Prof Allan Young trained in Medicine and Psychiatry at the Universities of Edin­burgh and Oxford. He has held academic ap­pointments at the Universities of Edinburgh, Oxford and Newcastle upon Tyne, latterly holding the Chair of General Psychiatry at Newcastle, UK. He currently holds the LEEF En­dowed Chair in Research in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Co­lumbia, Vancouver, Canada, where he is also the Associate Director of the Institute of Mental Health. His research in­terests focus on the cause and treatments for severe psychiatric illness­es, particularly mood disorders. Professor Young has received research grant funding from the UK Medical research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the Stanley Medical Research Institute and numerous other funding agencies. He has published over 150 Medline listed publications. His interest is in the causes and treatment of severe mental ill-health, particularly BD.