WPA Expert Groups : The Specialist Corner
Evidence-based treatments are available for all psychiatric disorders. However,
it is imperative to translate academic research into clinical practice as research papers often present a
challenge for clinicians in interpreting results due to their technical nature and the time pressure when
working on the front lines of patient care.
In this Action Plan, the WPA is developing a platform, called The Specialist Corner: Advances of science and their application in clinical practice, that will consistently update clinicians about the latest findings, enabling them to discern and adopt best practices.
In this Action Plan, the WPA is developing a platform, called The Specialist Corner: Advances of science and their application in clinical practice, that will consistently update clinicians about the latest findings, enabling them to discern and adopt best practices.
WPA Specialist Corner
Advances of sciences and their application in care for people with mental disorders
This Corner will serve as a hub to summarise advancements in clinical psychiatry, public mental health, and
ethics, while fostering diversity and inclusiveness. The platform, dedicated to clinicians, will feature
online webinars on different psychiatric diagnoses, where expert specialists will present, in an accessible,
categorical approach, state-of-the-art treatments and best practices for daily psychiatric work, covering
aetiology, symptoms, comorbidities with physical illness, and rehabilitation strategies from the gender,
developmental stage, and cultural perspectives. This introductory categorical webinar (or webinars) will be
complemented by a follow-up webinar (or webinars) on the same diagnosis, and will feature Prevention,
Healthy lifestyles, Caregiver and family, Digital psychiatry, and Human rights/Ethics perspectives from
experts in those fields.
Additional topics that will be addressed in the Specialist Corner include crisis and trauma conditions resulting from armed conflicts, terrorist acts, and other catastrophes, and the mental health of immigrants, refugees, and other vulnerable groups.
The lead specialists for each mental disorder will appoint a consultative group of colleagues, representative of all the WPA’s geographical regions, to elucidate the topic from their respective, varied local perspectives and – simultaneously – share the availability of studies, gaps in research, and the potential for adaptations of existing materials to different cultural contexts. Outcomes from these webinars will be summarised in written form for easy comprehension, intended for use as educational resources for patients, their families, and clinical staff.
All webinars, along with their associated materials, will be available on the WPA website.
The Specialist Corner’s ambition to foster the application of best practices, thereby ensuring that patients receive care based on the most recent and relevant evidence.
To achieve this goal, help is needed from all Member Societies to systematically implement the content of the webinars delivered, at both local and national levels, and to translate the written materials into local languages.
Additional topics that will be addressed in the Specialist Corner include crisis and trauma conditions resulting from armed conflicts, terrorist acts, and other catastrophes, and the mental health of immigrants, refugees, and other vulnerable groups.
The lead specialists for each mental disorder will appoint a consultative group of colleagues, representative of all the WPA’s geographical regions, to elucidate the topic from their respective, varied local perspectives and – simultaneously – share the availability of studies, gaps in research, and the potential for adaptations of existing materials to different cultural contexts. Outcomes from these webinars will be summarised in written form for easy comprehension, intended for use as educational resources for patients, their families, and clinical staff.
All webinars, along with their associated materials, will be available on the WPA website.
The Specialist Corner’s ambition to foster the application of best practices, thereby ensuring that patients receive care based on the most recent and relevant evidence.
To achieve this goal, help is needed from all Member Societies to systematically implement the content of the webinars delivered, at both local and national levels, and to translate the written materials into local languages.
The Specialist Corner: Advances of Science and Their Application in Clinical Practice
Founder of the Specialist Corner, President of the WPA, Professor Danuta Wasserman,
and Lead Coordinator and Quality Controller, Professor Norman Sartorius.
The Specialist Corner, created under the 2023–2026 WPA Action Plan by the President, Professor Danuta Wasserman is a platform designed to translate psychiatric research into practical clinical guidance. It provides clinicians in the webinars with accessible presentations of the latest scientific advances, helping to adopt evidence-based treatments across different psychiatric disorders.
The platform features online webinars covering different Psychiatric diagnoses, aetiology, symptoms, rehabilitation, and perspectives on gender, development, and culture. Follow-up short sessions during the same webinar prepared by several expert groups provide complementary perspectives on culture, comorbidity, public mental health, lived and family experience, ethics, digitalization, and physical health.
