He is Consultant Adult & Child Psychiatrist, Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital & Galaxy Care Hospital, Pune
Former Deputy Medical Superintendent, HOD,Psychiatry Dept & in charge, Child Guidance Centre, YCM Hospital, Pune
He is M.D. & done Course in CAP (NIMHANS, Bangalore) & Yoga (Pune University)
He is currently President, Indian Association for Child & Adolescent Mental Health (IACAM) & past President , IPS – Western Zonal Branch 2014-15. He was Central Council member, IPS 2008-2020, He is Life fellow of IPS, IACAM, IASP,IAIP & Member of AACAP.
He was Organizing Secretary, 66th ANCIPS-2014 & 13th IACAMCON – 2015 & he organized various workshops for Parents & Teachers regarding Child Mental Health issues.
He established Psychiatry Department with OPD services at YCM Hospital in 1993 which was subsequently expanded with full fledge infrastructure (including clinical psychologist & PSW) culminated in training P.G. for DPM course affiliated with Collage of Physician & Surgeon, Bombay. In 2004 he established Child Guidance Centre with Play therapy unit, catering CAMH services to 15 lac populations & 400 schools.
In capacity of Deputy Medical Superintendent (2015-16) he looked after general administration of hospital 750 beds capacity & was instrumental in starting new wards, expansion of existing facilities & starting ultramodern Blood Bank.
He worked as Co-ordinator for project of establishing P. G. Institute at YCM Hospital, as joint venture of PCMC & Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) during 2012-2013.
His work included preparing basic data, liaison with state government & MUHS; procuring Consent of Affiliation certificate & Essentiality certificate; prepared Recruitment Rule for creating 118 teaching posts requiring for PG Medical Institute & perused it to get approval from State Government.
He was instrumental in starting diploma courses in 12 medical specialties at YCM Hospital affiliated to Collage of Surgeons & Physician, Bombay in year 1999.
He was Visiting Psychiatrist, SNEHALAYA NGO Working for Rehabilitation of Children of Commercial Sex Worker Ahmednagar & Mother Teresa Home for destitute at Thatwade, Chinchwad, Pune (Weekly visit)
He presented various papers, symposium, workshops in zonal, National & International conferences on child mental health issues. His publication are :
1. School mental health programme in Maharashtra – Today and way ahead, Annals of Indian Psychiatry, (Year : 2017 | Volume : 1 | Issue : 1 | Page : 4-7),
2. Clinical Practice Guidelines for Sleep Disorders , IJP, January
3. SCHOOL MENTAL HEALTH – REACHING THE MASSES, Chapter in book Different Strokes – An IPS PublicationI,Indian Psychiatric Society, First Edition: January, 2015
Dr Velprashanth Venkatesan,MBBS (Govt. Kilpauk Medical College, Chennai) ,
Dr. Uttara Chari is a certified Clinical Psychologist and Special Educator. Trained at the National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences; Dr. Chari is Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bengaluru. Her clinical work is informed by a psychodynamic approach. She trains psychiatry residents in psychological assessments and therapies; and teaches psychology to medical and para-medical undergraduates. She serves as Chief Editor of the e-textbook of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professionals, and is an early-career mentor at this organization.
Dr Shalini Naik is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at PGIMER, Chandigarh, whose work bridges psychotherapy, neuroscience, addiction psychiatry, and child and adolescent mental health. Trained at NIMHANS with formal specialisation in psychodynamic psychotherapy, she brings a thoughtful, person-centred approach to clinical care while advancing research in neuromodulation in various psychiatric conditions. Her ongoing research work on digital media use and internet overuse among children and adolescents reflects a deep commitment to addressing emerging mental health challenges in young people. Her contributions have been recognised with several prestigious national and international honours, including Indian Psychiatric Society Young Psychiatrist Award, NIDA–ISAM Young Investigator Award, Schizophrenia International Research Society Early Career Academic Excellence Award, ISBD Early- and Mid-Career Mentee Award, etc. She is passionate about teaching, mentorship, and innovation.
e Care Department at IHBAS. Her populations of interest are adolescents, young adults, and emerging adults. Her research interests encompass youth mental health, self-harm, psychosocial issues, palliative care, transdiagnostic therapies, early parenting environments, and psychological trauma. She has received grants from ICSSR, ICMR, and DST. She is a professional member of the APA Trauma Division-56, serves as Associate Editor of the Indian Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, and is the Assistant Secretary General of IASP (2024-2028). She has been awarded the Buckshey Award (2023), J C Marfatia Award (2023), Bombay Psychiatric Society Silver Jubilee Award (2024), and Balint Award (2025).
Dr Eesha Sharma is an Associate Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru. A clinician-researcher with over a decade of experience, her work focuses on developmental psychopathology, early-onset psychiatric disorders, and the interaction of neurobiological and environmental determinants of mental health. She has been centrally involved in several large national and international collaborative studies, including cVEDA, the National Mental Health Survey of India, and the ICMR-funded PARAM cohort. Her academic interests span population neuroscience, childhood adversity, and translational mental health interventions.