Ralf W. Dittmann, MSc, MD, PhD Professor of Paediatric Psychopharmacology Phone:+49 (0) 621 1703 4941 Fax:+49 (0) 621 1703 4945

Alexander Häge, MD Phone:+49 (0) 621 1703 4924 Fax:+49 (0) 621 1703 4945

 

Mahmud Ben Dau Phone:+49 (0) 621 1703 4943 Fax:+49 (0) 621 1703 4545

 

Konstantin Mechler  Phone:+49 (0) 621 1703 4924 Fax:+49 (0) 621 1703 4945

 

Ruth Berg Study Coordinator Phone:+49 (0) 621 1703 45 Fax:+49 (0) 621 1703 4505

 

Institute presentation

The Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH) in Mannheim, Germany is an independent public foundation of the State of Baden-Württemberg associated with the University of Heidelberg and is one of Europe’s premier research institutions dedicated to mental health. It is dedicated to research in psychiatry, addiction medicine, psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy, neuroscience, clinical psychology, medical sociology and epidemiology. The Institute has been a Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health with the WHO since 1980.

The working group of Professor Dittmann represents this relatively new field within children and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) both in teaching and research. With respect to the execution of clinical trials with children and adolescents, it is also involved in the clinical work of the department of CAP. The main objectives of the group are fostering of clinical studies in paediatric psychopharmacology with sponsoring from both public funding agencies and the pharmaceutical industry, development of international study site networks  for multi-centre trials, collaboration with adjacent departments in translational research projects and advancement of cooperation between the pharmaceutical industry and the academia.
Between 2009 and 2012, studies in patients with, e.g., attention-deficit/hyperkinetic disorder, major depression/bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, conduct disorder, Tourette’s/tic disorder were established, continued or concluded. Several studies have been established in collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry, members of the department were entrusted with leadership responsibilities on national, European, and transcontinental levels.
The group participates in the EU-funded (FP 7) projects ADDUCE (long-term safety of methylphenidate), AGGRESSOTYPE and MATRICS (subtyping and treatment of aggression), PERS (risperidone in conduct disorder), STOP (medication-related suicidality) and TACTICS (glutamatergic treatment approaches in ADHD, ASD, OCD). Prof. Dittmann serves as leader of several of the core work packages and on the steering committees of these projects. An application to the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) related to ‘stepped-care ADHD treatment’ is currently pending. He is a deputy member of the ‘Commisssion on Medication for Children and Adolescents’ of the German Regulatory Body/Ministry of Health and was appointed as a European member of the ‘Pediatric Psychopharmacology Initiative’ (PIP) of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.