WPA Collaborating Centres
The WPA 10 collaborating centres span 9 countries and are located in India, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, Qatar,
Hong Kong, Italy, Switzerland, UK. Our work to support WPA Strategic Plan has recently been set out.¹The work of
the centres since 2016 has also been presented at WPA world congresses and publications. ²ʻ³ We run medical
student and trainee essay prizes on behalf of WPA, and also share our respective webinars with the WPA family.
New centres include a second in Chandigarh India, focusing on public mental health and prevention, one in Qatar
progressing medical student education and training in low- and middle-income countries, as well as the most
recent one in Switzerland. In this brief WPA Collaborating Centre Update, we share more of two centres, and hope
to feature more of them in future newsletters. We welcome collaboration across WPA partners and other, so do
please contact me or any of the Directors for further information and opportunities.
Education, Teaching and Training
The WPA CCs are develop and deliver educational activities for mental health specialists around the world. This
includes supporting medical students, nursing students, psychologists, psychiatrists, as well as experienced
clinicians and practitioners working with WPA. We hope to provide a more interdisciplinary offer suited to high-
and low-income countries.
Research, Policy, Practice
The WPA CCS each lead programmes of research, to support evidence-based practice, including adapting
interventions to local contexts. We promote wider awareness of the evidence among the public, politicians,
policy makers, commissioners and practitioners. Our research activities include genetic studies, epidemiology in
populations, clinical trials, and participatory research and co-design working with lived experience experts.
Academic Practice and Standards
The WPA CCS also contribute to editorial work of national and international journals; we promote research
integrity and editorial independence, and excellence in research cultures that promote equity, ambition, and
success among early- and mid-career researchers and practitioners.
1. Fiorillo A, Azeem MW, Basu D, et al. The role of the WPA Collaborating Centres in promoting mental health
education and policy worldwide. World Psychiatry 2025;24(1):151-52. doi: 10.1002/wps.21298
2. Bhui KS, Fiorillo A, Stein D, et al. Improving education, policy and research in mental health worldwide: the
role of the WPA Collaborating Centres. World Psychiatry 2016;15(3):300. doi: 10.1002/wps.20360
3. Fiorillo A, Javed A, Azeem MW, et al. Education, policy and clinical care in mental health: an update on the
activities of WPA Collaborating Centres. World Psychiatry 2023;22(3):495-96. doi: 10.1002/wps.21144
Please contact the Directors if you wish to participate or have suggestions or want to learn about their
specific centres and how you can be involved.
Below you can see the WPA Centres from around the world, their representatives and read the latest news.
CAIRO, EGYPT
Tarek A. Okasha,
Professor of Psychiatry
OXFORD, UK
Dr Kamaldeep Bhui
Professor of Psychiatry
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
Dan J.Stein,
Professor and Chair
HONG-KONG, CHINA
Linda Lam
Professor of Psychiatry
NAIROBI, KENYA
David Ndetei,
Professor of Psychiatry
BENGALORE, INDIA
Prof. Pratima Murthy
Director of NIMHANS
NAPLES, ITALY
Prof. Andrea Fiorillo
Professor of Psychiatry
Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
Prof. Muhammad Waqar Azeem
Professor at Sidra Medicine
CHANDIGARH, INDIA
Dr. Debasish Basu
Professor and Head of Psychiatry
BERN, SWITZERLAND
Prof. Dr. Kristina Adorjan
Professor of Psychiatry and Director
WPA Collaborating Centres News
Global Health Day, Event
Brain Health

Sitem-Insel (Felix-Frey Auditorium) or Online

Thursday, 12 June 2025 08.00 – 13.00
WPA Collaborating Centre Lunch-Time Lecture took place in February 2022
Public mental health: The case, challenges and opportunities
World Psychiatric Association Collaborating Centres & CHiMES Seminar Series 2025
Embracing the complexity of Personality Disorder: the scientific and clinical contribution of Transference Focused Psychotherapy

Online

20th March 2025, at 3pm GMT/UTC