Conference:
Plenary Presenters
Friday, September 28
Dale L. Johnson, PhD — WFSAD President, Professor of Psychology at University of Houston, has written several books to assist families of the mentally ill to cope. Together with Professor Harriet P. Lefley, he is the editor of the book, Families as Allies in Treatment of the Mentally Ill. He was an active member of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Texas, for many years and is a former president of the NAMI national organization. Dale’s son with schizophrenia recently passed away.
Radha Shankar, MB, BS an internationally known psychiatrist in India, has worked in executive positions in SCARF (Schizophrenia Research Foundation) and has represented WFMH (World Federation for Mental Health) and WAPR (World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation) at the regional level. She continues to be part of WFSAD as a member of the Families as Partners in Care strategy committee, advocating for families in the developing world. She was organizing secretary of the First and Second National Carers' Conference in Chennai, India held in 2001 and 2003, respectively, as well as the recent 6th biennial conference of WFSAD.
Gladys Okoth is the past Chairperson of the Schizophrenia Foundation of Kenya and a family member. She has been actively involved in the international and Kenyan family movement for the past decade and was key in the growth and expansion of the Schizophrenia Foundation of Kenya.
Kim
T. Mueser, PhD is a clinical psychologist and professor in the
Departments of Psychiatry and Community & Family Medicine at Dartmouth
Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire. A renowned expert in the field
of schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses, his research has been
supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute
on Drug Abuse, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
In 2003, he received a Distinguished Investigator Award from the National
Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression. Dr. Mueser has
co-authored eight books and published over 200 articles in peer-reviewed
journals. His most recent publication, with Susan Gingerich, MSW, is The
Complete Family Guide to Schizophrenia published by Guildford Press
in 2006.
Mr.
Justice Edward F. Ormston was appointed to the Ontario Court
of Justice as an administrative Judge in 1989. In 1996 he was transferred
to Old City Hall in downtown Toronto, Canada's largest provincial courthouse,
where he established Canada's first Mental Health Court. Justice Ormston
is frequently invited to present at International Conferences of Law and
Mental Health. Justice Ormston was also an advisor to the producers of
the CBC nationally televised series, This is Wonderland, a drama
that portrayed the human and social problems within the criminal justice
system.
Saturday, September 29
Robin
M. Murray, MD, DSc, FRCPsych, FMedSci, Divisional Head Professor
of Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK, is among the most
distinguished academic psychiatrists in the world, and its most-cited
expert on schizophrenia. He is an ambassador for psychiatric research
excellence and has changed the way we think about the major mental illnesses.
He was a successful Dean of the Institute of Psychiatry and for ten years
an inspirational chair at the Institute and the Guy’s King’s
& St. Thomas Medical School, London, England.
Science Panel — Changing Minds
Moderator:
Remi
Quirion, PhD, FRSC, CQ is a McGill University Professor and Scientific
Director at the Douglas Hospital Research Centre, a McGill affiliated
teaching hospital. Dr. Quirion has received numerous awards for his work.
He is a noted expert in the development of neurosciences and clinical
research in Neurology and Psychiatry, as well as social and evaluation
aspects of research in mental health and addiction. Along with interests
in Alzheimer’s research, the role of neuropeptide receptors in memory,
pain, drug dependence and animal models in schizophrenia, a major interest
lies in training the next generation of scientists. Dr. Quirion is on
the Advisory Board of over 15 scientific journals in Psychiatry, Neurosciences
and Pharmacology. He has published 5 books and more than 500 scientific
papers and articles and is the inaugural Scientific Director of the Institute
of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction, one of the 13 virtual institutes
of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research created in 2000.
Panel:
Robin M. Murray, MD, DSc, FRCPsych, FMedSci, describes his main activity as carrying out research into finding the causes of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and developing better treatments for these disorders. In addition to his many other roles, he also runs the National Psychosis Unit at Bethlem Royal Hospital. People with psychotic illnesses from across the UK come to the hospital for advice.
James L. Kennedy, MD, FRCP (C) — Director of Neuroscience Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH); Head of Neurogenetics Section, Clarke Division, CAMH; Head, Neuroscience Program Department of Psychiatry, and I'Anson Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, has published more than 250 scientific articles and is an active lecturer at numerous international conferences. He is an eminent specialist in the quest to find genes involved in the cause of mental illness and the application of molecular technology to the study of schizophrenia and related disorders.
Robert B. Zipursky, MD FRCP (C) is Professor of Psychiatry and Head of the Schizophrenia Program at the University of Toronto where he holds the Tapscott Chair in Schizophrenia Studies. He also serves as the Vice-chair for Research for the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and Clinical Director of the Schizophrenia Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. Dr. Zipursky's research has focused on the study of first episode schizophrenia and on the application of PET and MRI to schizophrenia research.
Sunday, September 30
Dr. Grainne Fadden is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham and Director of Meriden, West Midlands Family Programme. The Meriden Programme has trained over 2,000 people to work with families and was the joint-winner of the National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) 2003 Positive Practice Award for "Modernising Mental Health Services" and winner of the "Social Care Award" (Midlands and East Region) in the Health and Social Care Awards by the Department of Health. Dr. Fadden’s career has focused on the area of family work in clinical practice, research, training and more recently on influencing organisational change to incorporate family work routinely into mental health services. She has also written extensively on the training of mental health professionals to work with families, and is a member of the NIMHE Service Users and Carers Expert Group and its Psychosocial Interventions Implementation Group.
Chris Summerville, DMin, CPRP is a family member, a
recipient of psychiatric services, a service provider and an advocate,
who earned a doctorate from Dallas Theological Seminary as a certified
psychosocial rehabilitation practitioner. His 
life
mission is currently served through his role as executive director of
the Manitoba Schizophrenia Society. He is chair of the Alliance for Mental
Illness and Mental Health in Manitoba and a member of the Mood Disorders
Society of Canada, the Canadian Coalition of Alternative Mental Health
Resources and the Provincial Advisory Council on Mental Health in Manitoba.
Chris was honoured by the Canadian Mental Health Association and the College
of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Manitoba for his advocacy of recovery-oriented
mental health services at both the provincial and national levels.