Presentations in Plenary 2021

Plenary Session 1: The big picture

Dr Ledia Lazeri, WHO Europe Regional Advisor, Mental Health
Key Note Address
Benjamin Perks, Head of Campaigns and Advocacy at UNICEF, New York
Key Note Address

Plenary Session 2 – Towards a new understanding of mental health and wellbeing

Dr Christian Rück, Professor, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Author.
Can we get out of the neurotic threadmill
Dr Vikram Patel, Professor of Global Health, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Acting Early: From Developmental Science to Scalable Prevention
Dr Dixon Chibanda, Associate Professor, Cenre for Global Mental Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.
Towards positive mental health and wellbeing: Lessons from Friendship Bench Zimbabwe

Plenary Session 3: Innovative strategies for closing the treatment gap

Dr Andy Blackwell, Chief Scientific Officer, IESO Digital Health, UK
Rethinking the role of technology in improving access and quality in mental healthcare
Dr Paul Farrand, Professor, University of Exeter, UK
Reimagining Support for Low-Intensity CBT: The Promise of AI
Dr Gerhard Andersson, Professor, Linköping University, Sweden
Psychological internet treatments work and can be exported to other cultures and languages
Dr Andrea M. Beetz, Professor, IU International University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Benefits of Human-Animal Interactions for Mental Health and Wellbeing

Plenary Session 4 - Social Media and Adolescent Mental Health

Dr Nick Allen, Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Oregon, USA
Digital pragmatism: How can we use social media and digital devices to support adolescent mental health?
Dr Jacqueline Nesi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, USA
Rethinking Adolescent Social Media Use and Mental Health: Risks, Benefits, and Opportunities
Dr Madeleine George, Public Health Research Analyst at RTI International, Durham North Carolina, USA
Adolescents in the digital age: technology use, wellbeing, and parenting

Plenary Session 5: Pathways to lifelong mental wellbeing

Dr Christian Benedict, Associate Professor in Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Sweden
A sleep-deprived society: A brief wake-up call!
Dr Catharine Ward Thompson, Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Edinburgh, UK
Healthy green space and inclusive landscapes: the salutogenic environment
Dr Steven C. Hayes Nevada Foundation Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, Founder of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), USA
Isn’t That Tweet

Plenary Session 1: The big picture