Australia-China Mental Health Center Launched

The University of Melbourne-Peking University Center for Psychiatric Research and Training builds on existing collaborations between the two institutions and will also engage in postgraduate training.

AsianScientist (Apr. 11, 2014) – The University of Melbourne-Peking University Center for Psychiatric Research and Training will bring together experts from both institutions to study all aspects of mental health, from biological to epidemiological and psycho-social.

The new center is the culmination of a ten-year partnership on issues of mental health between the two universities, led by Melbourne’s Department of Psychiatry, and including Asialink, Asia Australia Mental Health and the Peking University Institute of Mental Health.

Mental disorders make up approximately 13 percent of the world’s disease burden and are one of the largest contributors to all diseases. It is estimated that 173 million Chinese people suffer from a mental disorder, with 92 percent having never received any type of treatment before 2004.

Over the past ten years, the two universities have collaborated closely, particularly in the national roll out of modern community mental health services across China through the so-called ‘686 Project.’

“This project is one of the largest mental health reform programs globally, delivering community psychiatric services covering a population of over 900 million people,” said Professor Ian Everall, Head of the Department of Psychiatry at Melbourne.

Everall said the center was an exciting step forward in the collaboration between the two institutions.

“The partnership has grown from clinical services to knowledge transfer and now, in this new venture, collaborative research,” he said.

“Our aim over the next ten years is to have 50 PhD students jointly trained between Melbourne and Peking. Our students will receive a greater understanding of the key mental health issues in Asia and conversely, students from Peking will have full access to the range of psychiatric research expertise Melbourne has to offer.”

———

Source: University of Melbourne; Photo: healthblog/Flickr/CC.

Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

Asian Scientist Magazine is an award-winning science and technology magazine that highlights R&D news stories from Asia to a global audience. The magazine is published by Singapore-headquartered Wildtype Media Group.

Related Stories from Asian Scientist