PARTNERS
The project consortium is a unique constellation of internationally leading scientists form the relevant research areas, and international agencies that have broad experience with getting psychosocial interventions implemented across Europe and beyond. These scientists and experts have been chosen specifically for their varying, yet complementary, expertise and it’s unique contribution to the project. The consortium includes partners with strong expertise in the following main areas (that are interconntected and complementary):
- Public mental health, with a focus on prevention and treatment psychological interventions;
- Global mental health, including the capacity to conduct/coordinate large, multicentric, clinical and implementation trials in different cultural and socio-economic settings, including humanitarian settings and emergencies;
- Evidence-based medicine and methodology of research in psychology and psychiatry;
- Implementation science with a strong focus on poor resource health care systems;
- Economic and statistical analysis.
All involved partners have a strong track record in mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian crisis. Moreover it is important for the successfull of this proposal that the consortium partners not only are leading experts in their field, but also cover key positions in countries where the scaling-up is carried out. This will facilitate relationships with stakeholders and end-users and dissemination.
Università Degli Studi di Verona, (Coordinator)
Contact:
Prof. Corrado Barbui, corrado.barbui@univr.it
The Section of Psychiatry of UNIVR was designated by WHO as Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation on 23 February 1987. It provides care, education and research. Clinical activity takes place in the Psychiatric University Clinic, in the Mental Health Centre, in the staffed residential facilities and apartments for long-term patients, in the Outpatient Departments, and in other community-based facilities, which constitute an integrated system of mental health care, dedicated to the residents in the South-Verona area (100.000 inhabitants) and run by the University of Verona in collaboration with the Hospital Trust and the Local Health Trust No.20. Education and training is provided for undergraduate students in medicine, in psychosocial rehabilitation and in other health professions, post-graduate residents and post-graduate Ph.D. students. The main research activities focus on epidemiological and social psychiatry (including economics and geography of mental health studies), genetics and neuroimaging of schizophrenic and bipolar disorders, clinical psychopharmacology, communication in medicine and evaluation of mental health services. The staff (more than 50 persons) includes psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, computer scientists, physicists, geographers and social scientists, statisticians, technicians and secretaries. Specific activities of the Verona WHO Collaborating Centre are: (1) Participation in collaborative projects under the Organization’s leadership, including systematic reviews and meta-analyses, implementation studies and analyses of existing WHO databases; (2) Planning, organizing and conducting, jointly with WHO, training activities such as courses and seminars and information exchange; (3) Collecting, collating and disseminating, on behalf of WHO, scientific information on selected topics, as well as providing expert comments and advice on various draft documents circulated by WHO. The scientific expertise of the WHO Collaborating Centre is documented by hundreds of scientific articles published during the last few years in international peer-reviewed journals. Details are available in the Annual Scientific Report at www.psychiatry.univr.it.
World Health Organization (WHO)
Dr. Mark van Ommeren, vanommeren@who.int
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is concerned with international public health. WHO currently defines its role in public health as follows: providing leadership on matters critical to health and engaging in partnerships where joint action is needed; shaping the research agenda and stimulating the generation, translation and dissemination of valuable knowledge; setting norms and standards and promoting and monitoring their implementation; articulating ethical and evidence-based policy options; providing technical support, catalysing change, and building sustainable institutional capacity; and monitoring the health situation and assessing health trends.
Stichting VU
Contact:
Prof. Pim Cuijpers, p.cuijpers@vu.nl
Academic research and education at VU University is characterised by a high level of ambition, and encourages free and open communications and ideas. VU University Amsterdam comprises 12 faculties. Research is divided into four themes, reflecting a strong level of involvement in current societal issues: Human Health and Life Sciences, Science for Sustainability, Connected World, and Professional Services. The total research output in 2014 translated to over 8,000 scientific and 1,500 professional publications, and 264 doctoral theses. The Department of Clinical Psychology is embedded in the EMGO Institute for Health Research and Care of Research (EMGO), which received the highest score possible in all parts of the international committee in 2011.
