3 day conference on "Developmental Psychopathology: Prevalence, Management, & Prevention" starts from Tuesday.

Islamabad, October 10, 2009 (Frontier Star): A three day conference on "Developmental Psychopathology: Prevalence, Management, & Prevention" is being organized from October 13th - 15th by National Institute of Psychology, at National Centre for Physics. "Developmental psychopathology refers to those psychological problems that develop during any stage of development of the child and effects his/her cognitive, social, emotional, behavioural and intellectual functioning. The purpose of the conference is to facilitate the development of liaison among all related disciplines to work together for a betterment of population suffering from different developmental psychopathologies (e.g. Learning disabilities, Autism, etc.). It will help flourish the research culture in Pakistan in the field of developmental psychopathology and would bring into limelight the future dimensions for research and practice" said Professor Dr. Anila Kamal Director, National Institute of Psychology, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad. Renowned experts and professionals from fields of social sciences and psychiatry will participate including Dr. Najma Najam, Dr. I. N. Hassan, Dr. Rukhsana Kausar, Dr. Farah Qadir, Dr. Seema Pervez, Dr. Zahid Mehmood, Dr. Mahnazir Riaz, Mr. Ashraf Ali Khan, Dr. Laeeq Mirza, Dr. Jehanzeb Ahmed, Dr. Farah Malik, Dr. Ruhi Khalid, dr. Farooq Naeem, Dr. M. Sami Bilal, Dr. Tanveer Akhtar, Dr. Bhupinder Singh, Dr. Aisha Sitwat, Dr. Shazia Khalid, dr. Salma Siddiqui, and Dr. Yasmeen Farooqi. Two panel discussions will also be held during the proceedings of the conference. The conference is being held in collaboration with NUST Centre for Trauma Research and Psychological Interventions, Rawalpindi. "The international conference on developmental Psychopathology being organized by National Institute of psychology, QAU, is expected to raise awareness about the discipline, amongst mental health professionals, students and general public". This was stated by Brig. Prof. Dr. Mowadat H. Rana, Director, NUST Centre for Trauma Research and Psychological Interventions, Dept. of Military Hospital, Rawalpindi. Talking about the out comes from the conference he said "It is heartening to note that the conference proceedings will lead to development of practice guidelines related to Pakistani culture. The conference has drawn luminaries in the field of psychology and psychiatry from Pakistan and abroad. The scientific program promise high quality academic discourse and I am sure the students will feel enriched. All kudos too the excellent efforts made by the organizers to make this event into a grand success". Teaching staff and students of psychology and psychiatry from universities and colleges of Islamabad and Rawalpindi are being invited. Fifty four papers related to various aspects of developmental psychopathology would be read during the scientific session. Highlight of the conference are three State of the Art lectures being delivered by Brig. Prof. Dr. Mowadat H. Rana, director, NUST Centre for Trauma Research and Psychological Interventions, Dept. Of Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, Dr. David A. Alexander, director, Aberden Centre for Trauma Research, Aberdeen, Turkey and Prof. Dr Asir Ajmal, Govt. College University, Lahore. "I am sure, that the conference proceedings would help to develop policy guidelines for psychologists and related mental health professionals to work towards finding effective ways of psychological management to reduce human sufferings" said the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Mohammad Qasim Jan, of Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.

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