Keynote Speakers 

Cognitive Behavior Therapy in the Treatment and Prevention of Depression

Professor Steve Hollon
Professor of Psychology and Human Development
Professor of Psychiatry
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA

Steven D. Hollon, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology at Vanderbilt University.  He received his doctorate from the Florida State University in 1977 with an internship with Aaron Beck at the University of Pennsylvania before joining the faculty at the University of Minnesota.  His research focuses on the nature and treatment of depression.  He has over 180 publications and has placed numerous students in both academic and clinical research positions.  He is past president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies and the recipient of a Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology, the George A. Miller Award for Outstanding Article from the American Psychology Association, and the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contribution to Clinical Psychology from the Society of Clinical Psychology (Division 12) of the American Psychological Association. A former director of clinical training, he maintains an active clinical practice in the context of his research program.

Affective disorders – new economic realities

Professor Martin Knapp
London School of Economics and Political Science
King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry
NIHS School for Social Care Research, UK

Martin Knapp is an experienced researcher and research leader, working primarily in the areas of health and social care policy and practice.

Martin is based primarily at the London School of Economics and Political Science where he is Professor of Social Policy and directs two research centres. He has been Director of the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) since 1996; PSSRU is a long-established centre with currently about 35 people researchers conducting applied research particularly on social care and mental health. In July 2011 he also took over as the Director of LSE Health, an interdisciplinary centre of about 45 staff, with researchers working primarily on UK and international health policy. This is a temporary role while the long-term Director of LSE Health serves as State Minister and Government Spokesman in the Greek Cabinet.  At King’s College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Martin is Professor of Health Economics. He established the Centre for the Economics of Mental Health (CEMH) there in 1993, and directed it for 18 years. Research carried out in CEMH is mostly concerned with the cost-effectiveness of care, support and treatment arrangements.  Martin teaches at both LSE and King’s in the social policy, social care and health economics areas. He is currently supervising 15 PhD students.

Epigenetic basis for the transgenerational transmission of individual differences in vulnerability for psychopathology

Professor Michael Meaney
Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology and Neurosurgery
Director, Programme for the Study of Behaviour, Genes and the Environment
McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Michael J Meaney is a James McGill Professor of Medicine at Douglas Mental health University Institute of McGill University.  He is the Director of the Maternal Adversity, Vulnerability and Neurodevelopment Project and of the Developmental Neuroendocrinology Laboratory of McGill University.  Meaney’s primary research interest is that of the stable effects of early experience on gene expression and development.  Meaney’s research is multidisciplinary and includes studies of behaviour and physiology, to molecular biology and genetics.  The primary objective of these studies is to define the processes that govern gene – environment interactions.  He has authored over 285 journal articles and has been the recipient of a Scientist Award from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) and a Distinguished Scientist Award from the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders.  He was awarded Lougheed Prize (Alberta Heritage foundation for Medical Research), The Klerman Award (Cornell University), The Patricia Barchas Award (Research in Socio-physiology), The Heinz Lehman Award (Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology) and is the Bank of Montreal Fellow for the Canadian Institutes for Advanced Research.  He currently holds a CIHR Senior Scientist Award.  The Meaney lab was designated as a “Mostly Highly Cited Researcher” in Neuroscience by the Institute for Scientific Information.