With more than 150 papers in international scientific journals per year, and 1.5 million euros per year on external research funding (both national and European), the Department is one of the leading research groups worldwide in psychotherapies on depression and other common mental disorders, and has specialized in randomized trials and meta-analyses of psychotherapy for common mental disorders, e-mental health, low-intensity interventions for common mental disorders in primary care, and prevention of depressive disorders. It has developed, evaluated (clinical and cost-effectiveness studies) and implemented face-to face and online low-intensity interventions for common mental disorders and has been funded on a nation level by Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw), The Netherlans Organisation of Scientific Research. The department has built a strong network of partnerships around the world with researchers from the US, Europe, Australia, and China as well as collaborations with internationally renowned organizations like the WHO.
Further information:
VU Amsterdam
VU Clinical psychology department
dr. Marit Sijbrandij
prof. dr. Pim Cuijpers
Medizinische Universität Wien
Contact:
Prof. Johannes Wancata, johannes.wancata@meduniwien.ac.at
MUW is one of the most traditional medical training and research facilities in Europe. It is today the largest medical training institute in the German-speaking area with over 8,000 students. With its 27 university hospitals, three clinical institutes, 12 theoretical medicine centres and numerous highly specialised laboratories, it is included among the most important cutting-edge research institutes of Europe in the area of biomedicine.
The Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry has a long experience in research and teaching about social questions of mental illness such as the influence of society and culture on persons suffering from psychiatric disorders. Further, extensive research has been done regarding treating psychiatric disorders in non-psychiatric settings. This included the advantages and limits of screening procedures. Research instruments for service planning such as needs assessment have been developed and are used in numerous countries worldwide for studies. In addition, comprehensive studies in psychiatric epidemiology were performed since more than 25 years. Since nearly 20 years, a specialized outpatient clinic of the Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry is providing diagnosis and treatment for refugees and asylum-seekers. Frequently, severely traumatized persons were referred to this specialized outpatient clinic because of its high clinical and scientific expertise. Based on this experience, a working group planning and coordinating mental health care for RAS in Vienna is chaired since 18 months by Professor Johannes Wancata. This planning is in close cooperation with policy makers, the health and social care system as well as NGOs.
Further information:
Istanbul Sehir Universitesi
Contact:
Dr. Zeynep Ceren Acatürk, cerenacarturk@sehir.edu.tr
Established in 2008 by the Foundation for Science and Arts (BISAV), İstanbul SEHIRr University (ŞEHİR) has accepted its first students in 2010-11. ŞEHİR has a solid foundation of knowledge in the areas of social sciences and humanities while it expands its research potential towards Engineering and Natural Sciences. ŞEHİR has established an array of cross-disciplinary departments and graduate schools with an integrated agenda of (re)search for true knowledge, innovation for sustainability and service for society. With its Faculty members having international experience in the areas of research, development, teaching, industry and business, ŞEHİR aims to provide a dynamic, free and interdisciplinary environment that allows faculty members and students to develop complementary skills and experience. Research activities are carried out in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Law, School of Islamic Studies, College of Communications, School of Management and Administrative Sciences, College of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Vocational High School as well as in research centers, Center for Urban Studies, Center for Higher Education Studies and Center for Modern Turkish Studies.
Universität Umlaute
Contact:
Dr. Markus Kösters, markus.koesters@uni-ulm.de
Department of Psychiatry II, Ulm University, Germany (Prof. Reinhold Kilian, Professor Thomas Becker, Doctor Markus Kösters). The Department of Psychiatry II, together with Departments of Psychiatry I and III, represents Ulm University’s psychiatric faculty. The department performs research and teaching activities and provides specialist mental health care to a population in rural Bavaria. The department’s mental health services research unit (MHSRU) has about 20 multidisciplinary team members whose research projects, funded by national and international bodies, focus on outcome management, discharge planning, health economics and evidence-based medicine in mental health. Staff have experience in EU-funded research projects, and there is an excellent network of partners for scientific collaboration in Germany and abroad. The department is based at the Bezirkskrankenhaus Günzburg which is responsible for the provision of specialist mental health care in a large catchment area of about 580,000 inhabitants. The clinical service provides 310 inpatient treatment beds, a day care unit, an outpatient clinic and a home treatment (mobile crisis intervention) team, and it cooperates with other service providers in the region.
