Ahmed Sayed Aboraya, M.D., Dr. Ph.D.
West Virginia University School of Medicine
Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, U.S.A.

Ahmed Aboraya, MD, Dr. Ph.D. is currently the Chief of Psychiatry at William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital, Clinical professor of psychiatry at West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg, West Virginia (WV) and adjunct faculty in the School of Public Health at West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV.  He received his medical degree (MD) from Cairo University, a Master of Public Health (MPH) and a Doctor of Public Health (Dr.PH) from Johns Hopkins University.  After obtaining his doctoral degree from Johns Hopkins in 1991, he completed his residency in psychiatry at West Virginia University (WVU) in 1995 and continued as a faculty with WVU and an attending Psychiatrist at Sharpe hospital until now.

Dr. Aboraya is a clinician with expertise in chronic mental illness (schizophrenia spectrum and mood disorders) and he has followed patients for over 25 years in West Virginia.  Dr. Aboraya’s main research focus is the clinical assessment of psychopathology among adults.  Dr. Aboraya has developed the Standard for Clinicians’ Interview in Psychiatry (SCIP) as a method of assessment of psychopathology, administered by clinicians (psychiatrists and experienced mental health professionals).  The SCIP is a valid and reliable diagnostic interview and was tested in an international multisite study in three countries (USA, Canada and Egypt) between 2000 and 2016.  The total sample size for all sites was 1,044 subjects, making the SCIP project the largest validity and reliability study of a diagnostic interview in psychiatry.  The SCIP project results were published and presented at several national and international conferences.  The SCIP is the only tool designed from the outset as measurement-based care (MBC) tool to be used by clinicians in clinical settings (inpatient or outpatient) for assessment and decision-making.

 

Anne Yee Hway, MPM, Ph.D.
Department of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Malaysia
Profile 

Dr. Anne Yee is currently an associate professor and clinical psychiatrist at the University of Malaya and University Malaya Medical Center respectively. She is also an active researcher at the University Malaya Center of Addiction Science (UMCAS). Her contribution to society is greatly reflected by her dedication and work done as the current president of the mental health team in the Tzu Chi International Medical Association(TIMA) and as assistant secretary in the Addiction Medicine Association of Malaysia (AMAM). Her research and clinical interests are mainly in addiction and dual diagnosis. Associate professor, Dr. Anne has many academic publications in both local and international journals.  She has also frequently been invited as a speaker at various local and international conferences. Currently, she is the principal investigator of the mHealth for Smoking Cessation project and is one of the national pioneers in developing the first of its kind smoking cessation mobile app in Malaysia. She is also one of the active members involved in the development of the training program (SCOPE- Smoking Cessation Organizing, Planning and Execution Training) for smoking cessation providers in Malaysia. SCOPE is now one of the three certified pathways for smoking cessation providers in Malaysia. Dr. Anne is currently a Technical and Expert Advisor to the Malaysia Ministry of Health in the development and implementation of the National Clinical Practice Guidelines for Tobacco Use Disorder, mQuit Service Project, and Technical Working Group on Evidence-based Smoking Cessation.

 

Yasuhiro Kotera, M.A.
Profile

Yasuhiro Kotera is an Academic Lead in Counselling, Psychotherapy & Psychology, and Chair of Research Ethics Committee at the University of Derby, Online Learning. As an accredited psychotherapist and certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) trainer, he has worked with diverse clients and trained practitioners internationally. His research focuses on mental health, motivation, cross-culture, and ikigai.

 

Jason Landon, Ph.D.
University of Auckland
Profile

Associate Professor Jason Landon completed a Ph.D. in behavioural psychology at The University of Auckland which was recognized by the American Psychological Association as an outstanding dissertation. He then undertook Post-Doctoral work at the Liggins Institute of The University of Auckland studying the effects of early-life nutrition on learning and development. Dr. Landon has also worked in policy and research areas with the New Zealand Ministry of Health, and Manukau Institute of Technology prior to joining Auckland University of Technology (AUT).

