Please click on the names of the ISBD task forces below to learn more about each group.

Coming soon.

Coming soon.

Diagnostic Guidelines Task Force Report

A 30 member international panel led by S. Nassir Ghaemi, MD and formed under the leadership of the ISBD worked for over 3 years to develop consensus recommendationsfor revisions to the DSM-V and ICD 10 bipolar nosology and outlined areas requiring further study. Preliminary data for this report was presented at the 7th ICBD in Pittsburgh, and the final results were presented at the ISBD’s 3rd Biennial Conference held in New Delhi, India in January of 2008.

The task force's charge, originally developed by then ISBD president Samuel Gershon, MD, was to evaluate current diagnostic systems, identify key similarities and differences among them, reconcile the data, provide an organizational schema for diagnosis of bipolar disorder across cultures, and highlight continuing differences for further research.

Since its release, nearly 2000 copies of guidelines have been distributed worldwide. We believe the guidelines will be quite helpful in providing acknowledgement of diagnostic concepts that have been well described and documented in the literature but not formalized in other diagnostic guidelines at this time.

A full write up of the Guidelines document appeared Volume 25: 4 issue of the Psychiatric Times in April of 2008 and the full document, which were published as Part 2 of the February 2008 issues of the Bipolar Disorders Journal, is available through ISBD. Please contact the ISBD office for pricing and details.

Coming soon.

Coming soon.

Coming soon.

ISBD Task Force on the Nomenclature of Course and Outcome in Bipolar Disorders

Under the auspices of the ISBD’s previous president Dr Lakshmi Yatham as task force was set under the leadership of Dr Mauricio Tohen to proposed a standard nomenclature on frequently used terms on the course and outcome of bipolar disorders. The task force included an international panel of experts from, North America, South America, Europe, Australia and Japan, members included Drs. Ellen Frank, Charles Bowden, Francesc Colom, Nassir Ghaemi, Lakshmi Yatham, Gin Malhi, Joseph Calabrese, Willem Nolen, Eduard Vieta, Flavio Kapczinski, Guy Goodwin, Trisha Suppes, Gary Sachs, Roy Chengappa, Heinnz Grunze, Philip Mitchell, Shingenobu Kanba, Michael Berk, and Mauricio Tohen.

The group reviewed, interpreted, and proposed operational definitions used to describe the course of bipolar disorders for worldwide use, based on the existing literature, in order to better predict course and treatment outcomes.

Consensus opinion was reached regarding the definition of 9 terms (response, remission, recovery, relapse, recurrence, switch, subsyndromal states, predominant polarity, and functional outcome) commonly used to describe course and outcomes in bipolar disorders.

The task force concluded that determination and dissemination of a consensus nomenclature serves as the first step toward producing a validated and standardized system to define course and outcome in bipolar disorders in order to identify predictors of outcome and effects of treatment. The task force acknowledged that there is limited validity to the proposed terms as for the most part they represent a consensus opinion. These definitions need to be validated in existing data bases and in future studies. Furthermore the primary goal of the task force was to stimulate research on the validity of proposed concepts, and further standardize the technical nomenclature. A report on the task force recommendations will be published in Bipolar Disorders.

Mauricio Tohen MD, DrPH, MBA
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Coming soon.

ISBD Task Force on the Theragnostics

Under the auspices of the ISBD’s previous president Professor Michael Berk, a task force was set under the leadership of Drs. Gin Malhi and Roy Chengappa to define theragnostic factors in the context of bipolar disorder. Theragnostics involves understanding the characteristics of a disease or illness that determine its course and outcome on the basis of examining a broad range of parameters that impact illness trajectory. These factors allow the development of tailored treatment.

The task force draws on an international panel of experts from America, Europe, Asia and Australasia and includes Drs. Chittaranjan Andrade, Seetal Dodd, Joseph Levine, Rasmus Licht and Carlos Zarate.

Thus far, the group has been collating the necessary data related to factors such as family history, phenomenology, neurobiological aspects of treatment and clinical outcome, and aims to achieve a consensus on the factors of importance and provide a template that summarizes the important factors and directs future research in this emerging field.

It is anticipated that a report on the findings of the task force and its recommendations will be published in Bipolar Disorders.

Gin S. Malhi, MD and Roy Chengappa, MD

Coming soon.

The vision of the Research Committee is:
(a) to provide oversight to and promote cooperation in all existing and new projects

(b) to coordinate and focus our activities in order to enhance and further the diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorders

(c) to assist in the dissemination of shared knowledge and new research findings

(d) to foster the development of the next generation of bipolar researchers

(e) to support the development of national chapters and address global inequalities in the provision of care and opportunities for research in bipolar disorders

(f) to ensure that all our activities remain relevant to the key priorities and concerns of our patients and careers.

