Dr. Gordana Milavić MD., F.R.C.Psych. – ACAMH Chair
Dr. Milavić is Chair of ACAMH. She is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital, London. She has over 40 years of experience in acute clinical practice, teaching and training. During her career she has been at the forefront of the organisation of mental health services for children and adolescents in southeast London. She is a Trustee and medical advisor of a number of mental health charities in the UK and internationally. She was Co -Chair of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Section of the World Psychiatric Association (2010-2017). She is President Elect and member of the Psychiatry Council of the Royal Society of Medicine.
Professor Stephen Scott CBE FRCPsych FMedSci – ACAMH President
Stephen Scott is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in the CAMHS Adoption and Fostering Service and the Conduct Problems Service at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. He is also a Professor of Child Health and Behaviour at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London and the Director of the National Academy for Parenting Research, London. In the 2014 New Year’s Honours list, Stephen was made Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by the Queen, for services to families.
He has always been interested in a wide range of issues for children and young people’s mental health, and with Robert Goodman is the author of the best-selling introductory textbook Child Psychiatry (now in its 3rd edition), and is an author and editor of the authoritative Rutter’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (6th edition).
He has had a long involvement with ACAMH, being the founding editor of CAMH with the clinical psychologist Linda Downey. He was very excited to become chair of ACAMH for 5 years until 2020, introducing the shift to more online content and conferences, and paving the way for the open access journal JCPP Advances.
Dr. Mark Lovell – ACAMH Deputy Chair and Director of CPD and Training
Mark Lovell is a dual trained Consultant Child and Adolescent Learning Disability Psychiatrist working for 1 of the UK’s largest LD CAMHS teams. He works for Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) and covers the South Tees area along with a multidisciplinary team. Mark has previously held positions within the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He has had involvement within projects for the Royal College of Psychiatrist and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. He is a member of the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Psychiatry Network (CAIDPN) and has particular interests in Autism and Challenging Behaviour within the context of Intellectual Disabilities.
Dr. Soumitra S Datta – ACAMH International Officer
Soumitra is a consultant child psychiatrist currently working in the field of pediatric liaison psychiatry in Tata Medical Center, Kolkata. His research interests are psycho-oncology, decision making, attachment, and social aspects of medicine. Soumitra holds an honorary research appointment with the Institute of Clinical Trials & Methodology of the University College London. He trained in psychiatry in Christian Medical College Vellore and also in the United Kingdom. He worked as a consultant child psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital and Kings College Hospital, London prior to his current post in India. He has been a lead reviewer for Cochrane Collaboration and his recent Cochrane review on Psychological interventions for adolescents with psychosis was a featured review of the Cochrane Collaboration in 2020.
Professor Kathy Sylva OBE – ACAMH Treasurer
Kathy is Professor of Educational Psychology and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. She has had many roles in ACAMH including chair of the Board, President, and member of the editorial team on CAMH where she led on the ‘Measurement Review’ section. Her research focuses on early childhood, and she has carried out large scale, longitudinal studies on the effects of Early Childhood Education and Care on children’s development. She has also carried out interventions to support parents with their children’s learning and development at home. A dominant theme throughout her work has been the impact of education and care not only on academic knowledge but also on children’s behaviour, self-regulation, and disposition to learn. A related theme in her research is the impact of early intervention on combating social disadvantage in both high and low income countries. Kathy has been specialist advisor to Select Committees in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Currently she is ACAMH’s Honorary Treasurer, a role she enjoys because it involves her in a broad range of activities across the Association. Her current interest within ACAMH is in engaging with schools to support mental health and well-being in children and adolescents.
Professor Prathiba Chitsabesan – Board Member
Prathiba is a Consultant in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry working in a large mental health and learning disability trust in Greater Manchester (Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust). Lead consultant since 2005, she became Clinical Director in 2015 and subsequently National Speciality Advisor for Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Co-Chair of the Tier 4 CYPMH Clinical Reference Group (NHS England and NHS Improvement). She has an interest in the mental health and neurodevelopmental needs of children and young people in contact with the criminal justice system and the mental health impact of major incidents. She continues to be research active as a Visiting Chair (University College London and Manchester Metropolitan University) and has been involved in a number of regional and national transformation programmes.
