Prof. Antonio Hardan

Chief, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Stanford University

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Bio:

Dr. Hardan is a Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford University. He is the Carl Feinstein Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division at Stanford University. He is also the Director of the Autism and Developmental Disorders Clinic at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. Dr. Hardan is a Board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist as well as a general psychiatrist with more than 20 years’ experience assessing and treating children and adults with developmental disorders including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), PTEN mutations, velocardiofacial syndrome, and Down Syndrome. Over the years, he has won several teaching awards including the John Romano Award at the University of Rochester and the “Outstanding Teacher” at Stanford University.

 

Dr. Hardan research expertise is in the neurobiology of ASD and in the development of innovative treatment for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders. He served as a principal investigator on numerous projects examining the neurobiology of ASD and assessing the effectiveness of a wide range of interventions. He is the recipient of several grants examining the efficacy of Pivotal Response Treatment and vasopressin in the treatment of children with ASD. He has completed several investigations that aim at increasing our understanding of the pathophysiology of individuals with developmental disorders while applying multimodal imaging techniques. He also has led several clinical trials examining the effectiveness of novel interventions such as N-Acetylcysteine in children with ASD and everolimus for individuals with PTEN mutations. Additionally, he is the developer of 2 new instruments the Stanford Social Dimensions Scale and the Dimensional Assessment of Restricted/Repetitive behaviors (DARB).  Finally, Dr. Hardan has published more than 125 journal articles and has co-authored several book chapters in the field of developmental disorders and ASD.

Prof. Bennett L. Leventhal

Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Emeritus, The University of Chicago

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Bio:

Bennett Leventhal, M.D. was born in Chicago and grew up in Arkansas, Illinois, and Louisiana. After receiving his medical degree from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Dr. Leventhal completed his child and adolescent psychiatry training at Duke University, serving there as chief resident and junior faculty member. Following two years as a medical officer at the Naval Regional Medical Center, Portsmouth, Virginia, Dr. Leventhal joined the University of Chicago; there he served as Professor of Psychiatry & Pediatrics and, as Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for more than two decades. In recognition of his distinguished services, he remains the Irving B. Harris Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Emeritus, at the University of Chicago. Dr. Leventhal then moved to the University of Illinois College of Medicine and the Institute for Juvenile Research where he was Professor and Director of the Center for Child Mental Health and Developmental Neuroscience. After 5 years as Deputy Director, Nathan S. Kline Institute of Psychiatric Research, in 2014, Dr. Leventhal moved the University of California San Francisco where he is Professor of Psychiatry, Director of Training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Deputy Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Deputy Director of the Center for Autism Spectrum and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

Dr. Leventhal is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in both General Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of both the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Leventhal has been a leader in national and regional efforts to promote children’s mental health research and to create comprehensive, cutting-edge systems of care for children’s mental health. These efforts include membership on the Board of The Northwestern University Child and Family Justice Center and, Directorship of the State of Illinois Autism Project. He is also highly regarded more broadly in the field of medicine as exemplified by his prior membership of the National Board of Medical Examiners and the Illinois State Medical Board.

Dr. Leventhal has a distinguished international reputation as a child and adolescent psychiatrist who is recognized for his leadership and expertise in fostering scientific career development, training, and broad-based collaborative research networks that span from molecular genetics to community service and public health. These efforts have led to the creation of outstanding clinical research programs that have developed and shaped scientific approaches to the study of early emerging childhood disorders. He has displayed a significant talent in fostering career development and, the passion he conveys about the importance of child and adolescent psychiatric research has played a role in launching the careers of many distinguished clinical scientists, around the country and around the world.

Dr. Leventhal is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 50th Anniversary Distinguished Service Medal and the Edithe J. Levitt Award for Distinguished Service from the National Board of Medical Examiners. He is also honored by Adjunct Professorial Appointments in the University of Illinois Department of Disability and Human Development and Yonsei University Department of Psychiatry in Seoul, Korea.
Dr. Leventhal is also a determined advocate for children’s mental health and has greatly enhanced the lives of children and families through his devotion to clinical care and his broad-based influence on policy and practice. Dr. Leventhal has directed a number of initiatives to advance cutting-edge translational research on the causes and prevention of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents. Dr. Leventhal’s research focuses on disruptions in brain development that interfere with social functioning, including the molecular genetics of autism and the prenatal origins of disruptive behavior disorders. His wide-ranging scientific contributions are reflected in his current efforts to develop research programs in integrated pediatric mental health services, pediatric psychopharmacology, bullying, epidemiology and the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Prof. Bruno Falissard

