Pratima Murthy

Background

About Pratima Murthy

Presently Director and Senior Professor of Psychiatry at NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India. Head girl and best outgoing student of Sophia HIgh School. Graduate of the Bangalore Medical College. Diploma and MD (1985-89) in Psychiatry from NIMHANS and outstanding student. DPM from the University of Manchester,(1992). Faculty in the Department of Psychiatry since 1994, presently Senior Professor of Psychiatry. Earlier, Head of the Centre for Addiction Medicine Forensic Psychiatry and Department of Psychiatry. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow. Contributions 1. Mental hospital reform and quality assurance in mental health in India (NHRC) 2. Leadership to Telemanas initiative, brain health initiative, women's mental health (NCW) 3. Member of the STAG, WHO, Expert group on Mental Health and Substance Use, Geneva and SEARO 4. Director of WPA collaborating cente and group on implementing alternatives to coercion 5. Involved in prison mental health care, consultation on mental health issues related to death row prisoners 6. Involved in developing addiction treatment services at NIMHANS, expanding the clinical facility, establishing a state of art toxicology laboratory (a member of the WHOTobLabNet), initiated tobacco cessation and quitline services at NIMHANS, formulated national guidelines for tobacco cessation, Mcessation, substance use disorders, psychosocial interventions and opioid substitution. Provided consultancy to the UNODC for women using substances, women partners of men who use substances. Worked with the the WHO country office to develop training modules and programmes for risk reduction for non-communicable disorders 9. Initiated workplace programmes for substance use disorders. International trainer for ILO/UNODC/WHO 10. Focused on developing an integrated approach for mental and physical disorders (IMPACT project). Digital initiatives -setting up of virtual online programmes in addiction,(ECHO) NIMHANS Digital Academy (NDA) to expand human resources, an addiction treatment app 12. PG training in psychiatry (IPS). Involved in the training of young psychiatrists. Involved in setting up the NIMHANS Heritage Museum, Co-editor of Mindscapes and Landscapes, an illustrative coffee table book documenting the story of NIMHANS, 14. About 40 research projects,> 300 peer reviewed publications,>400 presentations. Public awareness intiatives on radio, TV, newspaper and magazine articles. 16, Honours include orations (IPS), Raja Ramanna Award, WHO Regional Directors award, among others.