Chairman's Report

From the Annual General Meeting

Friday 21 October 2011, Sydney AUSTRALIA

2011 has been a busy and successful year for the ASBD.  The major change to the ASBD has been the change of its name.  The executive recognised that the boundary between bipolar disorders and depression is a fuzzy one, not only clinically and aetiologically, but in terms of the research interests and endeavours of those involved in the field.  Together with the realisation that there is a far larger critical mass of clinicians and researchers involved in the broader mood disorders area, the strategic decision was made to broaden the scope of ASBD, changing the name to the Australasian Society of Bipolar and Depressive Disorders.  Of interest and for similar reasons, our parent organisation, the ISBD is contemplating a similar move.  This should strengthen the organisation, make it more broadly relevant and enhance its viability over the coming years.

A further development for the organisation has been the successful completion of the first official task force of the ASBD led by Dr Seetal Dodd.  This project was a consensus statement on safety monitoring for depression therapies and has been recently published in the Australian New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.  We would welcome any expressed interest in the development of any novel collaborative projects that have the capacity to advance clinical care and foster capacity growth in the broader area.  

The ASBD initiated a scholarship program for research in bipolar disorders.  Capitalising on our diversification into depressive disorders, we are pleased to announce the successful launch of the ASBD Servier Depression Grant.  This has been advertised, submissions have been received and we plan to announce the winner of this grant at the biennial meeting. 

The ASBD would like to extend a very warm and sincere vote of thanks to Ann Dancer and Leah Lonsdale for their stellar work in the secretariat office in managing the society and facilitating some of its activities, which include accounts, the website, communications and managing meetings. 

The ASBD continues to work closely with the ISBD and would like to thank Chad Daversa, the Executive Director of the ISBD for his support.  We would welcome and encourage delegates to attend the next ISBD meeting, which will take place in Istanbul between 14 and 17 March 2012.  At the time of writing, abstract submissions are still open and are encouraged.

I would like to thank those ASBD and ISBD members for their membership and welcome all new members who have joined the society.  Members receive a significant discount on ISBD and ASBD conference registrations.  I would like to thank the organising committee of the upcoming Sydney conference, led by Phil Mitchell, for their stellar work in making this meeting a success.

The ASBD remains committed to increasing knowledge, educating professionals and the public about these disorders and their treatments and contributing to destigmatisation.  We thank you for your partnership in this mission and look forward to welcoming you at the Sydney meeting.

Yours sincerely

Professor Michael Berk

Chairman, ASBD