Head of Public Health and Mental Health Research Lab 
Paris-Sud University
Previous President of IACAPAP

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Bio:

After some initial training in mathematics and fundamental physics (Ecole Polytechnique, Paris), Bruno Falissard engaged in medical studies and specialized in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in 1991. He is full professor in biostatistics in Université Paris-Saclay since 2002. He is at the head the “Center of Epidemiology and Population Health” (600 members). He has a clinical activity in child and adolescent psychiatry. His personal areas of research are about methodology and epistemology of mental health research.  In 2015 he became president of IACAPAP (International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions, the term ended in 2018) and member of the French Academy of Medicine. In 2019 he received the Ülkü Ülgür international scholar award of the AACAP (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry).

Dr. Chiara Servili

Technical officer, Child and Adolescent Mental and Brain Health

Department of Mental Health and Substance Use

World Health Organization

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Bio:

Chiara is WHO technical focal point for child and adolescent mental and brain health in the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use and WHO technical lead for the UNICEF WHO Joint Programme on mental health and psychosocial wellbeing and development of children and adolescents (2020-2030).

A child neuropsychiatrist by training, obtained an MPH at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a PhD at the Universita’ of Modena.

Her work focuses on the development of guidance and implementation tools for child and adolescent mental and brain health and providing technical advice to countries.  

Prior to joining WHO Headquarters in 2010, she served the organization in the African and Eastern Mediterranean regions.

Prof. Dr. Christina Schwenck

Chair of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
Giessen University

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Bio:

Prof. Dr. Christina Schwenck is professor for Special Needs Educational and Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology at the University of Giessen, Germany. Dr. Schwenck has studied psychology at the Universities of Würzburg and Madrid and completed her PhD in Developmental Psychology at the University of Würzburg. She worked at the Departments of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy of different University hospitals. She is a trained child and adolescent psychotherapist (specification behavior therapy) and a trained supervisor. Her research interests comprise selective mutism, conduct disorder, and children of parents with mental illness.  
Dr. Schwenck is currently the Secretary General of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions. Her vision is to strengthen training and promotion of child and adolescent mental health professionals, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, including long-term mentorships for early career scientists and clinicians in this important field. Furthermore, she aims at alluring allied professions for IACAPAP to enhance active collaboration between professions in order to provide optimal supply for children and adolescents with mental health problems.

Prof. Daniel Fung

Chief Executive Officer - Institute of Mental Health, Singapore
President IACAPAP

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Bio:

Dr Daniel Fung is the President of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP). He is the Chief Executive Officer of Singapore’s Institute of Mental Health as well as an Adjunct Associate Professor at all 3 medical schools in Singapore.  
Dr Fung is currently the President of the College of Psychiatrists, Academy of Medicine Singapore.  
Dr Fung is interested in the treatment of emotional and behavioural disorders in children and he has advocated for the development of child mental health services and strategies through his research. His current interest is in developing age appropriate, culturally relevant, locally sensitive resources to improve mental health literacy and reduce stress and suicidality in youths and families.
Dr Fung’s research is supported by the National Medical Research Council and other agencies. He has co-authored over 200 peer reviewed research papers (171), books (34) and book chapters (20).

Dr. Fadi Maalouf

Chair & Associate Professor of Psychiatry 
American University of Beirut

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Bio:

Dr. Fadi Maalouf is the Chairperson of the Department of Psychiatry, and an Associate Professor at the American University of Beirut.  Dr. Maalouf also holds an adjunct faculty appointment at the University of Pittsburgh, USA. 
Dr. Maalouf is trained in General Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
Dr. Maalouf’s research interest is in the areas of epidemiology of childhood psychiatric disorders and specifically emotional disorders and in school-based youth mental health interventions that aim at bridging the treatment gap in this population. Dr. Maalouf has received several grants and awards from prestigious organizations such as the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention and the Harvard Medical School Center for Global Health Delivery. He is also an elected member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.