Please click on the names below for committee members’ areas of interests.

cognition, tomography, emission-computed, medication, duration of illness, lithium, long-term treatment, prevention and control, recurrence, review, fMRI, affect, euthymia, mood induction, schizophrenia, cognitive deficits, early detection, neuropsychological function, CANTAB, bipolar I disorder, voxel-based morphometry, gender, neuroimage, prefrontal cortex, magnetic resonance imaging, region-of-interest, neuronal plasticity, stress, neuroimaging, age, bipolar, grey matter, age at onset, COMT, rs165599, treatment response, pharmacogenetics, impulsivity, go/no-go, response inhibition, genetics, working memory, autonomic nervous system

panic disorder, serotonin reuptake, slow up-titration with paroxetine, recurrent brief depression, brief depression, epidemiology of GAD, psychiatric morbidity and comorbidity following accidental man-made traumatic events

Molecular pharmacology and translational research have been part of my journey as a scientist. The major goal in my research is to explore possible connections between molecular mechanisms that lead to synaptic alterations, which may be potential avenues for therapy. Additionally, it is important that our findings from the bench be translated to the clinic. To achieve this goal we use different systems and technologies, such as peripheral blood samples from patients, cell lines and post-mortem brain. In terms of technology, we focus on understanding the connection between gene and protein expression with post-translational modifications.

mechanisms, prevention and treatment of the metabolic dysfunction associated to psychotropic drug administration

psychoendocrinology (thyroid hormone system), lithium, new technology for self-reporting, strategies for treatment resistance, treatment guidelines, early detection and intervention, pharmacotherapy

bipolar disorder, novel therapies, biomarkers, clinical trials, epidemiology, primary prevention, lifestyle

antidepressant induced switch, recent advances as NMDA antagonist in bipolar depression

bipolar II disorder, depression, weight gain, obesity, psychosocial functioning, MRI, MRS

mania, acticonvulsants, depression, lamotrigine, treatment, dosing schedule, lithium every second day, prophylaxis, diagnoses, diagnosis, epidemiology, mixed mania, ketoconazole, cortisol, diabetes insipidus, polyuria, kidney or renal function, lithium isotopes, nephrogenic, divalproex, valproate, maintenance, llithium, anxiety, mood disorder, children, adolescents, caregiver burden, prevalence, correlates, polarity, lithium, carbamazepine, valproate, lamotrigine, olanzapine, prophylaxis, maintenance, impulsive behavior, personality, bipolar I, long-acting risperidone, maintenance, efficacy, DSM-IV, diagnostic reliability, diagnostic combinations, safety, tolerability, adverse event, bipolar depression, mania, typical antipsychotic, atypical antipsychotic, diagnosis, pure mania, mixed mania, biomarkers, treatment, depression, maintenance, recurrence, chronicity, age of onset, impulsive behavior, anterior cingulate, voxel-based morphometry, magnetic resonance imaging, nomenclature, course and outcome,circadian, gene, association, schizoaffective disorder, schizophrenia, mental disorders, mood disorders, caregivers, suicide, divalporex, mania, serum, valporate, VPA, ziprasidone, mania, adjunctive therapy, atypical antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, combination therapy, aripiprazole

pediatric bipolar disorder, development and etiology of bipolar disorder, psychosocial, interventions for bipolar disorder, behavioral genetics, inflammation and neurotrophic factors

phenomenology, course, rapid cycling, differential diagnosis, developmental psychopathology, comorbidities, pediatric psychiatry, children, adolescents, ADHD, lithium, mood stabilizers, prodromes, actigraphy, insomnia, circadian rhythms, sleep disturbances, biomarkers

the bipolar depression (clinical trials), bipolar comorbidity (phenomenology and treatments), tolerability and sensitivity in different phases of bipolar illness, suicide in bipolar disorders, antipsychotics, mood stabilizer, novel agents, anxiety disorder, substance use disorder, comparison, safety, tolerability, adverse event, mania, typical antipsychotic, atypical antipsychotic, rapid cycling, dual diagnosis, maintenance trial, placebo-controlled trial, lithium, divalproex, combination pharmacotherapy, antidepressant monotherapy, treatment-emergent mania, adverse event, bipolar depression mania, typical antipsychotic

biomarkers in bipolar disorder type I: magnetic ressonance spectroscopy, genetics and cognitive function

psychiatric genetics, bipolar disorder, mood-psychosis interface, phenomenology

pediatric bipolar disorder, cardiovascular burden of bipolar disorder, blood-based biomarkers (inflammatory markers, BDNF), obesity, drug and alcohol abuse, medical comorbidity, epidemiology, family studies

phenomenology of bipolar spectrum disorder, bipolar psychopharmacology and neuroplasticity in bipolar disorders, bipolar psychopharmacology primarily mood stabilizers, bipolar disorder in women, neurobiology and phenomenology of bipolar spectrum disorders, and co-morbidity in bipolar disorders

lithium, mania, rapid cycling, mood stabilizer therapy, bipolar spectrum disorder, clinical trial, bipolar depression, psychosocial function, magnetic resonace spectroscopy, neuroimaging, lamotrigine, elderly, divalproex, valproate, paroxetine, weight, acticonvulsants, treatment, pharmacotherapy, asymmetry, schizoaffective disorder bipolar type, placebo, body weight, body mass index, clinical trial, depression, , clinical outcome measures, functional outcomes, emission-computed, depression, SPECT,circadian, gene, association, schizoaffective disorder, schizophrenia,mental disorders, mood disorders, thyroid, daily mood flucutations

acute mania, lithium, valproate, first episode of major depression, salutogenic approach, drug cost, cost efficiency

