SPEAKERS
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Australia
Australia
Australia
USA
INVITED INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER
- Professor Robert Schoevers, Netherlands
INVITED SPEAKERS
- Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM, Australia
- Professor Stephen Wood, Australia
Mr James Hill
James Hill is an accomplished lived experience mental health advocate, who has used his journey to influence significant positive change. James spent most of his career in the electricity industry, however after his own experience with poor mental health and suicide ideation he decided it was time to change the narrative. He began volunteering and sharing his story through a mental health charity, from there he introduced the first ever fulltime mental health advocate position in the energy industry. His lived experience advocacy has seen him provide advice to the sector and gain recognition through several awards and journal publications.
Professor Colleen Loo
Colleen Loo is a psychiatrist, Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Leadership Fellow and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and the Black Dog Institute, Sydney; Australia. She is a clinical and research expert in the fields of electroconvulsive therapy, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and ketamine, and led the first Australian RCTs of these interventions in depression. She is now also researching psychedelic assisted therapy. She has published over 300 peer reviewed papers and has received competitive grant funding from the Australian NHMRC, MRFF and major overseas grant funding agencies.
Professor Maree Toombs
Professor Toombs has advanced Indigenous mental health through pioneering work. She developed culturally validated assessment tools, leading to a landmark prevalence study of mental disorders in Indigenous populations. Toombs created a therapy approach integrating traditional healing with Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Her most significant achievement is I-ASIST, a culturally adapted suicide intervention program with mobile app support. This initiative has trained over 10,000 individuals across 95 communities, expanding suicide prevention in Indigenous areas. Her work has earned notable recognition, including the 2023 Australian Mental Health Prize and the 2021 Suicide Prevention Australia Queensland LiFE Impact Award. NHMRC's 2024 "10 of the Best" featured her community-designed suicide intervention research.
Professor Milton Wainberg
Dr. Milton Wainberg is a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Co-Director of the Division of Translational Epidemiology and Mental Health Equity of the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute. He is the Director of the Columbia University Mental Wellness Equity Center and the founding Chair of the APA Caucus on Global Mental Health & Psychiatry. Prof. Wainberg has dedicated his career to bringing research-to-practice to sustainably decrease the mental health research and treatment gaps in the US and multiple countries in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South America while training the next generation of implementation scientists.
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