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 Lynn E. DeLisiLynn E. DeLisiLynn E. DeLisi, MD, is currently Attending Psychiatrist at the Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. In addition, she is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Psychiatry Research, Co-Founding Editor of Schizophrenia Research, Co-Founder and Past President of the Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS), Co-Founder and former secretary of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics (ISPG), and a fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In October 2007 and 2013 she chaired or co-chaired the World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics in New York and Boston for over 1000 participants and, for several years, has been an organizer of the Schizophrenia International Research Society Conference taking place in Italy and the USA as well. Her undergraduate degree is in zoology from the University of Wisconsin, USA. She obtained her MD degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania, USA, and went on from there to do three years of general practice work with the migrant Chile farmers of Northern New Mexico. She completed a residency in psychiatry at Saint Elizabeth's Hospital, Washington DC, USA, and was a post-doctoral fellow and then a full-time staff research psychiatrist in the NIMH intramural research program, St. Elizabeth's Hospital (Washington DC, USA) and the NIH Campus (Bethesda, Maryland, USA). In 1987, she moved to The State University of New York, USA, at Stony Brook, where she set up several research programs on the longitudinal biological outcome of schizophrenia, emphasizing both brain imaging and genetic studies. From 2001 through 2008, she was Professor of Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine, USA, and Associate Director of The Center for Advanced Brain Imaging at The Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, until she obtained her current position at Harvard Medical School and its affiliate hospitals. She has dedicated her career to research programs on detection of schizophrenia, while at the same time treating chronic patients with schizophrenia, and those with other acute serious mental illnesses. She also teaches and mentors several residents and trainees, both locally and internationally at congresses. She has edited and authored over 300 books and manuscripts and serves on the editorial board of several other journals. In her off hours, she volunteers as the vice-chair of her local town's planning board and has worked on issues, such as the legalization of marijuana, affecting her local neighbours in many ways. Jair MariJair MariJair Mari is a medical doctor with a residence training in psychiatry. He is the current head of the Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology of Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil, being an active member of the WPA urban mental health section. He took his medical degree at ABC medical school in Santo Andre in Brazil, and in 1981 he went to the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK, for PhD training. He was keen to develop research instruments to be applied in Brazil and introduced ROC analysis to compare psychometric properties of mental health screening instruments. In 1991, as a post doc, he went to the McMaster University, Canada, where he generated the first mental health systematic review on family psychosocial interventions in schizophrenia. He was one of the first collaborators start the Cochrane Library endeavour. In 1996, he became a tenured professor of psychiatry in the Universidade Federal de São Paulo. An important part of his career was dedicated on teaching mental health research methodology for hundreds of mental health professionals in Brazil, having a leading role in developing evidence-based medicine in Brazil. He was a consultant for the Ministry of Education and led a group of academics who developed international level standards to evaluate post-grad level courses, contributing to the change of culture in psychiatric departments, which resulted in an increased Brazilian scientific production in the field. He was one of the editors of the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry for ten years (1998–2008) and promoted the full indexation of the journal by turning the publication fully English. The Brazilian psychiatric journal has now achieved on of the highest impact factor in Latin America. Dr Mari joined a WPA task force to improve standards of psychiatry journals in developing countries. In 2013 he was awarded a special grant by the State of São Paulo Funding Agency (FAPESP), to create an Advanced Science School for Prevention in Mental Health, bringing to São Paulo more than 30 top level academics and 100 selected global students who were developing post-grad projects in preventive psychiatry. He was the field coordinator for the ICD11 development in Brazil, and he is now a member of the Education and Publishing Committee of the WPA.