Dan J. Stein is Professor and Chair of the Dept of Psychiatry at the University of Cape Town, and Director of the South African Medical Research Council’s Unit on Risk & Resilience in Mental Disorders. Dan’s training includes doctoral degrees in clinical neuroscience and in philosophy, and a post-doctoral fellowship in psychopharmacology. He is a clinician-scientist whose work has long focused on anxiety and related disorders, including obsessive-compulsive spectrum conditions and posttraumatic stress disorder. He has also mentored a range of other research, with publications spanning basic neuroscience, through clinical research, and on to public mental health. He has contributed to the field via collaboration (around Africa and the globe), mentorship (many past students are leaders in their field), and publication (google h-index > 200). His most recent volume is “Problems of Living: Perspectives from Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Cognitive-Affective Science”.

Rick Wolthusen, MD, MPP, is a physician-scientist and board-certified psychiatrist with clinical interests in psychotic disorders and catatonia, and research interests in neuroscience and global mental health. He works as a staff psychiatrist at McLean Hospital, Division of Psychotic Disorders. He is a medical instructor at Harvard Medical School and a part-time lecturer at the University of Ghana. Dr. Wolthusen has trained and practiced in diverse cultural and geographic settings, including Germany, the United States, Ghana, Kenya, Australia, and New Zealand.
He serves on the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on International Psychiatry and Global Health and is the council liaison to the Council on Advocacy and Government Relations. Internationally, he is the zonal representative for Zones 1 (Canada), 2 (United States), and 3 (Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean) within the World Psychiatric Association’s Early Career Psychiatry Section, where he also serves as secretary.
Dr. Wolthusen’s award-winning research focuses on improving access to community-based mental health services, advancing mental health advocacy and policymaking, and strengthening mutual capacity-building efforts in global mental health. In recognition of his contributions, Dr. Wolthusen received the Order of Merit, the highest tribute awarded by the Federal Republic of Germany for service to the nation.

Dr. Radwa Said Abdelazim Elfeqi, M.sc, MD, conducted her research on application of dance movement therapy as a novel technique in child and adolescent psychiatry in conjoint supervision with Derby University UK to accomplish neuropsychiatry master degree in 2004. In 2005, she co-taught at Drexel university in Philadelphia on Medical Dance Movement therapy to nursing school and 2007 she started her first pilot study for doctorate at Cairo University Faculty of Medicine with female survivors of breast cancer examining the psychoneuroimmunology impact of dance movement therapy in this population - then she pursued CAGS and PhD on expressive arts therapies at Lesley University in Cambridge MA 2013-2015 2004-2008 appointed chair of young psychiatrists/early career psychiatrists at WPA and African representative.
Starting 2007 her research and clinical studies focused on sexual disorders, and she joined WPA section on Psychiatry and Human Sexuality as a member – the same section she is chairing since 2022 – present. 2023 she became a fellow for European Joint Committee of Sexual Medicine. 2011 she led a workshop in spanish on psychoneuroimmunological impact of dance movement therapy at University of Buenos Aires.
She taught psychiatry and psychology to undergraduates and postgraduate at Delta University and Galala University in Egypt for faculties of Medicine, Physical Therapy, Nursing and Clinical Pharmacy 2022 – present.
She is currently an active member of World Psychiatric Association and chair of its section on Psychiatry and Human sexuality, and a member on WPA planning committee and chair of the organizing committee of WPA regional conference in Alexandria 2025.
She is an active member of American Dance Therapy Association and representing Egypt on the international panel, a member of European Society of Sexual Medicine and a member of ISSUP International Society of Substance Use Prevention beside being a member of Egyptian Psychiatric Association. She has been involved in research and publishing since her early career days which mounted to over 80 published abstracts in national, regional and international conferences, 40 interactive workshops in different languages, and over 30 published papers and book chapters contributions. She authored the first online course on sexual disorders for primary care practitioners sponsored by WPA and American college of cardiology ACC, 2022
Guest Editor on BMC Psychology special edition on gender differences in sexuality 2024-2025
She speaks five languages with excellent mandate spoken and written including Arabic, English, French, Spanish, and fair German - understands Italian and Portuguese.

Professor Thomas G. Schulze, born in 1969, studied medicine in Erlangen (Bavaria), Manama (Bahrain), Barcelona (Catalonia), and Chapel Hill and Winston-Salem (both North Carolina). He trained as a psychiatrist and held various positions in Germany (Bonn, Mannheim, Göttingen, Munich) and the USA (Chicago, IL; Bethesda, MD; Baltimore, MD; Syracuse, NY). He is a citizen of Germany and the USA.
Since 2014, he has held the position of Chair and Director of the Institute of Psychiatric Phenomics and Genomics (www.ippg.eu) at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (IPPG). He is a research affiliate with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, MD, and Adjunct Professor with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. In 2019, he also joined the Faculty of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA, where he holds an appointment as Clinical Professor. He is licensed to practice medicine in the European Union and the State of New York.
Dr. Schulze’s research focuses on genotype-phenotype relationships and personalized medicine approaches in psychiatric disorders. He coordinates a German-wide center grant on longitudinal psychosis research (www.PsyCourse.de) and spearheads an international study on the genetic basis of response to lithium treatment in bipolar disorder (www.ConLiGen.org), comprising several research groups from Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Australia. He has authored over 400 papers, his h-index being 74 (Web of Science) and 102 (Google Scholar), respectively. In addition to national German awards, he is the 2006 recipient of the Robins-Guze-Award of the American Psychopathological Association (APPA), the 2006 recipient of the Theodore-Reich-Award of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics (ISPG), and the winner of the Colvin Prize 2016 of the Brain & Behavioral Research Foundation (BBRF). He is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP), the APPA, and served as President of the APPA from 2015 through 2016. Between 2016 and 2020, he also held the office of President of the ISPG. From 2011 through 2017, he served as the Chair of the Section on Psychiatric Genetic of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), which he is an Honorary Member of. In 2017, he was elected to the Executive Committee of the WPA, starting a 6-year term as Secretary of Scientific Sections. In 2021, he was elected to the German Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina.org). In 2023, he was elected President-Elect of the WPA, with the three-year term as President commencing in 2026.
Thomas G. Schulze speaks German, English, French, Catalan, Spanish, Latin and has a basic knowledge of Italian and a beginner’s knowledge of Arabic.

Tami Benton, MD is the Frederick H. Allen Chair in Child Psychiatry at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). She is the Psychiatrist-in-Chief and Chair of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at CHOP and Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the President of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and the Immediate Past President of the American Association of Directors of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AADCAP). She served on the National Institute of Mental Health Advisory Council and the APA’s Council for Research. Dr. Benton mentors clinical and research physicians, fellows, and postdoctoral trainees. She was awarded the Society of Biological Psychiatry Humanitarian Award and the Community Outreach Award by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Dr. Benton’s career has been dedicated to developing leadership for a diverse child psychiatry workforce. Her mission — preparing the next generation of diverse physician leaders in pediatric healthcare and mental health and creating partnerships between communities and academic centers — will be critical for eliminating disparities among minority populations.