Dr Darpan Kaur is currently working as Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry, Mahatma Gandhi Missions Medical College and Hospital, Navi Mumbai. She is additionally In Charge of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic at the Department of Psychiatry, MGMMC, Navi Mumbai. She is Consulting Psychiatrist at Satguru Mind Care, Mumbai. She is also visiting Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at Apollo Hospital, Navi Mumbai.

She received her post graduation training in Psychiatry from the prestigious Christian Medical College, (CMC), Vellore. Subsequently, she worked as a Consultant and Research Officer at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Christian Medical College, (CMC), Vellore. She has received the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) Travel Fellowship training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NIMHANS, Bangalore.

She has successfully completed online course on Introduction to Cognitive Behaviour Therapy offered by the European Psychiatric Association. She has also participated and completed online course and live training in Cue-centred Therapy from Stanford Medicine.

She has relevant research work, publications, paper presentations, symposia, workshops and training programs with a special interest in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the national and international level.

She has been awarded with AS Johnson Gold Medal Essay Prize in Schizophrenia (CMC Vellore), Fellowship of Dr Ramachandra N Moorthy Foundation for Mental Health and Neurological Sciences at NIMHANS, Luke Clack Young Scientist Award by the Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, (IACAM), Prof NN Wig Memorial Essay Prize (GCBP) and Mental Health Leadership Award.

She has been awarded the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Young Psychiatrist Fellowship, The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) Fellowship Award, The Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (JSPN) Fellowship Award, World Federation for Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) Young Investigator Award and Early Career Psychiatrist Award by the Congress Committee, Institute of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine,    Ain Shams University, Egypt. She was selected for the Adopt a Delegate Program at the World Congress of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP). She has also received the RCPsych South Asian Division Poster Bursary Prize from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK.

She is currently Assistant Editor of the Indian Journal of Psychiatry, Assistant Editor of the Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry and Review Editor for Psychological Therapies, Frontiers in Psychiatry. She is the Chairperson of the Digital Psychiatry Subcommittee of the Indian Psychiatric Society, Western Zonal Branch. She is the Cochairperson of the Technology and Psychiatry Specialty Section of the Indian Psychiatric Society, (IPS). She is the Cochairperson of the Web and Social Media Committee of the Indian Association of Private Psychiatry, (IAPP).

She is member of national organisations such as Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS), Indian Association of Private Psychiatry (IAPP), Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (IACAM) and Indian Association of Biological Psychiatry (IABP). She is also a member of international organisations such as World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP), The Association for the Advancement of Philosophy and Psychiatry (AAPP) and Global Mental Heath (GMH) Think Tank.

Dr Prabhat Sitholey is a practicing Consultant Psychiatrist in Lucknow. Dr Sitholey graduated from GSVM Medical College in 1971. He obtained MD (Psych) from the King George’s Medical University in 1975, joined its faculty and became Professor and Head of Psychiatry. He retired in 2010.

Dr Sitholey obtained training in child and adolescent psychiatry in Southampton, England.

Dr Sitholey’s work has been published in national and international journals and cited in international textbooks on child and adolescent psychiatry.

Dr Sitholey was Founding Fellow and President of Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health and President of the IPS Central Zone. He has been Chairperson of the IPS Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Specialty Section.

Dr Sitholey’s awards include:

Commonwealth Medical Fellowship Award for training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in England.
PPA Oration Award of Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health
IPS Central Zone Oration Award
Marfatia Best Paper Award of Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Best Poster Presentation Award of Delhi Psychiatric Society

Prof. Shoba Srinath is a Consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist.

A well-known and felicitated clinician and teacher. She retired as a Senior Professor and was head of the Department of Psychiatry, the Dept. of Child and Adolescent psychiatry, and Dean Behavioural Sciences at the National Institute of Mental Health& Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore.

She did her MBBS at the Karnataka Medical College, Hubli and DPM and MD in Psychiatry from NIMHANS, Bangalore.

