Scientific Programme now available!
To view the EPA 2024 Scientific Programme topics, speakers, and session chairs, please click on the link below.
Scientific Programme
Click on the session below to view the session topics.
- On the road to precision medicine in psychiatryChair: Livia De Picker, BelgiumSpeaker: Marion Leboyer, France
- The impact of climate change on mental healthChair: Geert Dom, BelgiumSpeaker: Andreas Heinz, Germany
- The role of Europe in Global PsychiatryChair: Danuta Wasserman, SwedenSpeaker: Peter Falkai, Germany
- The Ever-Evolving Online World: Exploring Pros & Cons for Mental HealthcareChair: Umberto Volpe, ItalySpeaker: Joseph Firth, UK
- ADHD and Substance Use DisordersChair: Geert Dom, BelgiumSpeaker: Frances Levin, USA
- (Prescription) Opioid crisis in Europe? Challenges and solutions.Chair: István Bitter, HungarySpeaker: Arnt Schellekens, The Netherlands
- Supported reduction or discontinuation of psychopharmacological treatment: necessary skills and guidelinesChair: Pavel Mohr, Czech RepublicSpeaker: Mark Horowitz, UK
- Neurostimulation (invasive and non-invasive) in mental disorders: what works and what does not?Chair: Thérèse van Amelsvoort, The NetherlandsSpeaker: Frank Padberg, Germany
- Experience sampling method in psychiatryChair: Błażej Misiak, PolandSpeaker: Inez Myin-Germeys, Belgium
- Psychiatric hospitals should be closedChair: Bernardo Carpiniello, ItalyPro Speaker: René Keet, The NetherlandsCon Speaker: Julian Beezhold, UK
- Suicide prevention: public health strategies or precision medicine?Chair: Danuta Wasserman, SwedenPro Speaker: Ulrich Hegerl, GermanyCon Speaker: Philippe Courtet, France
- Rapid Onset Gender DysphoriaChair: Koray Başar, TürkyiePro Speaker: Mara Parellada, SpainCon Speaker: Michal Lew-Starowicz, Poland
- How to implement preventive psychiatryMost of major psychiatric disorders emerge before age of 25. Besides the amelioration of health and living conditions of those affected, psychiatry should reflect on how to avoid the transition from early stages of mental illnesses to full blown disease. Prevention requires knowledge and resources, to be optimised and scaled up into psychiatric services worldwide.Chair: Umberto Volpe, Italy
Co-Chair: Therese van Amelsvoort, The NetherlandsEasy access to youth mental health services in the Netherlands.
Speaker: Thérèse van Amelsvoort, The NetherlandsPreventive psychiatry is not the future, it is the present (and we are already late).
Speaker: Celso Arango, SpainPrevention of mood and psychotic disorders in clinical practice.
Speaker: Paolo Fusar-Poli, UKImplementing primary prevention in the real world- is it possible?
Speaker: Merete Nordentoft, Denmark - Community mental health services in Europe: the state of artCommunity mental services are generally considered an essential component of any mental health system, given that the majority of people affected by mental health problems may be assisted by outpatient proximity services. Moreover, community services may guarantee the continuity of treatments, both psychosocial and psychopharmacological, which is an essential component of the caring process, in order to prevent recurrences and disability. The process of implementing community services is ongoing all over Europe. The symposium aims to present the state of art in terms of achievements, problems, obstacles, through the experiences of countries at different stage of the implementation of community care.Chair: Martina Rojnic Kuzman, CroatiaCo-Chair: Bernardo Carpiniello, Italy
Community mental health services in South-Eastern Europe.
Speaker: Martina Rojnic Kuzman, CroatiaCommunity Mental Health services: the UK perspective.
Speaker: Mohammed Al-Uzri, UKMobile Mental Health Care – Lessons Learned for Future Improvements.
Speaker: Eka Chkonia, GeorgiaOpportunities and challenges of community mental health centers in Türkiye.
Speaker: Emre Mutlu, Türkiye - Promises of psychedelics in the treatment of mental health disordersThe use of psychedelics in the treatment of psychiatric disorders is at the bridge of breaking trough as a regular form of treatment in European psychiatry. However, regulation at the EMA level is still pending and there is a great need to standardise not only pharmacological but also associated psychological interventions. In this symposium, first the results of studies targeting the main domains (depression and addiction) will be presented. In addition, steps towards a standardisation of associated psychological interventions and further steps towards EMA regulation are highlighted.Chair: Geert Dom, BelgiumCo-Chair: Florence Butlen-Ducuing (France, EMA)
New research on brain mechanisms of psychedelics.
Speaker: David Nutt, UKThe therapeutic potential of psychedelics: the European regulatory perspective.
Speaker: Florence Butlen-Ducuing (France, EMA)Microdosing psychedelics in the treatment of ADHD and comorbid disorders.
Speaker: Kim Kuypers, The NetherlandsRecent data on the use of psychedelics for addictive disorders.