Vulnerable populations, including refugees, immigrants, and those affected by crises or trauma, are also addressed.
The Specialist Corner, created under the 2023–2026 WPA Action Plan by the President, Professor Danuta Wasserman is a platform designed to translate psychiatric research into practical clinical guidance. It provides clinicians in the webinars with accessible presentations of the latest scientific advances, helping to adopt evidence-based treatments across different psychiatric disorders.
The platform features online webinars covering different Psychiatric diagnoses, aetiology, symptoms, rehabilitation, and perspectives on gender, development, and culture. Follow-up short sessions during the same webinar prepared by several expert groups provide complementary perspectives on culture, comorbidity, public mental health, lived and family experience, ethics, digitalization, and physical health.
Vulnerable populations, including refugees, immigrants, and those affected by crises or trauma, are also addressed.
Expert Groups for Specialist Corner
Expert Group on Comorbidity- Chaired by Professor Dan Siskind
- Dan Siskind, Prof. Dr., Australia
- Norman Sartorius, Prof. Dr., Switzerland
- Susanna Every-Palmer, Prof. Dr., New Zealand
- Ivona Šimunović Filipčić, Dr, Croatia
- Sean Halstead, Dr, Australia
- Toby Pillinger, Dr, UK
Expert Group on Lived & Family Experience- Chaired by Professor Michaela Amering
- Michaela Amering, Austria
- Helen Herrman, Australia
- Afzal Javed, UK / Pakistan
- Miia Männikkö, Finland
- Guadalupe Morales, Spain
- Charlene Sunkel, South Africa
- Soumitra Pathare, India
- Martha Savage, New Zealand
- Carlos Vinacour, Argentina
Expert Group on Public Mental Health- Chaired by Professor Jonathan Campion
- Jonathan Campion, UK
- Debasish Basu, India
- Geert Dom, Belgium
- Oye Gureje, Nigeria
- Vinay Lakra, Australia
- Crick Lund, UK / South Africa
- Michael Marmot, UK
- Shekhar Saxena, USA
Expert Group on Ethics and Legal Issues- Co-chaired by Professor Silvana Galderisi & Professor Neeraj Gill
- Silvana Galderisi, Italy
- Neeraj Gill, Australia
- Helen Herrman, Australia
- Antonio Melillo, Italy
- Kerim Munir, USA
- Calina Ouliaris, Australia
- Soumitra Pathare, India
- Jill Stavert, Scotland
- Charlene Sunkel, South Africa
Expert Group on Impact of Digitalization- Chaired by Professor Wolfgang Gaebel
- Wolfgang Gaebel, Germany
- Umberto Volpe, Italy
- Rodrigo Ramalho, New Zealand
- Sandra Bucci, UK
- Helen Christensen, Australia
- John Torous, USA
Expert Group on Physical Exercise & Lifestyle- Chaired by Professor Andrea Fiorillo
- Andrea Fiorillo, Italy
- Dan Siskind, Australia
- Lukoye Atwoli, Kenya
- Francesca Cirulli, Italy
- Matteo Di Vincenzo, Italy
Expert Group on Culture- Chaired by Professor Mohan Isaac
- Mohan Isaac, Australia / India
- Renato Alarcon, USA
- Laurence J. Kirmayer, Canada
- Erminia Colucci, Italy / UK
- Marianne Kastrup, Denmark
- Meryam Schouler-Ocak, Germany
- Lamia Jouini, Switzerland
- Sneha Karmani, USA / India
- Neeraj Gill, Australia / India
The first Specialist Corner sessions were held at the WPA 25th World Congress in Prague
(October 2025), covering affective disorders, intellectual impairment, substance use,
schizophrenia, and other psychoses. All materials are available on the WPA website.
The initiative’s goal is to promote best practices globally, with Member Societies helping implement webinars locally and translate materials into local languages.
The initiative’s goal is to promote best practices globally, with Member Societies helping implement webinars locally and translate materials into local languages.
