SIRS Members in the News
SOCIETY NEWS- JUNE, 2010
 Robin Murray, M.D.
President's Letter
The Society is enjoying the benefits of dedicated and excellent work by many people. Since the Society’s foundation five years ago, we’ve held two International conferences, are financially viable and are well established in the community of schizophrenia researchers.
The most recent conference in Florence, Italy attracted over 1500 delegates from all parts of the globe. Feedback received from the conference evaluation, confirm the conference was a success both scientifically and socially. Thirty young researchers were afforded an opportunity to attend the conference through a grant from the NIMH and an additional ten travel awards were given to young researchers by the Society. Plans are being made for the 2012 conference in the Spring, in Italy.
SIRS is providing a central focus for other groups wishing to associate their conference or organization with us. The relationship between the Society and ICOSR Organizers continues to progress and SIRS is also an organizational sponsor for the ASC2010 (Australian Schizophrenia Conference) meeting taking place in Sydney, Australia this September. Through the affiliation with the ASC2010 Organizers, SIRS members are given a discounted registration fee for the conference.
The Board of Directors is determined that in the future, we should make a greater contribution to schizophrenia clinical teaching and research in lower and middle income countries. The Officers of the Society are now working to identify opportunities for education and training in South America and Asia.
The Society has recently established committees to examine and address issues on a variety of important topics. The committees and chair persons are listed in another area of this newsletter. SIRS members are encouraged to contact Lyn Hopmayer in the Executive Office at Lhopmayer@schizophreniaresearchsociety.org to ask questions about committee work or identify an issue for committee attention.
SIRS members will continue to receive the two publications, Schizophrenia Bulletin and Schizophrenia Research. Additionally, the Society works with the Schizophrenia Research Forum website which provides excellent scientific news on schizophrenia. SIRS members are encouraged to visit the website at www.schizophreniaforum.org.
I am looking forward to serving the Society as President for the next two years. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with outstanding groups in the Executive Board of Directors, International Advisory Committee and the Society committees. Thank you for your ongoing support and participation in the Society. |
2010 Conference Summary
Thank you, SIRS members, for your participation and contribution to the 2010 Biennial Conference in Florence, Italy. Attendance at the 2010 conference was higher than in 2008, despite today’s economic challenges. The conference attracted 1,504 scientific delegates from 54 countries compared to 1,447 attendees from 47 countries at the 2008 conference in Venice.
NIMH provided a grant for trainee travel awards and a mentoring program for the Schizophrenia International Research Conference. Thirty young researchers were selected out of almost 200 applications submitted. The Society sponsored an additional ten travel awards. The program sponsored individuals who have, through their research, teaching, or clinical activities, demonstrated professional and scientific interest in the field of schizophrenia research. Dr. DeLisi assembled a committee of senior investigators to review the applications and select the individuals for the awards. Special thanks to all the SIRS mentors who served as mentors to these talented, young scientists.
The Society had 390 respondents to the meeting evaluation. Very favorable responses to questions about the scientific content, meeting objectives and speakers performance were recorded. Florence received a high rating as a meeting site as did meeting administration and logistics of the meeting. Of the responses, 91% rated Florence as a meeting site excellent or good. Additionally, respondents were asked to compare the SIRS conference with other meetings they attend, 73% rated it “better than most” or “clearly superior”.
Science presented at the conference is available for viewing until April 2011 on the SIRS website. Slide-casts of the keynote session and plenary sessions were recorded and are available for viewing on the SIRS and Schizophrenia Research Forum websites. E-posters are also available for viewing on the SIRS website.
The Officers are considering dates and locations in Italy for the 2012 meeting. Members will receive confirmation of the conference dates and location in the coming months. |
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Education Committee
Dieter Naber, Chair........................... naber@uke.uni-hamburg.de
Rangaswamy Thara, Co-Chair............................. scarf@vsnl.com
Ethics Committee
Til Wykes, Chair........................................... til.wykes@kcl.ac.uk
Stephen Marder, Co-Chair................................ marder@ucla.edu
Finance Committee
René Kahn, Chair..................................... R.Kahn@umcutrecht.nl
Richard Keefe, Co-Chair........................ richard.keefe@duke.edu
Membership Committee
Lynn DeLisi, Chair.......................................... DeLisi76@aol.com
Anthony Grace, Co-Chair.................................. graceaa@pitt.edu
Program Committee
Jim van Os, Chair...................................... j.vanos@sp.unimaas.nl
Dawn Velligan, Co-Chair........................... velligand@uthscsa.edu
Publications Committee
Philip Harvey, Chair................................. philipdharvey1@cs.com
Jean Addington, Co-Chair......................... jmadding@ucalgary.ca
SIRS Members in the News
The Society is expanding information on the SIRS website for members. SIRS Members are invited and encouraged to forward work that has appeared in the media for posting in the “Members in the News” section of the website. The information can be found on the “News” tab of the website. This may include links to videos, articles or other publications. The publication date should be included as articles more than one year old are not eligible for posting. Please forward these works to Lhopmayer@schizophreniaresearchsociety.org.
Employment Opportunities on SIRS Website
The Society has added a section in the “Members Area” of the website for job postings. If your organization has an employment opportunity available, please send a brief job description and contact information to Lyn Hopmayer in the SIRS Executive Office at Lhopmayer@schizophreniaresearchsociety.org. SIRS members who are searching for a new position are encouraged to visit this area of the website often.
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