Danish Red Cross
Contact:
Ms. Martha Bird, mabir@rodekors.dk
The Danish Red Cross (DRC) is a member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and hosts the IFRC Reference Centre for Psychosocial Support (PS Centre). The PS Centre has more than 20 years of practical experience and strong expertise in psychosocial support in emergencies and protracted crisis and other vulnerable situations for children, youth and adults. The centre develops and implements educational resources that allows frontline workers to foster psychological resilience on a number of topics, such as life skills for youth, children’s resilience, child friendly spaces and psychosocial
support for youth. As a global Centre of Excellence on psychosocial support and mental well-being, the PS
Centre serves the 190 Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies worldwide through provision of operational and technical support, capacity building and competence development of staff and volunteers, through knowledge generation and information sharing and through communications and advocacy efforts. Areas of expertise include: Psychosocial and emotional needs of humanitarian volunteers and staff, psychosocial support to youth, project management and project administration, communication and dissemination. The PC Centre brings to the project expertise on voluntary work in crisis situations, previous knowledge about the tools developed for people who are working in emotionally high risk areas and about the compassion fatigue and secondary trauma experiences and their care. With their large networks and connections, dissemination and exploitation of the results will be supported. In addition, use and sustainability of the results will be ensured.
University of Turku
Contact:
Prof. Maritta Valimaki, maritta.valimaki@utu.fi
University of Turku (UTU), Finland´s second largest university, is an internationally competitive research-led university whose operation is based on high-level multidisciplinary research. The university has three main tasks: research, teaching and service and cooperation with citizens. UTU is active in international cooperation. It is a member of the Coimbra Group, a network of prestigious universities in Europe. Over 1,600 international students from over 95 countries study annually at the UTU. UTU recognizes areas of strength in research in its strategy for 2013-2016. Molecular biosciences form the broadest area of strength of the university. Other such areas are cardiovascular and metabolic research, ecological interactions and ecological genetic research, learning and education research, future studies and research on institutional design and social mechanisms.
Department of Nursing Science is one of the departments of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku. The department is responsible for the education and research in the field of health sciences (nursing science) in the University of Turku. Main research fields consist of a) Value basis and ethics in nursing and health care services, b) Clinical nursing science and health care services, c) Research programme in Mental Health, d) Older people nursing and health care services, and e) Health care education.
University of Liverpool
Contact:
Dr. Ross White, ross.white@liverpool.ac.uk
The University of Liverpool is part of the prestigious ‘Russell Group’ a collection of 24 top-performing universities in the UK which have outstanding teaching and learning experience and unrivalled links with business and the public sector. There are 23,000 students enrolled at the University of Liverpool. Reflecting its strategic focus on building international collaboration, the University of Liverpool was the first in the UK to establish an autonomous university in China. The Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, a partnership with Xi’an Jiaotong University and Laureate Online Education, opened in 2006 in the city of Suzhou, eastern China, and now has a student population of 8,000.
Further information:
University of York
Contact:
Prof. Rachel Churchill, Rachel.churchill@york.ac.uk
The University of York opened in 1963 with just 230 students. Since then they have become one of the world’s leading universities, carving out a reputation as an academic powerhouse where a clear focus on excellence has secured national and international recognition alongside longer established institutions. Key objectives of the University of York are: to offer outstanding teaching and learning, to offer all their students an outstanding and valuable experience, and to be a leader in research, indeed it has an excellent research reputation, established over 50 years by its community of creative scholars, and many of its Departments and Centres are known internationally for their research activity.
