Editorial introductions

Abstract

Current Opinion in Psychiatry was launched in 1988. It is one of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The field of psychiatry is divided into 13 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce the Journal's Section Editors for this issue. Section Editors Nick BourasNick BourasNick Bouras MD. PhD, FRCPsych is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London and currently director of Maudsley International. He was Consultant Psychiatrist, at South London and the Maudsley NHS Trust and Director of the Estia Training and Research and Development Centre from 1982 to 2008. He has been member of several National and International organisations including Chairman, World Psychiatric Association, Section of the Psychiatry of Mental Retardation, Vice President of the European Association of Mental Health in Mental Retardation and Vice President of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disability. His research is focused on health service related topics including, assessment and clinical effectiveness of specialist mental health services, evaluation of multi-professional training methods, social and biological determinants of behaviour in psychiatric patients. He has been Editor and member of the Editorial Board of several journals. He has published extensively in community psychiatry and mental health aspects of people with intellectual disabilities. His two recent books are entitled Intellectual Disability and Ill Health, O’Hara, J., McCarthy, J., Bouras, N (eds.) (2010) published by Cambridge University Press and Mental Health Services for Adults with Intellectual Disability: Strategies and Solutions, Bouras, N and Holt G. (eds.) (2010) a Maudsley Monograph published by Rutledge. Julio Arboleda-FlórezJulio Arboleda-FlórezProfessor Julio Arboleda-Flórez, Canadian, born in Colombia, is a graduate of the Universidad Nacional de Bogotá, Colombia (1964). He did his studies in Psychiatry at the University of Ottawa, Canada in 1970 and in Forensic Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, Canada in 1971. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (FRCPC, 1970), Diploma of the American Board of Forensic Psychiatry (DABFP, 1979) and PhD in Epidemiology (University of Calgary, 1994). Professor Arboleda-Flórez holds a Diplôme de Langue Française from the École Internationale de Langue et Civilization Françaises (Paris, 1984). He is a Member of the American College of Psychiatrists; Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association; Fellow of the American College of Forensic Psychiatry and of the American Board of Forensic Examiners; Fellow of the Canadian Psychiatric Association and of the Royal Society of Medicine, Honorary Member of the World Psychiatric Association in 1993, Honorary Member of the Asociación Ecuatoriana de Psiquiatría in 1994, Member Emeritus of the Forensic Department, Associaõ Brasileira de Psiquiatria in 1996 and Honorary Life Chairman of the Forensic Section of the World Psychiatric Association in 2008. He is a holder of a Rectoral Medal and is Honorary Professor at the Universidad de Chile; Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa and Visiting Professor, Universidad del Bosque, Bogotá, Colombia. Presently, Professor Arboleda-Flórez is Director of the Queen's/PAHO/WHO Regional Unit for Research and Training in Psychiatric Epidemiology; Member of the Nominating Committee and of the Ethics Committee of the World Psychiatric Association; Consultant, WPA Task Force on the Destigmatization of Psychiatry; Member, Panel of Experts – Strategy and Action Plan Mental Health for the Americas of the Pan American Health Organization; Member, Research Ethics Review Board of the Pan American Health Organization; Corresponding Member, Ethics Committee of the American Psychiatric Association, and President of the World Association for Social Psychiatry. He is Temprary Consultant with the World Health Organization, Immediaste Past-President, International Academy of Law and Mental Health and of the Canadian Academy of Psychiatric Epidemiology, and has been chairman of the Province of Ontario, Forensic Psychiatric Services Expert Advisory Panel and member, Ontario Review Board. He is Editor-in-Chief of The Open Law Journal, Member of Editorial Boards of national and international medical journals, Guest Editor on special topics at the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry and Current Opinion in Psychiatry and he acts as Reviewer for research granting bodies. Professor Arboleda-Flórez is an international speaker, researcher on mental health services, psychiatric ethics and psychiatric epidemiology, author of books, multiple chapters and over 200 scientific papers and technical reports on mental health services, public mental health, mental health ethics, forensic psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology. He is fluent in Spanish, English and French and has reading and oral comprehension in Italian, Portuguese and German.