Recent advances in the understanding and treatment of affective disorders, stroke, and traumatic brain injury will be featured at the event.
The conference is presented by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar and the New York Academy of Sciences.
“Stroke and traumatic brain injury are two of the most common and serious problems reported among citizens and workers in Qatar. Therefore, it is extremely important to bring together a group of brain experts from around the world to address these problems, and share our knowledge and best practices, so our colleagues in Qatar are able to bring the most advanced levels of care and treatment to patients,” said Dr Matthew E Fink, Louis and Gertrude Feil professor and chairman, department of neurology and assistant dean (clinical affairs) at Weill Cornell Medical College & New York Presbyterian Hospital/WC in New York.
Injuries and disorders of the brain represent a significant global disease burden, while causing considerable personal suffering and expansive economic costs. Brain disorders can be divided into two broadly defined categories.
The first are those resulting from the damage or death of healthy, functioning cells and brain tissue, often caused by external conditions such as cerebrovascular disease, stroke, or traumatic brain injury, while the second are those resulting from an intrinsic or chronic dysfunction of the brain, either within the cells or in their connectivity.
The conference will be an opportunity for the participants to share new advances in brain imaging, novel diagnostics, investigative therapies, and cutting-edge findings from clinical trials. While joint sessions feature community-wide themes in clinical neuroscience, attendees have the option of selecting breakout sessions in two tracks: Affective Disorders or Stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury.
“I am sure the new science that will be discussed at the conference will prove extremely valuable as we seek novel treatments to relieve the real distress caused to people with affective disorders like anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder, which can have a devastating effect, not only on the sufferers, but also on their families and friends,” said conference chair and speaker Dr Javaid I Sheikh, dean of Weill Cornell
Medical College in Qatar.
He expressed the hope that the conference will help to raise public awareness of mental health issues, reducing the social stigma that has so often been attached to them. “Affective disorders are real illnesses and by hosting the conference here in Qatar I hope it will send a clear message across the region that anyone who needs treatment should feel able to ask for help,” Dr Sheikh added.
