BAP Officer Details
President: Professor Barbara Sahakian,
Cambridge University
President-elect until 2012; President until 2014; Past-President until 2016
Barbara Sahakian is a Professor at The University of Cambridge Department of
Psychiatry and MRC/Wellcome Trust Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute,
where she directs a laboratory of human psychopharmacology. She has an international
reputation in the field of psychopharmacology and related disciplines with over
16000 citations to her published work and an H index of 73. She is perhaps best
known for her work on cognitive enhancement using pharmacological treatments,
early detection of Alzheimer's disease, cognition and depression and neuroethics.
She was one of the first researchers to suggest that attentional dysfunction
in Alzheimer's disease could be ameliorated using pharmacotherapy, such as cholinesterase
inhibitors. She has over 300 publications covering these topics in scientific
journals, including Science, Nature, Nature Neuroscience, Annual Reviews of
Neuroscience, Archives of General Psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry, Psychological
Medicine, Journal of Psychopharmacology, Psychopharmacology, Neuropsychopharmacology,
International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology and Neuroscience and Biobehavioural
Reviews. She is also on the Editorial Board of several of these journals. In
terms of peer esteem, she has been a member of the Medical Research Council
Neurosciences and Mental Health Board (2006 - 2010), a member of the Science
Coordination Team for the UK Government Foresight Project on Mental Capital
and Wellbeing (2008) and a member of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Committee
on Women in Neuroscience. She has just been appointed to the Scientific Advisory
Board for Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health. She has been given a number
of honours, including the FC Donders Chair in Psychopharmacology (Utrecht University,
2005), Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (2004 - ), Distinguished International
Scholars Award (University of Pennsylvania, 2009 - 2010), Plenary lectures at
the Annual Meetings of ECNP (Barcelona, 2008) and CINP (Hong Kong, 2010) and
a Lecture for the President's Teaching Day at ACNP.
She has been a member of BAP Council and has been a regular contributor to BAP
through organizing, chairing and speaking in Symposia and Workshops at the Annual
Meetings. She has a strong interest in training young psychopharmacologists
and a number of her current and previous PhD students are also members of BAP
and participate in BAP events. She is committed to a translational approach
to neuropsychopharmacology. Indeed, her current programme of research funded
by the Wellcome Trust and Medical Research Council investigates the neurochemical
modulation of impulsive and compulsive disorders, such as attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder, using a translational
medicine approach. She has extensively promoted the engagement of the public
in science through communication with the media and participation in science
festivals and many public lectures. As President of BAP, she would endeavour
to preserve the excitement and stimulation of the annual meetings whilst encouraging
training and career development of members and promoting Psychopharmacology
through engagement with key stakeholders, including Industry, Government and
Society.
Latest News
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- Professor Barbara Sahakian is interiewed on The Forum
on 7th April 2013
Professor Barbara Sahakian is interviewed on The Forum, as part of the BBC World Service's 'What if' season.
Listen to the programme
- Dr Andrew Mayers on Children's Sleep Workshops
on 14th March 2013
Dr Andrew Mayers holds children's sleep workshops in various schools in the Bournemouth area
See Press Articles
- Professor Barbara Sahakian on the correlation between physical and mental health
on 1st March 2013
Professor Barbara Sahakian presents her latest findings on the correlation between physical and mental health
See press articles