Professor Samuele Cortese – ACAMH Academic Secretary
Samuele Cortese, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, is Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Southampton and Honorary Consultant Child Psychiatrist at the Solent NHS Trust. He is also Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of New York, USA. His main clinical and research interests focus on the epidemiology, neurobiology and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders (in particular on ADHD) and on evidence-based practice in child psychiatry. Prof. Cortese is author/co-author of more than 250 papers in international peer-reviewed journals. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, (JAACAP), Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH), Evidence Based Mental Health (EBMH), CNS Drugs and on the advisory board of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Prof. Cortese is a member of the European Network for Hyperkinetic Disorder (EUNETHYDIS), the European ADHD Guidelines Group (EAGG), and the Child & Adolescent Neuropsychopharmacology Network of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP).
Prof. Cortese is the Academic Secretary for ACAMH and, as such, he oversees the programming of the three main annual national conferences of the Association (Emanuel Miller, Jack Tizard, and Judy Dunn). He is also a member of the Southern branch ACAMH committee, contributing to the organisation of the events of this local branch.
Professor Francesca Happé CBE – Board Member
Francesca Happé is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at King’s College London, and has, for the last 30 years, focused her research on autism. Her work has explored the nature of social understanding in neurotypical development and ‘mentalising’ difficulties in autism. She is also actively engaged in studies of abilities and assets in autism, and their relation to detail-focused cognitive style. Her most recent work focuses on mental health on the autism spectrum, and under-researched subgroups including women and the elderly. Her research methods have spanned cognitive experiments, functional neuroimaging, exploration of acquired brain lesions, and behaviour genetic approaches. She is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Academy of Medical Sciences, past-President of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR; 2013-2015), and recipient of the British Psychological Society Spearman Medal and President’s Award, the Experimental Psychology Society Prize and the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award. Francesca was awarded a CBE in December 2020 for services to the study of autism. A member of ACAMH since she started her PhD, and a past Editor of the JCPP, Francesca is committed to the values and goals of the Association.
Dr. Eunice Ayodeji – Board Member
Eunice teaches on the pre-registration and post-qualifying nursing programmes as a lecturer at the University of Salford. She has a keen interest in Nurse Education. Alongside teaching, Eunice is also a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Nurse who currently works as a Trauma Therapist predominately with looked after children and with Team Around Schools in a community CAMHS team in the Northwest (Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust). She has extensive therapeutic experience in a wide range of CAMHS settings, including inpatients, forensic inpatient, community, educational, social care and therapeutic residential contexts. As nurses are the largest professional group within CAMHS, Eunice is keen to identify child & adolescent mental health-specific gaps in nurse training. Eunice was Child & Adolescent Mental Health Nurse committee member for NICE (2019), responsible for updating guidelines for the management and treatment of depression in children & young people. Eunice has a keen interest in equality and diversity issues, specifically equal and timely access to CAMHS for racially minoritized groups, and developmental trauma and self-harm.
Dr. Cornelius Ani – International Officer
Cornelius Ani (MRCP, MD, FRCPsych) is an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Division of Psychiatry, Imperial College London, and a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. He is Deputy Editor in Chief for ACAMH’s journal CAMH. He is also responsible for the “Letters to Editor Section” of the journal and contributes editorial expertise in the area of Low and Middle Income Countries, inequalities, and physical health.
Cornelius is a member of the Executive Committee of the African Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (AACAMH) where he leads on educational affairs. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Surveillance System (CAPSS). Cornelius’ special interests include the development of psychosocial mental health interventions in Low and Middle Income Countries, interface between physical and mental health, and medical education. He played a key role in setting up the first postgraduate training programme in Child and Adolescent Mental Health in West Africa and continues to actively support the growth of the programme. Cornelius was an elected member of the Executive Committee of the Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Royal College of Psychiatrists for 6 years where he held the medico-legal remit. Through this role, he worked on the Review of the Mental Health Act, and on the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) (which will replace DOLS and apply to 16-17 year olds).
Professor Tamsin Ford CBE
Tamsin Ford is Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge. She researches the organisation, delivery, and effectiveness of services and interventions for children and young people’s mental health. Her research covers the full range of psychopathology and agencies, practitioners and interventions that relate to the mental health of children and young people. Every interaction with a child presents an opportunity to intervene to improve their developmental trajectory. Her work has direct relevance to policy, commissioning and practice.
Tamsin completed her postgraduate training in psychiatry on the Royal London Hospital Training rotation and then the Bethlem and Maudsley Hospitals, after which, she completed her PhD at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London. She moved to Exeter in 2007, where she established a group of researchers whose work focuses on the effectiveness of services and interventions to support mental health and well-being of children and young people. In October 2019 she moved to the University of Cambridge.
Tamsin has been a member of ACAMH since 1996. She was an Editor for ACAMH’s journal CAMH for six years, stepping down as lead editor in June 2014. She has been a board member for ACAMH since 2011, and vice-chair since September 2020.