Dr. Shoba’s major areas of clinical interests and research are childhood autism, obsessive compulsive disorders and mood disorders. She has published in these areas as well as in epidemiology and other areas.

Professor Santosh is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital, and a Professor in Developmental Neuropsychiatry and Psychopharmacology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neurosciences (IoPPN), King’s College London. He is an internationally recognised expert in paediatric psychopharmacology, ADHD, ASD, Rett syndrome, and heads the national and specialist Centre for Interventional Paediatric Psychopharmacology and Rare Diseases (CIPPRD), and the Centre for Personalised Medicine in Rett Syndrome (CPMRS) and a digital health innovator.

His expertise lies in managing children and adolescents with severe and complex treatment resistant neuropsychiatric disorders, rare diseases, and acquired brain injury. His research includes personalised medicine, psychopharmacology, conducting clinical trials in Rett syndrome, and investigating emotional behavioural autonomic dysregulation (EBAD) in patient populations.

Professor Santosh is a Professor in Developmental Neuropsychiatry and Psychopharmacology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neurosciences (IoPPN), King’s College London. His main focus is on translational research exploring new ways to improve patient care, psychopharmacology, clinical trials in Rett syndrome, autonomic dysregulation in patient populations, and personalized medicine.

Jai Ranjan Ram is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist now working in Kolkata, India.

He works from Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, Kolkata, India and is also attached Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy and Institute of Child Health, Kolkata as Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist. He received his undergraduate medical education from Kolkata and then did his postgraduate training from NIMHANS, Bangalore, India. He worked as a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in Wakefield, South Yorkshire, UK, after obtaining his CCST from Wessex Deanery. He wanted to be a travelling chef but chose a far less interesting career of Medicine instead. However, as a Psychiatrist with special interest in children and young people, he gets to relive the dreams and aspirations of young minds and feels blessed that he has, in his own very small way, enabled some troubled minds to gain freedom and blossom. He co-founded Mental Health Foundation, Kolkata (www.mhfkolkata.com) which focuses on providing treatment for mental illness and provides training for capacity building for organisation working on the interface of education and social care.

He has been teaching Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Mphil in Clinical Psychology Course at Calcutta University since 2007 and has been teaching and training pediatricians and psychiatrists extensively on Child Psychiatry. He actively collaborates and advises several NGO’s based in West Bengal which works with children with disability and those who have survived abuse.

He is a firm believer in improving access to mental health care and believes that is only possible if there is increased access to high quality training program for frontline community workers.

Dr. Suresh Bada Math completed his MBBS from Karnatak Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubli, in 1998 and MD in Psychiatry from National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore in Aug 2001. Dr Suresh continued his academic career and earned various degrees such as DNB in Psychiatry, Postgraduate Diploma in Medical ethics and law (PGDMLE) & Postgraduate Diploma in human rights and law (PGDHRL) from National Law School of India University, Bangalore.

He also did a PhD in Law from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. Now, He is Prof of Psychiatry, Head of the Forensic Psychiatry Psychiatry Unit and Head of the Telemedicine Center, Head of Unit-5 (General Psychiatry), and Consultant of Community Psychiatry, NIMHANS, Bangalore. His keen interest in research has led me to be the investigator in various research projects, which is depicted through the 324 publications in national and international journals.

He led a landmark study as a principal investigator in 2009 titled ‘The Bangalore Prison Mental Health Study: Local Lessons for National Action’, which was funded by Karnataka State Legal Service Authority, Karnataka. He played a crucial role in starting Free Legal Aid clinic at NIMHANS institute in collaboration with Karnataka State Legal Service Authority, Karnataka in 2011.

He is also visiting faculty to Karnataka Judicial Academy, Bangalore and National Law School of India University, Bangalore. He was actively involved in post-disaster relief work at Tsunami (Andaman & Nicobar) in 2004-05 and Flashfloods (Uttarkhand) 2013.

Recognizing his contributions Karnataka Chapter, the Indian Psychiatric Society has honored him with ‘Prof Raghuram’s-Distinguished Young Teacher Award, in the 25th Annual Conference of Indian Psychiatric Society–Karnataka Chapter held on 29th and 30th of August 2015 and also won Dr.C.V.Raman Young Scientist Award in Medical Field for the year 2015-16, Government of Karnataka.

Dr. Nishant Goyal is heading the Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Central Institute of Psychiatry and has initiated regular neurodevelopmental clinic at CIP since last 05 years. He is also the in-charge of academics and examination section of the Institute. He is designated as an External Expert and Advisor by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), New Delhi under Ministry of Women and Child Development and is involved in policy and programme making and implementation and conducting workshops in the Eastern region on various subject matters under the purview of NCPCR.

He is also heading the Centre for Cognitive Neurosciences and Neuropsychiatry Services including weekly epilepsy clinic at Central Institute of Psychiatry and has developed first non-invasive Brain Stimulation Lab in the entire eastern region of the Country with state of art facilities including Robotised, 3-D Neuronavigated TMS/rTMS, HD-tDCS, tDCS, tACS, tES and hybrid stimulation facilities at Central Institute of Psychiatry (CIP). Neuroscience research using high resolution EEG and ERP systems complemented with video EEG, fNIRS and PSG facilities are a prominent feature. The lab is involved in clinical and experimental research in the field of mental health and neurosciences.

He has published more than 70 papers in reputed international and national journals (Scopus indexed). He has published mainly in the areas of Brain Stimulation, high resolution EEG including cortical source localization and EEG connectivity and clinical child and adolescent psychiatry. He has authored/co-authored 06 book chapters particularly in the areas of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health Services development and history.

He has mentored/guided more than 55 post graduate research mostly in the field of Brain Stimulation and Cognitive Neurosciences. Currently he is guiding 10 post graduate thesis/dissertations in mental health and neurosciences including PhD candidates particularly in the field of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Dr. Satish Chandra Girimaji completed his MBBS from Bangalore Medical College in 1980 and MD (Psychiatry) from Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh in 1983.

He has been working as a faculty in NIMHANS since December 1984, initially in the Department of Psychiatry and subsequently in the Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. He currently holds the position of Senior Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. He functioned as the Dean of Behavioural Sciences Division for more than 2 years, and as officiating Director of NIMHANS for around 2 months.. His major areas of interest are clinical, genetic and community aspects of neurodevelopmental disorders, child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy. He has served as the member of WHO working group on revision of intellectual disability section of ICD-10.

MD, DPM, CCST (UK) Professor of Psychiatry
Formerly Head, Department of Psychiatry & De-addiction Services;
& Resource Centre for Tobacco Control,
Head, National Coordinating Unit ICMR Task Force on Capacity Building for NMHP Projects,
Centre of Excellence in Mental Health,
Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences &
Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi
(Central Health Services, Government of India).

Head, Central India Unit of UNESCO Chair in Bioethics Haifa. Member, International Forum of teachers (UNESCO Bioethics Haifa) Co-Chair, World Psychiatry Association Section on Genetics World Health Organization International Consultant Chair and convener of Task Forces for the Indian psychiatric Society

Administration :

Dr. Smita Deshpande served as the Head, Dept. of Psychiatry and De-Addiction, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (now Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences) Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, (Ministry of Health, Government of India) New Delhi from July 2004 to September 2018, superannuating in June 2021. She has been actively involved in clinical services, teaching and research since joining Central Health Services, Government of India in 1987. She was instrumental in upgrading her Department to a Centre of Excellence and starting three sub-departments in the Centre. She initiated the Yoga Centre at the Dept. of Psychiatry in 2005. She started Tobacco Cessation Service and subsequently upgraded it to Resource Centre for Tobacco Control at the Department. The Department, under her leadership, was declared as Centre of Excellence in Mental Health by the Ministry of Health, Government of India, in 2017.

Teaching, examiner and post graduate education :

Under her leadership, DNB course and subsequently MD in Psychiatry was started at Dr RML hospital. She initiated The MPhil Clinical Psychology course in 2015 and two more courses. Diploma in Psychiatric Nursing and MPhil Psychiatric Social Work in 2016.

She has been conducting Fogarty International Centre; NIH USA funded Post Graduate Training Programmes in Research in Implementation and Intervention studies and in Psychiatric Genetics since 2004. She has guided MD and DNB theses. She is an examiner for MD, DM and PhD for universities and boards all over India including at AIIMS and NIMHANS.

Research :

She began her research career with systems research for Indian scientists in Antarctica funded by Dept. of Ocean Development Government of India, and Indian agricultural scientists funded by Indian Council of Medical Research in 1988.

She became the first Indian researcher to initiate research in schizophrenia genetics in India in 1992. Since then she has conducted more than 36 research projects in schizophrenia genetics, clinical trials, psychosocial aspects, disability and rehabilitation in schizophrenia. Her research has been funded by various Ministries of the Government of India, Ministry of Science and Technology, Dept. of Biotechnology, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Dept. of Ocean Development, NIMH Secunderabad, Central Council for Yoga and Naturopathy, Central Council for Ayurveda and Siddha, and the Indian Council of Medical Research. International agencies which have funded her research are World Health Organization, Fogarty International Centre, National Institutes of Health USA, American psychiatric Association, DFID UK, and the Stanley Medical Research Institute. She has been involved in research in yoga as a tool for cognitive improvement in major mental disorders since 2006. She has conducted several clinical trials, for both national and international pharma and CROs, and investigator initiated.

She is one of the leading researchers in autism in India and was instrumental in developing and publicising the Indian Scale for Assessment of Autism (ISAA) which is recognized by the Government of India as the only instrument for certifying disability among Indian children with autism. In 2021, her group published the Indian Autism Screening Questionnaire (IASQ) as a population based ten item simple screening tool for autism. She is also involved in field testing new tools for dyslexia assessment.

National and international assignments :

She was member of the core group which developed the Indian Scale for Assessment of Autism for quantifying disability in persons with Autism. The ISAA is now the legal tool for certifying disability in autism under the Rights of Persons with Disability Act 2016. She was a member of the Governing Council of NIMHANS Bengaluru (Selection Committee and Academic Committee) for three years, until 2017. She is a member of the Subject Expert Committee for matters related to approval of (a) clinical trials, (b) new drugs and (c) new medical devices for Neurology and Psychiatry of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization of the DGHS, MOHFW, Govt. of India. She was involved in developing the Tobacco Dependence Treatment Guidelines for the National Tobacco Control Programme. She is an inspector for various national agencies such as the National Board of Examinations, Medical Council of India, National Mental Health Programme, Ministry of Health etc.

Ethics :

She was a member of the group drafting medical research guidelines for vulnerable groups, of the expert committee of Indian Council of Medical Research for ICMR Guidelines 2017. She led a group drafting ethical guidelines for research among cognitively impaired, sponsored by the ICMR. She is Head, Central India Unit of the UNESCO Bioethics Chair, Haifa since 2014. She was Chairperson, Institutional Ethics Committee of the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences and a member of several Ethics Committees and Chaired an Ethics Committee for an ICMR Task Force project, as well as member of the Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi and the ethics member of the Sri Sathya Sanjeevani Research Foundation, Palwal, Haryana.

Advocacy :

She is involved in advocacy for mentally ill persons and their families, public health education and rehabilitation. She is a member of several NGOs striving to improve the conditions and fighting for the rights of the Mentally Ill, and for women through WILGA (Women’s Initiative for Liberation, Growth and Action).

Reviewer:

She is a reviewer for several national and international journals and member of several scientific societies. She has authored numerous books, book chapters and more than 100 research papers. She is actively involved in the mental health movement.

Publications:

She has more than 100 publications in national and international journals to her credit, several book chapters and has published patient education material.

Online references to her work and profile:

• On ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Smita_Deshpande4.
• On ORCID: Smita Neelkanth Deshpande: https://orcid.org/account.
• On Publons: https://publons.com/researcher/1003844/smita-deshpande/

Dr. Vivek Benegal (Professor of Psychiatry) trained as a psychiatrist and specialised in the area of Addiction Medicine.

He was instrumental in setting up the current treatment services, and the post-doctoral and super-speciality training facilities at the Centre for Addiction Medicine at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore. His special area of interest is in interventions for adolescents and young adults with addictive disorders especially behavioural (technology) addictions and externalizing disorders (Adult ADHD).

Over the last 25 years, he has sought to explore the mechanisms through which exposure to environmental stressors throughout the developmental period (including maternal stressors, childhood adversities, neurotoxins, nutrition and other social economic dynamics of health) interact with individual genetic programming, to alter trajectories of brain development and acquisition of psychological abilities, which underlie vulnerability/resilience to mental illness.

Dr. Benegal received the Newton Bhabha Award to initiate the Consortium on Vulnerability to Externalizing Disorders and Addictions (cVEDA), one of the largest international neurodevelopmental cohorts,following 10000 youngsters across 8 sites throughout India. He is also involved in another large longitudinal study, the Accelerator program for Discovery in brain disorders using stem cells (ADBS), studying the mechanisms underlying severe mental illnesses. He has also co-led the National Mental Health Survey of India, to collect data on the prevalence and incidence of mental disorders and on the use of and need for services by the mentally ill in India. He has also led numerous studies on the epidemiology of substance use and its impact on public health and social cost in India.

Dr. Debasish Basu is Professor and Head, Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India, where he is involved in psychiatric service, postgraduate psychiatric teaching, research and administration. His area of work includes general adult psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, and dual diagnosis, and he is also currently a core faculty for the DM Child and Adolescent Psychiatry course in the Department.

Awards and Recognition :

Dr. Basu has been awarded with several honours, distinctions, and awards, both at national and international levels. At the national level, he has received a total of 26 awards. At the international level, he was awarded the prestigious NIDA-INVEST Fellowship in USA, for one year (2002-2003), where he conducted research in the area of psychiatric genetics at Yale University School of Medicine. He was also awarded the NHS International Fellowship by the National Health Service, UK, under its NHS International Fellowship Programme, to work as a Consultant Psychiatrist.

Professional Affiliations, Editorship, Publications :

Dr. Basu is Fellow/Member of several national and international professional societies, and serves as a peer reviewer in many medical journals published both from India and abroad. He has served in editorial capacity in several scholarly journals. He is currently the Founding Editor of World Social Psychiatry, the official journal of the World Association of Social Psychiatry. He has also served on several national and international forums related to addiction psychiatry. He is a member of the Addiction Psychiatry Section of the World Psychiatric Association.

Dr. Basu has many funded and non-funded research work, and has more than 350 scientific publications to his credit, including books, several book chapters, and articles and abstracts published in national and international journals. He has presented his research or given scientific talks at more than 200 academic meets in India and abroad.

Dr. Vivek Agarwal is professor and head of psychiatry at K. G. Medical University Lucknow.

He has been working in child psychiatry for the last 20 years and has published more than 100 papers, book chapters nationally and internationally. He received many awards. He had served as Treasurer, Editor JIACAM and Hon. Secretary General of Indian Association for Child and adolescent Mental Health. His areas of interest are conversion disorder, childhood anxiety disorders, OCD and ADHD.

She is MD (Psychiatry), DM (Child & Adolescent Psychiatry) from PGIMER, Chandigarh.

She has been in psychiatry practice for 10 years. She is a trained and qualified child and adolescent psychiatrist with an experience of around 7 years of working exclusively with children, adolescents, their families and having a close liaison with schools. She has many research publications to her credit. She has co-authored around 15 book chapters and all deal with issues related to child and adolescent psychiatry. She is an office bearer in national societies (Indian Association of Child and Adolescent Mental Health) as well as local societies, namely Joint secretary of Chandigarh Down Syndrome Society, office bearer of Tricity Psychiatrist Society. She has been a speaker at various national, international and regional conferences. She is an avid academician and is passionate about taking child and adolescent psychiatry to higher levels.

Dr Nitin Gupta has over 25 years of professional experience in Psychiatry and is working as a Consultant Psychiatrist since 2000. He is in full-time Private Practice since 2019. He has previously worked as Professor of Psychiatry at Government Medical College & Hospital, Sector 32 (GMCH-32), Chandigarh, India from 2012-2019, with additional charge of Medical Superintendent, Mental Health Institute, GMCH-32, Chandigarh (a Rehabilitation set-up). Prior to that, he worked as a Consultant Psychiatrist in the South Staffordshire & Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, UK in General Adult Psychiatry with additional Lead Responsibility for the local Liaison Services from December 2003-February 2012. He also held the additional post of Honorary Visiting Lecturer at the Centre of Mental Health and Ageing, Staffordshire University, Stafford, UK from 2008-2013. He worked as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, PGIMER, Chandigarh from 2000-2003. His areas of special interest include Psychotherapy, Adolescent Psychiatry, Clinical Psychopharmacology, Risk Management, Community & Rehabilitation Psychiatry, Liaison Psychiatry.

He was awarded the Kataria Memorial Gold Medal of PGIMER for the best postgraduate student of the Institute for year 1996-97. He is the recipient of over 20 National/Zonal Conference awards, and 5 Clinical Excellence Awards during his tenure in the NHS, UK. He has over 250 scientific publications; and has co-authored 6 books/textbooks on mental health. He has attended over 100 national and international conferences and has made presentations and chaired sessions in different forums.

His current Editorial Positions include Editor Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry, Co-Editor (Founding) – World Social Psychiatry; Associate Editor-Drugs and Therapeutics Section of the BJPsych Bulletin and Assistant Editor-Indian Journal of Psychiatry. He is holding/has held key Executive Positions with various National and Zonal organizations.

Chhitij is a child and adolescent psychiatrist working as Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, MLN Medical College, Allahabad.

He holds an affiliate research appointment with the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London and is also an adjunct faculty at Centre of Behaviour & Cognitive Sciences, University of Allahabad. Chhitij trained in psychiatry at King George’s Medical University, Lucknow and at the Maudsley hospital, London. He is the current Secretary of the Indian Association of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (IACAM) and the cochairperson of the Child Psychiatry speciality section of Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS). Chhitij is regularly involved in planning and organizing academic activities in this capacity. He considers himself a student of psychiatry more than anything else and is interested in all aspects of child psychiatry. However, he has a special interest in neurodevelopmental disorders and spends considerable time in an honorary capacity at a child development centre managed by his wife who is a paediatrician.

Dr Henal Shah is a Professor (Additional) at the Department of Psychiatry, Nair Hospital, Mumbai. Having obtained her Master’s in Psychiatry from KEM Hospital Mumbai, she followed this with experience at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Glasgow. Returning to Mumbai she has been working in KEM Hospital followed by her work at the her current hospital.

She is keenly interested in the area of child and adolescent psychiatry and presented and published in this field. Nair has been running a School mental health clinic for nearly 30 years; over the last 15 years Dr Shah has contributed to the growth of CAMH services and education at Nair. Currently there is a centre for specific learning disability, a multidisciplinary centre for autism ADI, a remedial centre for SLD; Vivekananda remedial centre. She has been instrumental in starting a post doc Fellowship in child and adolescent mental health under the aegis of Maharashtra University of Health Services. Besides CAMH she is passionate about medical education and received an International Masters in Health Professional Education from University of Maastricht and is a global faculty in medical education and Co Director of FAIMER Institute in GSMC , Mumbai. She has received the Bai Savitribai Phule award by the Mayor of Mumbai for excellence in work and contribution to health services of MCGM (Municipal corporation) and an International Fellowship for Medical Education (IFME) awarded by Foundation for Advancement in International Medical Education and Research, (FAIMER) Philadelphia. She has been awarded St. Vincent’s Foundation, Thomas Trauer Grant (Melbourne) for Development of a skill based Fellowship training program in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Mumbai.

