Warm relationships, collegial respect and general excitement about the potential for collaborative discovery characterised the Melbourne –Japan Joint Symposium held in Melbourne on 19 November. Hosted by Professor Ian Everall, Head of the University of Melbourne’s Department of Psychiatry and launched by Ms Keiko Haneda, Consul-General of Japan, the symposium focused on Disaster and Trauma-Related Mental Health, and Innovation in Mental Health Research.
In her opening address, The Consul General spoke of her work post 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and her appreciation of the productive Australia-Japan collaboration in disaster mental health.
The joint symposium featured plenaries by Dr Yoshiharu Kim, President, National Information Centre of Disaster Mental Health, and Director, Department of Adult Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health and National Centre of Neurology and Psychiatry, and Dr Tadashi Takeshima, Director Department of Mental Health Policy and Evaluation, National Centre of Neurology and Psychiatry.
The program, also featured presentations from leading researchers from both Melbourne and Japan showcasing the depth and breadth of work undertaken by researchers from both the University of Melbourne, Department of Psychiatry and the National Centre of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo.
