Division of Mental Health and Addiction Medicine

Introduction

Mental illnesses and addictive problems affect large segments of any society, whether "developed" or "developing," "East" or "West". They cause enormous suffering and dysfunction in afflicted individuals, and represent major sources of morbidity and mortality as well as loss in productivity at the societal level. Pathogenesis of psychiatric problems as well as therapeutic responses to mental health interventions are complex phenomena significantly influenced by ethnic, cultural and other "local" factors. The establishment of this Division represents a major milestone in the development of clinical psychiatry and neuroscience in Taiwan, in addressing mental health and other behavioral problems with high local priorities, and at the same time contributing to the knowledge base at the global level. To carry out its mission, the Division will work actively with leaders in clinical and academic psychiatry as well as in other biomedical research fields. The division sees its primary role as a facilitator, catalyst, capacity builder, not as an insulated institution.

At this stage of its development, the guiding principles for the Division include the following:

The Division is currently in the process of setting up its clinical and laboratory research and research training programs, be based at the Taipei City Psychiatric Center (TCPC), an academically oriented public psychiatric hospital with unique contributions in clinical services, program development, research and training in Taiwan in the past several decades. The Division also will have major collaborative arrangements with major academic and psychiatric clinical centers in Taiwan. Working together, the Division aims at establishing clinical, translational and basic research infrastructures and networks, enabling researchers to work collaboratively to tackle clinical and theoretical issues of central import and high relevance to the understanding and care of psychiatric patients. Programs to be established include inpatient research ward, research laboratories, an outpatient research network, and training programs fostering the growth and career development of generations of committed and fully equipped researchers capable carrying on the mission.

Research themes to be emphasized at this stage of the Division's development include:

These programs will be further described in the next section.

Mission

The mission of the Division of Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Research is to conduct clinical, translational and basic scientific research with the purpose of enhancing our understanding of mental health and psychiatric disorders, as well as improving the field's ability to provide increasingly effective intervention, rehabilitation and prevention strategies for our populations.Major tasks to be pursued by the Division include the following:

Advisory Committee