Dr. Laura Hanks – ACAMH Branches Liason Officer
Laura joined the Association as a graduate from Cardiff University school of Psychology in 2010, when she attended a Wales branch conference on Sleep. Shortly after joining the Wales Branch, Laura became the youngest Chair in ACAMH. Laura worked in Social Care before training as a BAPT Accredited Play Therapist ® and Filial Therapist, working with families with children who are Care Experienced. Laura is newly appointed as a Senior Lecturer in University of South Wales alongside her private practice. She has worked within both the public and private sectors, and is currently an associate trainer for a charity. In her time as Chair of the Wales Branch, Laura founded ACAMH’s first student committee. Laura joined the board as Branches Liaison Officer in December 2020.
Responding to the changing context during and post Covid19, Laura is passionate about the benefits of ACAMH membership to professionals working across sectors and in diverse roles in providing evidence based practice in mental health and wellbeing for the benefit of children and adolescents.
Professor Dennis Ougrin – Board Member
Professor Ougrin graduated from a medical school in Ukraine in 1998 and came to the Maudsley hospital in the UK to undertake his post-graduate training in child and adolescent psychiatry. He worked as a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist establishing and leading intensive community care services at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. He also led the MSc in Child and Adolescent Mental Health at King’s College London and acted as the Chief Investigator of major NIHR, MRC and charity-funded studies in the field of self-harm and intensive community care services. In 2018-2020 Professor Ougrin was the Editor-in-Chief of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, a key clinical journal in child and adolescent psychiatry, psychology and allied disciplines. In September 2021 he was appointed to lead the Youth Resilience Research Unit at Queen Mary University of London.
Professor Ougrin leads a programme of global mental health studies aimed at developing community mental health services in Ukraine and other Low- and Middle-Income Countries. His main professional interests include the prevention of Borderline Personality Disorder and effective interventions for self-harm in young people. Professor Ougrin is the author of Therapeutic Assessment, a novel model of assessment for young people with self-harm. He also developed and tested an Intensive Community Care Service model for young people with severe psychiatric disorders called Supported Discharge Service. The model was evaluated in the first randomised controlled trial of an intensive community care service for young people in the UK. The results of the trial informed the development of intensive community care services in the UK and internationally. Dr Ougrin has expertise in conducting randomised controlled trials in the fields of psychological therapy and mental health service models.
Professor Ougrin also works on developing modular psychotherapeutic interventions for self-harm and on understanding the pathophysiology of self-harm in young people. He has been a positive force on the ACAMH board and won the ‘David Cottrell Award for the Education of CAMH Professionals’ in the 2021 ACAMH awards.
Dr. Tina Rae – Board Member
Dr. Tina Rae has 40 years’ experience working with children, adults, and families in clinical and educational contexts within local authorities and specialist services. She is currently working as a Consultant Educational and Child Psychologist in a range of SEMH and mainstream contexts and for fostering agencies as a Consultant Psychologist supporting foster carers, social workers and looked after children. She was an Academic and Professional tutor for the Doctorate in Educational and Child psychology (University of East London) from 2010-16. She is a registered member of the Health and Care Professions Council, a member of ENSEC (European Network for Social and Emotional Competence) and a former trustee of Nurture UK.
Dr Tina Rae was winner of the Education book of the year education resources award (ERA) and a finalist of the Special needs resource of the year education resources award for her publication Rae, T. & Such, A. (2019) The ASD Girls’ Wellbeing Toolkit an Evidence based Intervention Promoting Mental, Physical & Emotional Health Buckingham: Hinton House Publishers. She also won an award from the Health Service Journal (HSJ) 2015 for contributions to the Time 2 Talk (T2T) project which aims to increase understanding about mental health and emotional wellbeing amongst young people in school, to challenge barriers to accessing support and tackle the stigma regarding self-harm, mental health, and emotional distress. A further notable honour from National Association of Special Educational needs (NASEN) was presented for the publication co-authored with Dr Rachael Hayes: Rae, T., & Hayes, R. (2009) Keeping Out of Trouble a Preventive Approach for Secondary Students London: Optimus Publishers. This won the first prize in the Secondary Resource/Book to support teaching and learning (non-ICT). This publication is a preventative programme for teenagers who are at risk of offending.
This recognition as an expert at a national level is further evidenced by Dr Rae’s contributions to the DfE funded project: Coughlan, B.J. & Rae, T. (2012) Training Resources for special education in the 21st century Module 3.4: Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health London: Department for Education (www.education.gov.uk/complexneeds/)
Tina is a member of the editorial board for the journal Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties and for the International Journal of Nurture in Education. She is also a member of the Advisory board for Fresh Start in Education.
