Neurobiology of Bipolar Disorder

Dr. João Luciano de Quevedo, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Psychiatry at the McGovern Medical School, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, where he is the Vice-Chair for Faculty Development and Outreach, Director of the Translational Psychiatry Program, and Director of the Treatment-Resistant Depression Clinic. Before moving to Houston, he was a Dean at the University of Southern Santa Catarina Medical School, Criciúma, SC, Brazil, where he is still an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry and Director of the Continuous Medical Education Program in Psychiatry (PROPSIQ) of the Brazilian Psychiatric Association. Dr. Quevedo’s research interest is neurobiology of psychiatric disorders, particularly mood disorders, and he is a specialist in both unipolar and bipolar treatment–resistant depression. He is author of nearly 600 publications and 10 scientific books.André F Carvalho is associate professor at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a clinician scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). He was elected member of the board of councilors of the International Society of Bipolar Disorders (2016-2017) and the vice-chair of the section of private practice psychiatry of the World Psychiatric Association (2015-2017). He sits on the editorial board of several international peer-reviewed journals, including Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, and has served as a peer reviewer for several leading journals and funding agencies. He is an expert in mood disorders, psychiatric epidemiology, and evidence-based mental health. Dr. Carvalho is a sought after speaker in several national and international meetings, and is the author of over 300 publications. Eduard Vieta is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Barcelona and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology at the Hospital Clinic, where he also leads the Bipolar Disorders Program in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The Bipolar Unit is one of the worldwide leaders in clinical care, teaching and research on bipolar disorder.Dr. Vieta is the current Director of the Bipolar Research Program at the Spanish Research Network on Mental Diseases (CIBERSAM), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. Professor Vieta has received several awards, including the Aristotle award (2005), the Mogens Schou award (2007), the Strategic Research award of the Spanish Society of Biological Psychiatry (2009), the Official College of Physicians award to Professional Excellence (2011) and the Colvin Price on Outstanding Achievement in Mood Disorders Research by the Brain and Behaviour Research Foundation (2012).He has made significant contributions to many of the published bipolar disorder treatment guidelines and has authored more than 500 original articles, 350 book chapters and 30 complete books. His H index is 66 and has over 16000 citations, which makes him the most cited scientist worldwide in the field of bipolar disorder over the last 5 years. Furthermore, he is on the editorial board of a range of international scientific journals and has served as invited professor at Harvard University and as neuroscience scientific advisor to the European Presidency.

• 1. Tackling the heterogeneity of bipolar disorder in the era of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)2. The neurodevelopmental basis of Bipolar Disorder: Mechanisms and Implications3. The neuroprogressive nature of Bipolar Disorder: Mechanisms and Implications4. Immune mechanisms in Bipolar Disorder: evidence and implications5. Mitochondrial pathways in Bipolar Disorder: mechanisms and implications6. Neuro-oxidative and neuro-nitrosative mechanisms in bipolar disorder: evidence and implications7. Mechanisms underpinning neurocognitive dysfunction in bipolar disorder8. The evolution of animal models for bipolar disorder9. Alteration in Circadian rhythms in bipolar disorder: mechanisms and implications10. The genetics of bipolar disorder11. Pharmacogenomics of bipolar disorder12. Blood-brain barrier dysfunction as a pathophysiological mechanism of bipolar disorder13. Induced Pluripotent stem cells as tools for the investigation of the neurobiology of bipolar disorder14. Bipolar disorder as a gliopathy15. Molecular Imaging findings in Bipolar disorder16. Structural and functional neuroimaging findings in bipolar disorder17. Epigenetic mechanisms of bipolar disorder18. Bipolar disorder and cardiovascular dysfunction: mechanisms and implications19. At-risk mental states for bipolar disorder20. Stress, allostatic load and bipolar disorder: mechanisms and implications21. Bipolar disorder, obesity and metabolic disturbances: mechanisms and implications22. The gut-brain axis in bipolar disorder23. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in bipolar disorder24. Disturbed neuroplasticity pathways in bipolar disorder: mechanisms and implications25. Aberrations in intracellular signaling pathways in bipolar disorder26. The impact of early-life stress in the development and course of bipolar disorder: mechanisms and implications27. Bipolar disorder and accelerated aging: mechanisms and implications28. Suicidal behaviors in bipolar disorder29. Pediatric bipolar disorder30. Late-life bipolar disorder31. Biomarkers for Bipolar Disorder32. The mechanisms of action of lithium in bipolar disorder33. Is there a biosignature for lithium response in bipolar disorder? Evidence and implications34. Exercise as a treatment for bipolar disorder35. Non-invasive neuromodulatory approaches for bipolar disorder36. Novel therapeutic drug targets for bipolar disorder37. The treatment of bipolar disorder in the era of precision psychiatry: challenges and opportunities