 

Abel Nogueira Lopez, Ph.D.
University of Leon 
Profile

Dr. Lopez is a research scientist with expertise in exercise psychology & addiction among youth.

 

Thalia MacMillan, Ph.D.
Department of Human Services, SUNY Empire State College
Profile

Thalia MacMillan is an assistant professor and mentor of community and human services in the Center for Distance Learning (CDL) at SUNY Empire State College.  She received her Ph.D. in social work from Fordham University, specializing in policy and research. Prior to SUNY, Thalia worked simultaneously in the professional and academic sectors.  For the past 18 years, she has worked in the fields of evaluation, research, and practice. Thalia has taught social research methods, program evaluation, social policy, addictions, mental health, disabilities, assessment and diagnosis, and statistical methods. She regularly develops and teaches in multiple modalities, including blended, online, face to face, and immersive cloud learning courses. In addition to volunteering research services to multiple local organizations, Thalia is a volunteer EMT in her community.  All of these experiences in the various sectors have heightened her interest in the addictions field.

 

Laurie A. Manwell, Ph.D.
Departments of Biology, Health Sciences, Psychology, Criminology, and Social Work, Faculty of Science, Wilfrid Laurier University
Profile

Dr. Laurie Manwell’s research takes a cell-to-society approach in understanding the effects of drugs of abuse (e.g., opiates, cannabis, Salvia) and various stressors (e.g., chronic sensory overstimulation) on neurophysiology and behaviour in people and animal models of drug addiction and mental illness (e.g., anxiety, depression, attentional problems, schizophrenia). She is also interested in how various psychological constructs can be used to understand the social determinants of mental health and illness, associative stigma, public persuasion, social policy, and the development of a transdomain (physical, mental, social) model of health. Dr. Manwell has a Ph.D. in Psychology and Toxicology, an MSc in Biology, BEd in Science Education, and BSc in Biology and Psychology. Her research and academic scholarships include awards from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr. Manwell has specialized training in neuroimaging from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida, and Frontiers in Neurophotonics at the Université Laval in Quebec. She has research published in cellular, molecular, and comparative biology, psychopharmacology, cognitive psychology, social/personality psychology, and political psychology. Dr. Manwell is now teaching and conducting research at Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo in both the natural and social sciences.

 

 

Raffaella Margherita Milani, Ph.D.
School of Human and Social Sciences, University of West London, U.K.
Profile

Dr. Milani is Course Leader for Substance Use and Misuse Studies at the University of West London, BPS (British Psychological Society), Chartered Psychologist (Faculty of Addictions), and a member of the Federation of Drug and Alcohol Professionals (FDAP) accreditation board. Dr. Milani’s main areas of research include the effects of ecstasy polydrug use on mental well-being, gender differences, binge drinking and sexual behaviour, and the evaluation of peer-led interventions for individuals with co-existing substance use and mental disorders (Dual Diagnosis). Dr. Milani has extensive experience in consultancy, training, curriculum, and workforce development in the drug and alcohol sector and has been involved in the consultation for the development of NICE Guidelines on the topics of Dual Diagnosis.

 

Bronwyn Myers, Ph.D.
Chief Specialist Scientist: Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council

Prof. Bronwyn Myers is a Chief Specialist Scientist in the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council, where she leads the intervention research sub-stream, with a special interest in effectiveness studies and implementation science.  She has an honorary appointment with the University of Cape Town’s Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health. Over the last 15 years, her research has focused on enhancing access to and the quality of services for people with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental or physical health disorders. She is the principal investigator of a joint funded (British MRC, Wellcome Trust, ESRC) cluster randomized controlled trial testing different approaches to integrating task-shared counselling for common mental disorders (such as depression and alcohol use) into chronic disease care (project MIND). Prof. Myers has published extensively on the topics of mental and substance use disorders, vulnerable populations, and the provision of evidence-based practices. Her expertise on substance use and physical and mental health comorbidities have been acknowledged through invitations to serve on international technical advisory groups for the World Health Organization and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime grant review panels. Additionally, she has had extensive involvement as an associate editor for several international journals.