Tina is a prolific author and has over 100 publications to date. These reflect her ongoing passion for developing practical resources for schools which have an evidence base and enable practitioners to ethically deliver effective preventative mental health interventions in schools.
Professor Barry Carpenter OBE, CBE – Board Member
Barry Carpenter has been appointed to the ACAMH Board with special responsibility for disseminating our work to schools, teachers, and others involved in the education of children and young people. In 2017 Barry was appointed to the UK’s first Professorship in Mental Health in Education, at Oxford Brookes University. He is an Honorary Professor at universities in Ireland, the UK, Germany, and Australia. He has been a Fellow of the University of Oxford. He has been awarded an OBE and CBE by the Queen for services to children with Special Needs. In July 2020 he was awarded the Distinguished Fellowship of the Chartered College of Teaching, for his leadership of the Education field during the pandemic.
In a career spanning more than 40 years, Barry has held the leadership positions of Headteacher, Principal, Academic Director, Chief Executive, Inspector of Schools and Director of the Centre for Special Education at Westminster College, Oxford. In 2009, he was appointed by the Secretary of State for Education as Director of the Children with Complex Learning Difficulties and Disabilities Research Project. Since completing that research, Barry has overseen the development of a national project developing online ‘Training materials for teachers of children with severe, profound and complex learning disabilities’ www.complexneeds.org.uk
He is the author of over 200 articles and many texts on a range of learning disability/special needs topics. In recent years, his work has been translated into German, French, Dutch, and Russian. His recent book publications (with Carolyn Blackburn and Jo Egerton) focus upon Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). He co-authored ‘Engaging Learners with Complex Needs’ (Routledge), and his book ‘Enabling Access’ has been included in the Routledge Classic series for its seminal contribution .
Until recently he was Chair of the Girls and Autism Working Group for the National Association of Headteachers. With Professor Francesca Happe and Jo Egerton he co-authored the highly acclaimed book “ Girls and Autism “ (Routledge 2019) and launched the book in 12 countries around the World .
Barry lectures nationally and internationally. In recent years this has included Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Dubai, USA, and Norway. He is the co-founder of the National Forum for Neuroscience in Special Education (with Professor Francesca Happe and Dr. Rona Tutt). For the Mental Health Foundation, he Chaired the National Inquiry into the Mental Health of Young People with Learning Disabilities. He has co written ‘The Recovery Curriculum’ (2020), with his son Matthew, a Secondary School Principal, which has made a major contribution to school initiatives around emotional resilience during the Pandemic, especially through the resource based website – www.recoverycurricululum.org
Dr. Carol Homden CBE – Board member
Carol is a member of the National Adoption Recruitment Forum & Adoption Leadership Board, CBE. Carol started her career setting up print media enterprises in East Anglia before moving to London as a freelance arts journalist and editor. She then became Director of Marketing and Development at the University of Westminster, later moving to the British Museum in 1999 as its first Director of Marketing and Public Affairs. Her affinity for improving the lives of young people motivated her to accept the position of Commercial Director for the Prince’s Trust in 2003, where she was responsible for all aspects of income generation. Carol became Chief Executive of Coram in April 2007. She is Chair of the National Autistic Society, and a member of the Department for Education’s Children’s Interagency Group (CIAG) and the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. Carol was awarded a CBE in 2013 for her contribution to services for children and families.
Harold Bennison – Board member
Harold Bennison joined the NHS in 2006 having had a career in operations and engineering, including a decade with Gillette. His NHS roles have been varied and included general management, risk & governance, patient safety, performance, contracts and business intelligence. Harold joined South London and Maudsley (SLaM) in 2015 to work as the Deputy Director for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Whilst events transpired to move him on quite quickly, he was able to return and has been the Service Director for CAMHS since 2018. Clearly there is a lot of challenge and pressure to ensure services have the right leadership, resources and partnerships to meet the needs of our young people and families, and Harold is determined to contribute to a step change in aspirations to meet all need as opposed to the current national targets where over 50% of identified needs (or, indeed 50% of schools) are not factored in to national commissioning plans. Broad workforce planning for all professions (including non-clinical staff) is essential and is another aspect that needs careful planning and merits further discussion. Alongside appropriately resourced specialist CAMHS teams, Harold is particularly keen to see free, universal access to the fundamental, evidence-based advice and support which can help parents and young people at as early a stage as possible, provided by a broad range of partners in collaboration.