Speaker: Benjamin Rolland, France - Mental health of forcibly displaced people worldwideWith more than 90 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, caring for these people is a challenge for mental health systems as well as mental health practitioners. The speakers will touch on the basics of establishing therapeutic contact, carrying out diagnosis and providing treatment with forcibly displaced people, as well as presenting the practical psychosocial interventions and programs for children, adolescents and adults in place in different countries.Chair: Tomasz M. Gondek, PolandCo-Chair: Judit Balazs, Hungary
Health promotion strategies toward improved healthcare access for migrants and refugees in Europe – how do they look like?
Speaker: Meryam Schouler-Ocak, GermanyWhat should Early Career Psychiatrists know when treating migrants and refugees?
Speaker: Tomasz M. Gondek, PolandMental health of children and adolescents during wartime.
Speaker: Judit Balazs, HungaryEmergency and Community Based Psychosocial Support Programs for War-Affected Individuals from Ukraine in EU.
Speaker: Iryna Frankova, The Netherlands/Ukraine - Can familial high risk studies help us to prevent mental illnessThere is a long tradition for familial high risk studies in Europa, and recently results of very strong cohort studies have been published. The speakers are involved in studies in the field and will give updates on clinical findings and results of brain scans. Currently, family interventions in high risk families seems to be a fruitful way of preventing future mental illness in the children and alleviating sufferingChair: Merete Nordentoft, DenmarkCo-Chair: Andrea Raballo, Switzerlan
What can we learn from familial high risk studies in order to prevent mental illness among offspring – results from the Danish High Risk and Resilience Study and ideas for intervention.
Speaker: Anne Thorup, DenmarkFamily and Clinical High Risk: going beyond the chicken and egg riddle in preventive psychiatry
Speaker: Andrea Raballo, SwitzerlandBrain developmental trajectory is offspring of parents with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
Speaker: Neeltje Van Haren, The NetherlandsChanges in brain structure and function in youth at familial risk for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder: implications for early intervention.
Speaker: Gisela Sugranyes, Spain - The Global Bipolar Cohort: a world-wide effort to understand bipolar disorder by leveraging the Human Phenome Ontology and unlocking dark data.This symposium will discuss the strategies of the Global Bipolar Cohort (GBC), an international collaborative that has surveyed the research landscape. It will highlight the strengths of identifying and studying detailed clinical phenotypes in analyses. This includes the use of all clinical data and implementation of common data models and ontologies such as the Human Phenotype Ontology to stratify phenotypes for subsequent analyses. Herein we the stage for extensive collaborative efforts and strategies for harmonization of datasets of bipolar disorder collected globally.Chair: Thomas Schulze, GermanyCo-Chair: Giovanna Fico, Spain
Towards An Integrated Common Data Model for Mood Disorders.
Speaker: Melvin McInnis, USAAn integrative collaborative national bipolar disorders data record: A Turkish and European Perspective.
Speaker: Kürşat Altinbas, TürkiyeIntegrating outcomes in global research on Bipolar Disorder: a Spanish perspective
Speaker: Giovanna Fico, SpainThe Global Bipolar Cohort Network: A Cohort Inventory and Analysis of Predictors of Functional Impairment in 24 Cohorts Across 12 Countries
Speaker: Janice Fullerton, Australia
Ask the Experts
Ask the Experts sessions allow participants to meet in a small group with outstanding researchers and clinicians. The format is designed to facilitate informal discussions, allowing participants to present their questions and gain new perspectives. Sessions take place at round tables and are limited to 7 participants with advanced sign-up required. Sessions last 90 minutes with 5 experts per session and two groups of participants (45 minutes for each group).
Registration for the sessions will take place directly at the registration desk on-site.
Please note the sessions will take place within the Exhibition area at HungExpo.
ASK THE EXPERTS 1
Sunday 7 April
(10:00-11:30)
- Risks and benefits of long-term antipsychotic treatment
Istvan Bitter – Hungary - Prescription opioid addiction
Arnt Schellekens – The Netherlands - Online addictions
Sophia Achab – Switzerland - Risks and benefits of discontinuation of long-term pharmacotherapy
Mark Horowitz – UK - Future of information technology in psychiatry
Umberto Volpe – Italy
ASK THE EXPERTS 2
Monday 8 April
(10:00-11:30)
- Challenges in the transition of psychiatric care from adolescence to adulthood; self-injury behavior in children and adolescents
Judit Balazs – Hungary - Mental health and physical activity
Joseph Firth – UK - Unmet needs in the management of schizophrenia; shared decision in the psychiatric treatment
Silvana Galderisi – Italy - Comorbidity of mental disorders with substance abuse
Frances Levin – USA - Suicide prevention : new oportunities & new threats
Philippe Courtet – France
ASK THE EXPERTS 3
Tuesday 9 April
(10:00-11:30)
- Prevention of transition to psychosis
Celso Arango – Spain - Climate change and mental health
Andreas Heinz – Germany - Neurostimulation in the management of mental disorders
Frank Padberg – Germany - Development of European treatment guidelines
Peter Falkai – Germany - Neuroinflammation in the pathophysiology of mental disorders
Livia De Picker – Belgium
Session descriptions
The EPA 2024 Scientific Programme will cover the latest developments in psychiatry through State of the Art Sessions, live moderation, discussions, and more.