SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BIPOLAR DISORDER
MOGENS SCHOU AWARDS

ADRIANO CAMARGO
 On behalf of ABRATA (Brazilian Association for Affective Disorders)
Mogens Schou Award for Education and Advocacy

FRANCESC COLOM, PSYD, MSC, PHD & EDUARD VIETA, MD, PHD
Mogens Schou Award for Research

JOHN MCMANAMY, LLB (HONS)
 Mogens Schou Award for Public Service

Video Recording of the Award Ceremony available here

In recognition of MOGENS SCHOU, MD for his establishment of the first efficacious treatment for bipolar disorder and for his contributions to the field of psychiatry and the treatment of bipolar disorder over the last fifty years.

Mogens Schou, MD was born in Copenhagen in 1918. After graduation from Copenhagen University Medical School in 1944 he trained in clinical psychiatry at Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish hospitals and in experimental biology at institutes in Copenhagen, New York, and

Beginning in 1951 Professor Schou worked at the psychiatric hospital, Risskov, Denmark, from 1956 as head of its Psychopharmacology Research Unit. In 1971 he was appointed to a newly created chair of biological psychiatry at Aarhus University. He retired in 1988.

In 1952 Dr. Schou and his associates gave lithium to their first manic patient, and in 1954 they published the outcome of a partly open, partly randomized and placebo-controlled trial, the first of its kind in psychiatric pharmacotherapy. It confirmed the antimanic effect of lithium, first observed in 1949 by John Cade. In the 1960’s the Danish psychiatrist, Paul Christian Baastrup and Professor Schou carried out a study of lithium treatment in patients with recurrent manic-depressive disorder. It ran over six and a half years, involved 88 patients, and was published in 1967. It showed that long-term lithium treatment was associated with a marked (87 percent) and long-lasting decrease in the frequency of manic and depressive recurrences, that the effect was the same in bipolar and unipolar patients, and that the efficacy of lithium did not disappear with time or after interruption and subsequent resumption of the treatment.

Lithium thus became the first long-term treatment that could break the almost inexorable development of manic and depressive recurrences. Prophylactic lithium treatment was adopted by other psychiatrists who confirmed its efficacy. The Danish trial was, however, criticized on methodological grounds by psychiatrists who had never, themselves, given lithium. Baastrup, Schou, and their associates then carried out two randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, prospective discontinuation trials. They were terminated after six months by a sequential analysis and showed a highly significant difference between lithium and placebo in both bipolar and unipolar patients.

After publication of this study in 1970, lithium became the first-choice mood stabilizer in bipolar disorder, whereas, to Professor Schou’s dismay, its considerable ability to prevent recurrent depressions has generally been disregarded.

Over the years, Professor Schou published more than 530 articles, books and book chapters. His studies have dealt with the effect of lithium treatment on artistic creativity, treatment management and monitoring, treatment regimens, somatic and psychological side effects, the effects of lithium treatment on kidney and thyroid function, interaction with other drugs, and acute and late effects of intoxication. Together with an international research team, IGSLI, which he initiated, Professor Schou studied the effect of long-term lithium treatment on mortality and suicidal behavior, as well as the genetics of ‘excellent lithium responders.’ Since lithium cannot be patented, it has received limited commercial support, and Professor Schou, therefore, lectured extensively to psychiatrists, hospital physicians, general practitioners, and patient groups in order to promote its appropriate use. He also wrote books in non-technical language for patients and families, which have been published in twelve languages.

Professor Schou received numerous honors and awards, including the Danish Alfred Benzon and Ernst Carlsen Prizes 1967 and 1968, first Prize from the German Anna-Monika Stiftung 1969 (for work carried out with J.Angst, P.C.Baastrup, P.Grof and P.Weis), the German Paul Martini Prize 1969 (with the same), the Danish Novo Foundation Prize 1971, the International Scientific Kittay Foundation Award 1974 (shared with John Cade), the Taylor Manor Hospital Psychiatric Award 1978, the Great Nordic Fernström Prize 1979, the John Cade Memorial Award 1982, the National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association's Abraham Lincoln Award 1987, the Mary and Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award 1987, the American David R. Wood Award 1988, the Lundbeck Foundation's Research Prize 1988, the International Society of Lithium Research’s Mogens Schou Prize for Lifetime Achievement 1995, and the CINP Pioneers in Psychopharmacology Award 2000.

Professor Schou was an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (Great Britain), Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologium, the British Association of Psycho-pharmacology, the Scandinavian Society for Psychopharmacology, and many other scientific societies. He held honorary doctorates from Universities of Marseille, Munich, and Prague.

Dr. Schou’s continued his research and advocacy work right until his death in 2005. We are grateful to have this opportunity to honor him and remember his enduring and revolutionary contributions to the treatment of individuals with bipolar disorder.

ADRIANO CAMARGO
 on behalf of Brazilian Association for Affective Disorders (ABRATA)
Mogens Schou Award for Education and Advocacy

As one of the founders of the Brazilian Association for Affective Disorders - ABRATA, Adriano Camargo initiated the Scientific Council in November 1999, became Vice-President in 2001 and President in 2004. ABRATA, an NGO, has grown to include a membership of more than 2000 consumers, clinicians, researchers, families and friends.

ABRATA’ s mission is to educate consumers and their families as well as health professionals and the general public about the nature and treatment of affective disorders; work toward eliminating stigma and discrimination; advocate for and support patients and families; and encourage research in the area.

