INA Board
Officers
Valsa Eapen – President
Anthony David – Immediate Past President
Elvina Chu – Treasurer
Jasvinder Singh – GNG Liaison Officer
Richard Kanaan – Conference Officer
Directors
Niruj Agrawal
Vivek Misra
Ingmar Skoog
Florence Thibaut
Ludger Tebartz van Elst
Julian Troller
Mathew Varghese
Valerie Voon
Advisory Committee: Past Presidents of INA
- C. Shapiro (1998-2002)
- M. Gaviria (2002-2004)
- P. Sachdev (2004-2006)
- C. Soldatos (2006-2008)
- K. Miyoshi (2008-2011)
- M. Kopelman (2011-2013)
- D. Dikeos (2013-2015)
- R. Belmaker (2015-2017)
- E. Krishnamoorthy (2017-2020)
- E. Joyce (2020-2022)
Past Officers
Gilberto Brofman (2002-2023)
Memorial Members
Robertas Bunevicius
It is with great sadness that we were informed of the untimely passing away of Robertas Bunevicius. Professor Bunevicius, who was 55 years old, was a member of our Association for many years, and he had been repeatedly elected at the Executive Committee, a position that he held at the time of his death.
The commitment and strong dedication to his work as a member of the EC made him one of the pillars of the INA, carrying its flag to Eastern Europe and promoting neuropsychiatry in his home country and all over the world. He was a brilliant psychiatrist and an enthusiastic teacher and researcher with considerable contribution to the field of neuropsychoendocrinology. His life and main scientific achievements are outlined in a text sent by his family, that follows.
He was dear to all of us, being a gentle and friendly personality, and those who have worked with him on the various international boards will remember forever the time we have spent with him during our different meetings throughout the world. Even after the time the problems with his health had made their appearance, he was in good spirits and coping well with his illness. We will miss him greatly and at this moment our hearts go to his family.
Moises Gaviria
Obituary written by Dr Riaz Baber, Psychiatrist.
I once met a young man at a party in 1974. He was dancing and having a good time. We started talking and his name was Moises Gaviria from Peru. He was doing his residency in Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago. This was very close to where I was getting my training. He had a charming personality and we quickly became friends. After our residency, I went into private practice and Moises went into academics at the University of Illinois. He published hundreds of research papers and trained thousands of future psychiatrists. He went on to become a Professor of Psychiatry at Uofl.
We lived and breathed psychiatry during the day, but in the evening we would always get together for a glass of wine. He would recite the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda in Spanish and translate it for me. And in turn, I would recite Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz in Urdu and translate it for him.
Even though he was from Peru, he loved everything Chilean. Chilean poetry, Chilean wine and Chilean ladies. He ended up marrying a woman from Chile, Nancy Gaviria.
You have heard a lot about Moises Gaviria – his contributions in science of Psychiatry, the research, the teaching and the organizations he started, including INA in collaboration with other distinguished people. Now, I want to share another aspect of him that is his literary, political and humanistic side. He was truly a citizen of the world. The way he would talk about people, it was so heartwarming and hopeful for the future.
After he retired from academics, we practiced psychiatry together and our practices stayed linked together until his death. He was always so full of energy, full of ideas, full of enthusiasm. I never saw him sad. He used to say “Riaz, worrying is OK because that can propel you to find a solution, but sadness is crippling”.
He didn’t want me to be sad after his death, did not want his family to be sad and he did not want any of his friends in this audience to be sad. I am sorry Moises. I am sad because I miss you, my friend. I miss the moments that we had shared together.