^th Congress of World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) in Berlin 2001, Regional Meeting of WPA in Seoul 2007, 2nd International Congress of the WFSBP in Santiago 2007, Rafaelsen Fellowship Award for Young Investigators for the XXVI CINP in Munich 2008 and Young Psychiatrist Fellow XIV WPA in Prague 2008.

I was born and raised in Japan, and graduated from the University of Occupational and Environmental Health in March 2003 when I was 24 y.o. I am currently a psychiatry resident in the Senior Resident Course of University of Occupational and Environmental Health.

On the ward during my junior resident, I witnessed the link between clinical research and patient care. The experience fueled my motivation to become involved in the translational research from bench to bedside.

As a senior resident, I have been studied clinical and laboratory research on relationship between neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). We found BDNF is increased in NPSLE with psychiatric symptoms, and have been researching about its mechanism. Recently we are investigating relationship between depression and cardiovascular disease through nitric oxide. We are interested in psycho-oncology too. I am also engaged in medical intervention and discuss each patient’s diagnosis and treatment with my mentors. I have been reporting clinical findings in the international journals.

Laura Mandelli (August 13, 1976), is a psychologist (PsyD) with a 10-years clinical experience. At present, she holds a research position at the University of Bologna, Italy, and she is Professor of Psychiatric genetics at the University of Molise, Italy.  Laura Mandelli has been involved in many research projects investigating the role of clinical and genetic factors in the susceptibility of psychiatric disorders and response to treatments, particularly regarding Affective disorders, and she collaborated to more than fifty works published on peer-reviewed journals. Laura Mandelli received several prizes as a young scientist, including the CINP Rafaelsen Young Investigators Travel Award in 2008.

Dr. Neigh was born in Butler, Pennsylvania and graduated from Butler Senior High School in 1994.  She attended Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in biology in 1998.  Shortly after graduation she began work on her doctorate in neuroscience at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.  Dr. Neigh trained in the laboratories of A. Courtney DeVries, Ph.D. and Randy J. Nelson, Ph.D. in psychoneuroendocrinology, neuroimmunology, and cerebral vascular biology.  After completion of her Ph.D. in neuroscience in 2004, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia to complete an NIH funded fellowship in developmental neurobiology studying the link between cardiovascular disease and depression with Charles B. Nemeroff, M.D., Ph.D.  Dr. Neigh is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences in the Emory University School of Medicine and a member of the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience.  She is currently funded by a NARSAD Young Investigator’s Award and an American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant.