Connection profile

61155

About: I'm the Director of the Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Addiction of the Barcelona MAR Health Park since 2013. I'm also the Spanish Coordinator and treasurer of the European Alliance against Depression (EAAD.net) since 2004, an EU funded project involving 18 countries to coordinate preventive and therapeutic strategies in depressive disorders and suicidal behavior. This project has been implemented in EU areas with more than 3,000,000 citizens and has been referenced in the Green Paper on Mental Health in the EU and is part of the strategies recommended by the Spanish Ministry of Health (2007). I am honored to be a Member of the Advisory Board for Mental Health of the Catalan Government. I also hold the privilege of being a WHO Expert for the development of CIEll and an expert on psychoactive drugs for the EMA. My very first research interest was the biological basis of mental disorders and the study of the mechanism of action of psychoactive drugs. After my psychiatry residence training I obtained a predoctoral scholarship for continuing studies (BAE-FIS 93/5072, 94/5187) at the Department of Neurochemistry of the CSIC (Prof. Artigas). During this period I focused in translational research on the role of 5-HT1A receptors in the mechanism of antidepressant action (Artigas et al. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1994 TC 441).Thereafter, as a Researcher in the IR-HSCSP-CSIC (1994-1996), in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the addition of 5-HT1A antagonists, I performed two controlled clinical trials with placebo in a sample of 210 patients which confirmed its efficacy in the shortening of latency and its inefficacy in resistant depression (Perez et al. Lancet. 1997 TC 248 and Perez et al. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1999 TC 114). Nowadays, I tiy to keep the balance between chairing the biggest psychiatry department in Spain, leading the Mental Health Research Group, teaching at Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona and doing some clinical job -as I consider that, in order to better perform as a Chair, scientist or Professor, seeing patients becomes a must. In the field of research my main interest keeps being depression and other mood disorders. I have a special interest in its clinical evolution, biological underpinnings and treatment innovations. My current research focuses neurosurgery for depression and anorexia, the role of intemet and newer technologies in psychiatry and the evaluation of novel psychotherapies. Last, but especially important, I have a specific interest in the prevention of suicide. This interest does not end up merely in scientific publication but in the change of global policies for the prevention of suicide, as a close collaborator of health authorities in Catalonia.