Dr. Antonios Dakanalis

Dr. Antonios Dakanalis
Department of Translational Medicine
University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy

Biography

Antonios Dakanalis, a Greek scientist and member of the European Council of Mental Health, after completing training in Medicine, Clinical Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, he pursued professional growth both in Italy and abroad (including experiences at the Personality Disorders Institute, Cornell University (USA) and the University of Pavia), before joining the Mental Health Research Unit of the University of Milano Bicocca. He is well-known in the scientific world for his research on epidemiology, bio-psycho-social causes and diagnostic assessment of the severity and (evidence-based) cure of the main contemporary mental health problems which include mood disorders, anxiety disorders, feeding and eating disorders and personality disorders. He’s also known for his contribution to dispelling various myths about mental health (e.g. that eating disorders don’t affect men) and for drawing the attention of the community to the emerging threats to psycho-physical wellbeing (such as the abuse of anabolic androgenic steroids or other drugs to improve physical appearance and physical or sexual performance). He has also become very interested in the study of the therapeutic action mechanisms of mental disorders and improvements in the effectiveness of current psychotherapeutic treatments with the implementation of new technologies (e.g. virtual reality) used as an innovative personalised treatment to overcome dysfunctional thoughts, feelings and behaviours. This year, he has once again been classified among the top 50 best scientists in the world in mental health (data based on the American academic platform research.com), the top 10 best European clinicians for problems linked with over-eating and associated overweight/obesity topics (data based on the British platform Expertscape), and the top 25 best experts in the world in e-therapy and the use of new technologies applied to mental health (data based on the number of scientific publications on the ISI’s Web of Science and Scopus platforms).

He has secured and directed several national and international funded research projects (some examples are Cariplo Foundation Grant: Fast-acting Antidepressants, Ministry of Health Research Grant: Virtual Reality in Mental Disorders and the European Commission Research Grant: Symbiotic Body) and has worked with other researchers from internationally-recognised institutions) to advance current knowledge on the aetiology and treatment of mental disorders, producing books and more than 160 scientific publications (h-index*: 41, > 4500 citations, based on Google Scholar) in prestigious journals of great impact including Nature Reviews Disease Primers, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Lancet Psychiatry, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Behavioral & Brain Sciences and Psychosomatic Medicine. He is a regular speaker, chairman and discussant at conferences, summer schools, academic departments/international research bodies, doctorate schools and international events (e.g. World Mental Health Week) on mental health as well as the editor or part of the editorial committee of various journals and encyclopaedias of recognised prestige (e.g. Encyclopaedia of Abnormal Psychology, and Encyclopaedia of Feeding and Eating Disorders). He is the founder or co-founder of many clinical and/or national and international research networks (Italian Psychological Medicine, etc.), a member of the Board of Directors of various mental health foundations, an ordinary or honorary member of many societies and academic/scientific associations and regional, national (Ministry of Health) and international (APA) treatment guidelines committees for the cure of contemporary mental health problems. To date, he has received more than 40 prestigious national and international research and clinician awards and other high-level academic recognitions, including affiliation to scientific academies and prestigious commissions including the Mental Health Academy and the European Council of Mental Health.

He has vast experience in clinical psychiatric and psychotherapy practice (based on evidence and new technologies) with patients of different age ranges (adolescent-elderly) and mental disorders (including eating disorders, mood disorders and personality disorders) in private and public mental health contexts (the National Health Service) and is included in the prestigious international publication Who’s Who in Healthcare. He is active in the protection of human rights, regional or national information campaigns on the fight against prejudice/stigma on mental distress and barriers to accessing the network of mental health services as well as philanthropic/humanitarian missions to offer food, water and health assistance to African populations (currently Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world).