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Professor Sir Simon Wessely King’S College London (KCL) Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Professor Sir Simon Wessely King’s College London (KCL) 'Time Bombs and Tidal Waves: What has been the impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on the health and wellbeing of the UK Armed Forces?' The Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Lecture Series Professor Sir Simon Wessely Wednesday, 23 October 2013 at 17:00 in Lecture Theatre 2, B floor, Medical School, The University of Sheffield Refreshments will follow the lecture Registration Free admission Please confirm your attendance for the lecture and reception using the registration form available at http://tinyurl.com/mdhfacultylectureseries2013-14 Professor Sir Simon Wessely MA, BM BCh, MSc, MD, FRCP, FRCPsych, F Med Sci Director, King’s Centre for Military Health Research and Vice Dean, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London Simon Wessely is Professor of Psychological Medicine and Vice Dean at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, Head of the Department of Psychological Medicine, and Honorary Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist at King’s and Maudsley Hospitals. He is Director of the King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) at King’s College London (www.kcl.ac.uk/kcmhr), and of the Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health (ACDMH), a partnership between MOD and King’s College London. He is Honorary Consultant Advisor in Psychiatry for the British Army, and a member of the Defence Scientific Advisory Council. He is one of the new Foundation Senior Investigators of the National Institute of Health Research, and is a Trustee of the charity Combat Stress. He started at Cambridge, and read Art for his Part 2, developing an abiding love for Vassily Kandinsky and equal dislike for the work of Marc Chagall. He then attended clinical school at Oxford, followed by two years on a medical rotation in Newcastle being a real doctor and getting medical membership. However, he always intended to study psychiatry, and started training at the Maudsley in 1984, and has not really left Camberwell since, other than a year at the National Hospital for Neurology, and a year studying epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene. He also spent a sabbatical in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. His research interests are in the grey areas between medicine and psychiatry, clinical epidemiology, psychiatric injury and military health. His first paper was called “Dementia and Mrs Thatcher”, but since then he has published over 650 papers on many subjects, including epidemiology, post traumatic stress, psychological debriefing, chronic fatigue syndrome, history, chronic pain, somatisation, Gulf War illness, shell shock, military health and terrorism. KCMHR’s main current research is around various aspects of military health, including psychological stressors of military life, PTSD, risk communication, risk and benefits of military service, screening and health surveillance within the Armed Forces, social and psychological outcomes of ex service personnel, offending, and historical aspects of war and psychiatry. In 2006 the unit published the first results of a study of the physical and psychological health of 12,000 UK military personnel, half of whom served in the Iraq conflict. The principal results were that there has been no repeat of the Gulf War Syndrome saga, that there is no increase in psychiatric disorders in Regular forces, but an increase in some mental health problems in Reserve forces who took part in TELIC. Other work showed the absence of long term health problems related to either the anthrax vaccination or exposure to depleted uranium. The unit confirmed that the Harmony Guidelines were effective in reducing the risk of mental health problems, but there was a small increase in psychiatric disorders and a larger increase in alcohol problems when these were violated. In 2010 the unit published a unique follow up of all those involved in the original study, which gave a first look at the longer term impact of Iraq/Afghanistan, including those who have now left the Services. Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health The Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health is a multi-disciplinary health sciences Faculty at the forefront of discovery and improvements in healthcare. Originating from the early Medical School in 1828, the Faculty now combines a broad range of clinical, scientific and healthcare expertise, dedicated to responding to national and global needs in human health and patient care. With 9 departments and 700 staff, spanning the spectrum of biomedical science, translational research, therapy and policy, the Faculty applies inter-disciplinary approaches to major diseases and health issues to create life-changing impact on society. For more information visit: http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/faculty/medicine-dentistry-health/ Faculty Lecture Series 2013-14 Wednesday 11th Student Union Professor Alan Maynard University of York 5pm September 2013 Auditorium Wednesday 23rd Lecture Theatre 2, B Professor Sir Simon Wessely King’s College London (KCL) 5pm October 2013 floor, Medical School Monday 2nd Lecture Theatre 2, B Professor Brian Walker University of Edinburgh 5pm December 2013 floor, Medical School Wednesday 29th Lecture Theatre 2, B Professor Steve Peters University of Sheffield 5pm January 2014 floor, Medical School April 2014 Tbc Tbc Tbc Tbc May/June 2014 Professor Patrick Maxwell University of Cambridge 5pm Tbc .
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