Mr. Camargo has participated in and presented at many conferences such as the World Psychiatric Association International Congress, the Annual Conferences of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, and the World Federation for Mental Heath Biennial where he presented the Brazilian experience and exchanged information about mood disorders with professionals, consumers, and families. In connection with this, he was awarded a grant to organize a task force to promote dialogue between industrialized and developing countries.

In Brazil he advances ABRATA’s work by lecturing at the invitation of various NGOs, companies, faculties and professional congresses. He is one of the founders and Vice-President of the Association for Children’s Emotional Health – ASEC that is introducing “Zippy’s Friends”, a British program which focuses on educating children to deal with their emotions and feelings.

He is also a Collaborating Psychologist at the Psychiatry Institute of Clinical Hospital of the University of São Paulo Medical School.

Adriano Camargo holds a BA in Psychology from Mackenzie University in São Paulo and a MSc from the University of São Paulo Medical School. As part of his work, he has developed research and organized self-help groups through ABRATA.

FRANCESC COLOM, PSYD, MSC, PHD & EDUARD VIETA, MD, PHD
 Mogens Schou Award for Research

Francesc Colom, PsyD, MSc, PhD received his Doctorate Cum Laude in Psychology and Master’s Degree in Social Psychiatry from the University of Barcelona (Spain), did Post-Graduate work in Psychobiology and Psychopharmacology at the University of Barcelona, and earned a Master’s Degree in Affective Neuroscience from the University of Maastricht (Netherlands).

Dr. Colom is the Head of the Psychoeducation and Psychological Treatments Area at the Barcelona Bipolar Disorders Program (IDIBAPS- Hospital Clinic University of Barcelona), which has conducted the largest psychoeducation controlled single-blind trial with bipolar patients. The Barcelona Psychoeducation Program, designed by Dr. Colom and his colleagues, is now the strongest evidence-based psychoeducational program for bipolar patients.

Dr. Colom has lectured all over the world and published almost 100 articles and book chapters on the subject of treatment compliance and psychoeducational issues in bipolar disorders. Dr. Colom has also authored 12 books on subjects related to affective disorders and their treatment with a view toward increasing general knowledge about bipolar disorders. In Spain, he is a frequent contributor to radio programs focusing on mental health issues. Dr. Colom’s research work centers on assessment, pharmacological issues, and clinical issues such as comorbidity, personality and the cognitive and neuropsychological factors related to bipolar disorders and particularly hypomania.

He was awarded the Spanish Association of Psychiatry prize for his work on comorbidity in bipolar disorders. As part of the Barcelona Bipolar Disorders Program, he received a grant from the Stanley Research Foundation (Bethesda, USA). He also serves as a scientific consultant to the National Bipolar Disorders Association in Spain and is a member of the Board of Councilors of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders. He is a referee and member of the editorial board of several peer-reviewed journals and co-chairs the Spanish edition of the journal “Bipolar Disorders”. In addition to his other teaching responsibilities, Dr. Colom is privileged to hold an Honorary Senior Lecturer position at the Institute of Psychiatry of London. His book, Psychoeducation Manual for Bipolar Disorder (Cambridge University Press, 2006) has been published in four different languages.
 

Eduard Vieta, MD, PhD is Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Bipolar Disorders Program of the Hospital Clinic at the University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. He also serves as Director of Research at the Clinical Institute of Neuroscience at the same institution. Professor Vieta’s research focuses on the neurobiology and treatment of bipolar disorder. His program has been at the forefront of research in the area of novel treatments, both pharmacological and psychological, including atypical antipsychotics, novel antiepileptic drugs and psychoeducation. Since 2001, his research program has been funded by the Stanley Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. He has made significant contributions to many of the published bipolar disorder treatment guidelines, and has authored more than 150 original articles, 30 book chapters and 16 books on bipolar disorder. He sits on the editorial board of 15 international scientific journals and reviews articles for more than 20 others.
 

JOHN MCMANAMY, LLB (HONS)
 Mogens Schou Award for Public Service

John McManamy is a former financial journalist. In early 1999, following a series of severe depressions and a lifetime of denial, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Soon after, as a means of coming to terms, he started researching and writing about his illness.

John McManamy received his law degree from the University of Otago (New Zealand) in 1981, and served as the founding president of a community law center. After graduation, he embarked upon a career in financial journalism, where he served in various editorial and feature writing positions on a number of journals and newspapers in New Zealand and Australia, as well as authoring three books on business topics.

Back in Connecticut, where he grew up, John McManamy began writing about his illness. In June 1999, he put out his first email newsletter, McMan’s Depression and Bipolar Weekly (now Report), a free service committed to helping patients and loved ones better manage their illness and build productive partnerships with their clinicians. In December 2000, he launched his website, McMan’s Depression and Bipolar Web, now with 300 articles. In October 2005, he began writing blogs for HealthCentral. He is the author of the book, Living Well with Depression and Bipolar Disorder: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Tell You That You Need to Know (HarperCollins, 2006), the first mood disorders book written by a patient that covers the clinical and scientific issues from a patient's perspective.

In 2004, John McManamy received a public service award from NAMI-Connecticut, the Connecticut Psychiatric Society, and the Connecticut Department of Mental Health for his newsletter and website.

John McManamy is also involved in advocacy, public speaking, and facilitating DBSA support groups. He recently moved to the San Diego area.