Bipolar disorders; Depression; Chronic depression; Treatment resistant depression; Clinical psychopharmacology; Clinical trials; Deep brain stimulation; Vagus nerve stimulation

mood disorders specialist, depression, mania, anxiety, comorbidity, course of illness, longitudinal, outcome, subsyndromal symptoms, longitudinal outcome, personality disorder, personality disorder symptoms, lithium, maintenance treatment, sex, gender, insight, psychosocial adjustment, personality, predisposition, structural equation modelling, bipolar I disorder, bipolar II disorder, course of illness, agomelatine, antidepressant, bipolar I depression, ICF, health-status measures, outcome assessment, outcome research, temperament, character, personality disorder, first episode, follow-up, morbidity, prediction, subsyndromal symptoms, hypomania, mania, bipolar depression, follow-up study, diagnosis, course, outcome

bipolar disorder, psychiatric genetics, metabolic syndromes

nomenclature, course and outcome, lithium, mood stabilizer,transgenic mouse,evoked neural oscillation, schizophrenia, magnetoencephalography

depression, quality of life, mania, animal model, amphetamine, oxidative stress, brain imaging, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, traumatic life events, neuroplasticity, energy metabolism, neuron, lithium, NSE, comorbidity, BDNF, mood disorder questionnaire, diagnosis, validation, self-administered, hypomania, functioning, disability, brief scale, medical morbidity, cognitive impairment, d-amphetamine, DNA damage, cognition, allostatic load, antipsychotics, BDNF, mood stabilizers, neurocognitive function, verbal fluency, functional impairment, outcome, sleep disturbance, nomenclature, course and outcome,,anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, quality of life,tryptophan hydroxylase, serotonin, panic disorder, TagSNP

anticonvulsants, typical antipsychotics, atypical antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, antidepressants, treatment, pharmacotherapy, refractoriness, clinical trial, safety, tolerability, adverse events, response, remission, effect size, numbers needed to treat or harm, bipolar depression, bipolar spectrum, mania, neuroimaging, positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), emotion, weight, menstrual cycle

a case series of opium withdrawal induced hypomania

psychopharmacology and bipolar disorder, bipolar maintenance without biological intervention

bipolar disorders, depression, biological psychiatry, especially on genetics

frequently relapsing bipolar disorder, clinically significant events, resource utilization, relapse, antipsychotics, bipolar depression

translational research, biomarkers in bipolar disorder, proof of concept trials (new treatments), data on the concept of neuroprotection, bipolar II disorder, glutamatergic and purinergic system, intracellular signaling/second-messenger cascades, adenosine, depression, purines, urid acid, mania, oxidative stress, neuroplasticity, energy metabolism, BDNF, lithium, oxidative-stress, psychosis, early onset, antioxidant

bipolar disorders, psychiatric rehabilitation, health administration, health economics

Clinic and Neurobiology of Depression and Bipolar Disorder; Psychopharmacology of antidepressant and mood stabilizer drugs

bipolar depression, comorbid anxiety disorders and clinical trials

phenomenology of bipolar spectrum disorder, bipolar psychopharmacology and neuroplasticity in bipolar disorders, bipolar psychopharmacology primarily mood stabilizers, bipolar disorder in women, neurobiology and phenomenology of bipolar spectrum disorders, co-morbidity in bipolar disorders

Mental health public policies, clinical psychiatry, neuroehtics, mental health journalism

neuroimaging, high-risk population, mood dysregulation, pediatric bipolar disorder, offspring of parents with bipolar disorder, biomarkers

epidemiology, bipolar disorder, treatment guidelines, population-health, clinical trials

schizo-obsession as probable temporal lobe epilepsy phenomenon and organicity in bipolar disorders

genetics, genetic epidemiology, statistcal genetics, pharmacogenetics

bipolar disorders, depression, neuroimaging, neurocognitive studies, and clinical trials

treatment and biology of bipolar disorder, treatment guidelines, best practices for bipolar disorder and co-occurring illness, inflammatory factors related to onset and course of illness

Event related potentials in bipolar disorder, adolescent bipolar population which included P300, CNV and P50 wave forms, Theory of mind in bipolar population in remission, deficits in bipolar disorder in remission, endophenotypes in bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder & alcohol dependence, co-occurring substance use disorders, glutamate, clinical trials, cognitive deficits

bipolar depression, pharmacological treatment, switch risk, affective temperaments

biological markers, rapid cycling course, inflammatory markers, neuroprotectiv markers, intermediary factors for depressive or bipolar disorders, cognition

bipolar disorder, depression, neurogenesis, hippocampus

assessment, phenomenology, treatment outcome evaluation, spectrum, lifespan, child & adolescent

Experimental Therapeutics, Pathophysiology, Imaging, Drug Discovery and development and Bipolar disorder