Pratap Sharan, MD (Psychiatry), PhD, is currently a Professor with the Department of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi; where he also officiates as the Professor-in-Charge of Student Welfare Services. He has previously worked as a Medical Officer at the World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva (2002-2004) and faculty member at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh (1995-2005). He was a Member of WHO International Advisory Group for the Revision of ICD-10 Mental and Behavioural Disorders (2009 – 2018) & is a member of the International Advisory Group for Training and Implementation for ICD-11 Mental, Behavioural and Neurodevelopmental Disorders (2018 – onwards).

He was also a member of the WHO Working Group on Eating Disorders for the Revision of ICD-10 Mental and Behavioural Disorders and the Field Studies Coordination Group. He has served as the President of the Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health and as the Editor of the Association’s journal. He is the President of the Indian Association for Social Psychiatry and had served as a Vice President of the association (2018-2021). He is a Senior Editor for the Journal of Eating Disorders and Associate Editor for National Medical Journal of India. He has conducted research in collaboration with World Health Organization, Geneva; World Health Organization – South East Asia Regional Office, New Delhi and Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi; and has authored over 200 papers, monographs, books and chapters. His main areas of interest are public mental health, occupational mental health, psychotherapy, psychometry, cultural issues in psychiatry, and classification of mental disorders.

He did his MD from Central Institute of Psychiatry Ranchi, pursued further training in UK & Canada. He has been in private practice for more than 30 years, currently working as Consultant in Woodlands Hospital Kolkata and is Director of Mental Health Care Centre Kolkata & Burdwan.

His area of interest is Child Psychopharmacology and Public Mental Health. He has presented papers, symposia and workshop in conferences of IPS, IACAM, IASP, WPA, IACAPAP & WASP. He has published in indexed journal and has contributed chapter to book. He was Editor of Bengal Journal of Psychiatry. He has been in the reviewer team of Indian Journal of Psychiatry and Frontier Science (Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Rehabilitation). He has served as convener and chairman of specialty section of child and adolescent psychiatry in Indian Psychiatric Society. Presently he is Vice President and President Elect of Indian Association of Child & Adolescent Mental Health. His philanthropic interest is in the area of education of children and vocational training of women from financially weak families.

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

Former Dean and Professor of Psychiatry; and Head Department of Psychiatry and Deaddiction and Treatment Centre at Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research Chandigarh.

She is MD, PhD, Hon Fellow American College of Psychiatrists, Fellow of National Academy of Medical Sciences. She had WHO and British Council Fellowships for training in child and adolescent psychiatry in the USA and UK. She headed the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Services in the PGIMER Chandigarh for over 35 yrs. She has been in academic psychiatry for about 45 yrs in the PGIMER Chandigarh. She has been an author and a speaker at many national and international conferences, seminars, meetings; published several books, book chapters and research papers. She has served on many technical advisory committees of Government of India Ministry of Health and FW, ICMR, WHO. She has held offices in many national and international professional societies.

She founded and has been the force behind the formation of the Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health in 1991 and is currently its Life President. She has been Past President of the Asian Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions; Assistant Secretary General of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions; Board Member of Child Psychiatry Section of the World Psychiatric Association, Executive Committee Member of the Education Sub-Committee of the World Psychiatric Association.

She has been keenly involved in developing systems and models for enhancing resources for service and training in child psychiatry in India providing impetus for development of child psychiatry as an academic discipline. She has pioneered research in telepsychiatry in the country and developed a model for delivering mental health care in remote unserved areas through non specialists. She has received several awards from national and international bodies and professional societies. Among others, she has received International Award in recognition of exemplary service and global leadership through service, teaching, research and advocacy in child psychiatry in Asia by the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions.