World Congress of Biological Psychiatry 2009

It is our great privilege and pleasure to invite you to the fantastic city of Paris for five stimulating days of basic,

clinical and conceptual science in the field of Biological Psychiatry.

Following Vienna (2005), the Assocation Française de Psychiatrie Biologique (AFPB) will welcome you as a host

for the most important highlight of our Federation – the 9th World Congress of Biological Psychiatry.

Paris with its rich history in psychiatry is the ideal setting to discuss the today’s advances in biology and molecular

genetics, the development of a new generation of treatments based upon neuroplasticity concepts, and the radical

progress in modern technologies and neuroscience that is changing our concepts and attitudes on mental

diseases. During this outstanding, cutting-edge scientific event thought leaders and decision makers from all

around the world will share with us the newest innovations in our field and their impact on diagnoses, treatment,

and rehabilitation of patients with mental disorders.

An excellent collection of scientific sessions will be prepared: intensive workshops and debates, plenary lectures

with rewarded experts, and symposia. Young scientists are especially encouraged to present their recent findings

in Free Communication and Young Scientists Award Sessions and thus benefit from the congress.

Looking back at the history of psychiatry Paris has been the centre of many important epoch-making developments.

Philippe Pinel who became chair of the Hôpital Salpêtrière in 1794 is considered by many as one of the founders of

modern psychiatry. He integrated the field of psychiatry into medicine by introducing empirical methods and by observating

the clinical pictures of mental disorders.

In 1885 Sigmund Freud visited Jean-Martin Charcot whose psychopathological studies of hysteria had a great