Prof. Helen Egger MD

Co-founder and Chief Medical & Scientific Officer Little Otter

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Bio:

www.littleotterhealth.com

helen@littleotterhealth.com

Dr. Helen Egger is a child psychiatrist, early childhood mental health epidemiologist, and digital health innovator (and mom of four). With her daughter, Rebecca Egger, she co-founded Little Otter, an early childhood digital mental health company providing high-quality, family-centered, and accessible mental health care for children ages 0-14 years old and their families.

Founded in the Spring of 2020, Little Otter has raised > $26M in venture-backed funding and is currently available in CA, CO, NC, FL, TX, VA, NY, and PA (mid-June 2022) with plans to be available nationally by early 2023.

Prior to joining Little Otter, Dr. Egger was Chair of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU Langone Health and Director of the NYU Child Study Center. She also founded the WonderLab, a digital child mental health research lab.

Before NYULH, Dr. Egger was tenured faculty at Duke. She founded the Early Childhood Mental Health Lab in the Center for Developmental Epidemiology. As creator of the gold-standard preschool mental health interview and seminal studies, Dr. Egger has shaped the science and practice of preschool mental health. She also led an engineering/child psychiatry initiative that created the first pediatric ResearchKit study, Autism & Beyond. At Duke, Dr. Egger served as Vice-Chair and Chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Dr. Egger attended Yale College and Yale School of Medicine. She completed her adult, child, and post-doctoral research training at Duke University School of Medicine.

Prof. Petrus de Vries

Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
University of Cape Town

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Bio:

Petrus de Vries is the Sue Struengmann Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and Director of the Centre for Autism Research in Africa (CARA) at the University of Cape Town.

He trained in Medicine at Stellenbosch University in South Africa before moving to the UK where he completed his clinical training in Psychiatry and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and a PhD in Developmental Neuropsychiatry at the University of Cambridge.

Prof de Vries returned to South Africa in 2012 with the main purpose of building research and research capacity in Child & Adolescent Mental Health in Africa and other low-resource environments. He organized and led the 2013 Helmut Remschmidt Research Seminar in Stellenbosch, South Africa and was vice-chairman of the Scientific Committee for the 2014 IACAPAP (International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions) congress, held in Durban, South Africa. In 2015, he was elected on the IACAPAP Executive Committee to co-lead future Helmut Remschmidt Research Seminars with Prof Per-Anders Rydelius from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Together, they led HRRS seminars in South Africa (2013), Canada (2015), Czech Republic (2017) and Singapore (2019).

He is currently Treasurer of IACAPAP, co-edits the IACAPAP Monograph, is Chairman of the African Division of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (UK), and President of SA-ACAPAP (South African Association for Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions). He was Secretary of INSAR (International Society for Autism Research) from 2019-2021 and is a scientific advisor to a number of international organizations on Autism Spectrum Disorders and Tuberous Sclerosis Complex and other developmental disabilities.

Prof. Valsamma Eapen

Chair, Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
University of New South Wales (UNSW)

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Bio:

Professor Eapen is Chair of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UNSW Sydney, Clinical Academic and Head of the Academic Unit of Child Psychiatry and Director of BestSTART Child Health Academic Unit at South West Sydney Local Health District. She is Director of the Early Years Program at the Autism Co-operative Research Centre and was part of a four-member Executive Group that led the development of the National Guideline for the Assessment and Diagnosis of Autism, which has been accredited by the NHMRC and utilised by the NDIS. She is also Stream Director for Early Life Determinants of Health (ELDoH) Clinical Academic Group under SPHERE, which is an Advanced Health Research and Translational Centre. Eapen has consistently demonstrated the ability to translate research findings covering the interface between basic and clinical research, service delivery and policy applications with a focus on neurodevelopmental disorders.  She has authored over 350 peer reviewed publications, and >150 conference presentations including national and international keynote and plenary talks, and contributions to television/radio/print media. She is part of major research collaborations totalling >40 million. Testament to her national and international standing include her leadership roles (e.g. Treasurer, International Neuropsychiatry Association; Chair, Bi-national Committee of the Faculty of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry), memberships in major consortiums (e.g. the International Homozygosity Mapping Collaborative for Autism, Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation Genetics Collaborative) and editorial roles (e.g. Deputy Editor, Asian Journal of Psychiatry, Academic Editor, PLOS ONE).