Editorial introductions

Current Opinion in Psychiatry was launched in 1988. It is one of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The field of psychiatry is divided into 13 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce the Journal's Section Editors for this issue. SECTION EDITORS Muhammad Waqar AzeemMuhammad Waqar AzeemMuhammad Waqar Azeem, MD, DFAACAP, DFAPA is an internationally recognized academician and healthcare leader affiliated with Sidra Medicine and Weill Cornell Medicine Qatar. He is the Inaugural Chair of Psychiatry at Sidra Medicine, and a Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College. He has played a pivotal role in establishing child, adolescent, and perinatal psychiatry services in Qatar from the ground up. He also serves as the Director of the Sidra Medicine World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Collaborating Center. Dr. Azeem has made significant contributions to several key national initiatives. He has served as Chair of Qatar's National Autism Plan Working Group, Co-Chair of the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) Autism Forum, and as a member of the National Mental Health and Wellbeing Task Force. On the international stage, Dr. Azeem chairs the WPA Medical Students Special Interest Group and is Co-Chair of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry's (AACAP) Global Mental Health and International Relations Committee. He also participated as an invited member of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Rehabilitation Program initiative, contributing to the development of rehabilitation interventions for individuals with autism. Dr. Azeem's clinical and research interests focus on Autism Spectrum Disorder and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Global Mental Health, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry training, and undergraduate medical education. He has published more than 150 papers, book chapters and guidelines. Before joining Sidra Medicine, Dr. Azeem was the Chief of Psychiatry and Medical Director at Albert J. Solnit Children's Center, one of the premier child and adolescent psychiatry teaching facilities in the U.S. He also served as an Associate Clinical Professor at the Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, and as Associate Residency Training Program Director for the Yale Child Study Center/Solnit Center Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship. Dr. Azeem completed his general psychiatry training at Hennepin County Medical Center and Regions Hospital in Minnesota, where he also served as Chief Resident. He received his child and adolescent psychiatry training at Children's Hospital Boston, affiliated with Harvard Medical School. He is a Distinguished Fellow of both the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). Dr. Azeem has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to the field. In 2023, he was awarded the AACAP Rieger Service Program Award for Excellence and received an honorary membership from the WPA in recognition of his outstanding service. Ahsan NazeerAhsan NazeerDr. Ahsan Nazeer is a board-certified psychiatrist and child and adolescent psychiatrist whose work spans clinical service development, medical education, and international mental health leadership. He serves as Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, and Division Chief of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services at Sidra Medicine, Qatar. He completed advanced fellowship training in child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Michigan, where he also served as Chief Resident. Across clinical and leadership roles, Dr. Nazeer has focused on building practical systems of care for young people with complex psychiatric and neurodevelopmental needs. In the United States, he supported inpatient service delivery for adults and youth and developed collaborative care pathways to strengthen primary care access to child and adolescent psychiatry and improve coordination for higher-acuity referrals. In Qatar, his work has included participation in Ministry of Public Health clinical guideline task groups and mental health law implementation efforts, as well as institutional policy development aligned with quality and safety standards. He has supported Qatar's national autism planning through contributions to diagnostic pathway work and participation in autism action plan subcommittees addressing information and research, partnerships, and provider capacity-building. Dr. Nazeer has also contributed to suicide prevention through systems-level guideline and pathway development, including child and adolescent clinical guidance for suicidal ideation, with work spanning Indonesia and Pakistan. Internationally, he remains active in professional development and advocacy, including invited roles with the World Psychiatric Association as chair, panelist, judge, and organizing committee member across multiple congresses, and participation in major policy and scientific forums, including a child and adolescent mental health policy briefing at WISH in Doha and a Global Ministerial Mental Health Summit in Doha. He also chairs the child and adolescent mental health capacity-building task force for low- and middle-income countries under the Asian Federation of Psychiatric Associations. His scholarly leadership includes editorial roles and extensive book editing in pediatric psychopharmacology and behavioral pediatrics, including multiple editions of Behavioral Pediatrics and Clinical Aspects of Psychopharmacology in Childhood and Adolescence. He has received multiple teaching awards and continues to mentor medical students, residents, and specialty fellows in clinical care, research, and leadership. Perminder S. SachdevPerminder S. SachdevPerminder S. Sachdev AM, MBBS, MD, FRANZCP, PhD, FAHMS, is Scientia Professor of Neuropsychiatry, Co-Director of the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) in the School of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney, Australia, and Clinical Director of the Neuropsychiatric Institute (NPI) at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia. He is co-chair of the Australian Dementia Network (ADNeT), and director of the Centre of Research Excellence in Vascular Contributions to Dementia. His major areas of research are drug-induced movement disorders, brain imaging, cognitive ageing and dementia. He has published over 700 peer-reviewed journal papers and six books, including one for lay readers (The Yipping Tiger and Other Tales from the Neuropsychiatric Clinic) and a book of poems (A Migrant's Musings). He was named NSW Scientist of the Year for Biomedical Sciences in 2010. In 2011, he was appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to medical research. In 2018, he won the DARF-Yulgilbar Innovation Award for dementia research. In 2022, he was awarded the Ryman Prize for research concept or initiative that has enhanced quality of life for older people.