 

Khary Rigg, Ph.D.
Department of Mental Health Law & Policy, University of South Florida, U.S.A.
Profile

Khary Rigg, Ph.D., is a behavioural health service and policy researcher with over 15 years of experience studying substance use disorders. Dr. Rigg earned his Ph.D. in medical sociology from the University of Miami and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in health services research at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Mental Health Law & Policy at the University of South Florida (USF). He also has an appointment in the Department of Sociology and is a faculty affiliate of the Florida Mental Health Institute. Prior to his appointment at USF, he worked as Senior Research Associate at the University of Delaware’s Center for Drug & Alcohol Studies and Nova Southeastern University’s Center for Applied Research on Substance Use and Health Disparities. Dr. Rigg is currently Associate Editor of Substance Use & Misuse, and also serves on the editorial boards of Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, Harm Reduction Journal, Qualitative Social Work, and Drug & Alcohol Dependence. 

 

Manit Srisurapanont, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Dean for Research and International Relations
Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Thailand

Manit Srisurapanont received his MD in 1988 from Chiang Mai University Faculty of Medicine (CMUFM) and had psychiatric training in the Department of Psychiatry at CMUFM. He has been a Board Certified Psychiatrist since 1991. During 1994-1995, he was a Fellow in Mood Disorders and Schizophrenia at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. He has been a lecturer and is now a Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at CMUFM. His main interests are Mood, Psychotic, and Substance-Related Disorders. He has published more than 100 articles in numerous international journals (with >2,500 citations), including many systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

 

Silvia Tenenbaum-Magid, Ph.D.
Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Canada
Profile

Dr. Silvia Tenenbaum is an applied researcher and registered clinical psychologist trained at the University of Toronto in the scientist-practitioner model, as well as a postdoctoral fellow at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. At present, Dr. Tenenbaum enjoys focusing on the exploration of complex ethical dilemmas and traumatic memories across generations in diaspora, writing a textbook on the psychology of exile and its effects on mental health within non-traditional development across the lifespan; this includes issues of the perpetual search for one’s land (both internal and external). Oftentimes, her lived experience across several continents and cultural parameters are shared as a presenter across the globe.

Silvia lives in downtown Toronto with her family, cat, plants and music, is both an avid yoga practitioner and foreign film festival buff.

 

 

Dr Gale Ure, Ph.D. 
BA (UNISA) Ÿ BA HONS (PSYCHOLOGY), (RAU) Ÿ MA (PSYCHOLOGY), (RAU) ŸD LITT ET PHIL (PSYCHOLOGY), (RAU) Ÿ MSCMED (BIOETHICS & HEALTH LAW), (WITS) Ÿ Ph.D. (BIOETHICS & HEALTH LAW), (WITS)
Research Specialist: Life Healthcare Group

Dr. Ure holds double doctorates – one in psychology and the other in bioethics and health law and is an honorary lecturer in bioethics and health law at Wits Medical School, Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics. She has been a PEPFAR fellow seconded to World Vision International working with carers of orphans of Aids and vulnerable children in rural Thaba Nchu and Matatiele, South Africa. Dr. Ure is the author of the chapter on substance abuse in Abnormal Psychology: A South African Perspective published by Oxford University Press 1st, 2nd and 3rd edition, and has also been an associate editor of the International Journal of Mental Health and Substance Abuse (Springer).

She is the head of administrative functioning of the Life Healthcare health research ethics committee and is responsible for research education at the Life College of Learning, and legal, research and ethics continuing professional education within the group.

 

Guoli Zhang, Ph.D.
School of Psychology, Beijing Sport University, China

Dr. Zhang is an associate professor with the School of Psychology where he focuses on sports health psychology, specifically regarding sports activities and psychological development of adolescents, and social cognition in sport.