(Left to right) Drs. Nyapati Rao, Dinesh Bhugra, & Jacob SperberOn November 12 and 13, 2013, the Von Tauber Institute for Global Psychiatry, a research arm of NuHealth’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, honored Professor Dinesh Bhugra with the Second Annual Von Tauber Award for Global Psychiatry, in recognition of his outstanding service and accomplishments in world psychiatry. At the ceremony in the NUMC Amphitheater, NUMC Psychiatry Chair and Von Tauber Institute Director Nyapati Rao, MD, MS, praised the recipient for his extraordinary accomplishments in the field, which include presidency of the UK Royal College of Psychiatry, and upcoming presidency of the World Psychiatric Association.
Panelists at the Tuesday evening colloquium on Public Psychiatry, hosted by the NuHealth Medical Director Steve Walerstein, included Robert Detor, Executive Director of the Long Island Home; James Dolan, Nassau County Commissioner of Mental Health; Robert Hettenbach, CEO of PSCH; and David Nemiroff, VP of Patient Transitions for FQHCs. Newly appointed NY State Commissioner of Mental Health, Ann Sullivan, joined the colloquium by speaker phone, and the first Von Tauber-award winner, Hofstra sociologist Margaret Abraham, attended the ceremony to congratulate Dr. Bhugra. Jacob Sperber, MD, Von Tauber Associate Director, expressed the Institute’s pride in having as its director Dr. Rao, and as its first-two awardees Drs. Abraham and Bhugra, three professionals whose work exemplifies not only exceptional scholarship, but fierce advocacy for groups who are victims of stigma and discrimination. In addition to the two celebratory events, Dr. Bhugra taught NuHealth residents, fellows and faculty at a clinical case conference and a presentation of research projects, offering his wise clinical teaching and sharp editorial feedback.