He was educated at the Conservatorio di Musica di Santa Cecilia, Rome, Italy, the Richard-Strauss-Konservatorium, Munich, Germany and the Medical School, University of Munich, Germany. He was resident in psychiatry at the University of Munich, Germany and was research fellow at the Laboratory of Neuroendocrine Regulation, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, M.I.T., Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Hospital appointments include the University of Munich and the University of Muenster, Germany, where he wrote his habilitation thesis. He was co-founder and secretary of the German Society for Bipolar Disorders. He is currently a member of the Scientific Secretariat of the European Bipolar Forum and of the Verein für Psychiatrie und Neurologie, Vienna. His particular interest is in the diagnosis, neurobiology and therapy of affective disorders.