Danuta Wasserman

Danuta Wasserman
Other names	Danuta Wolk-Wasserman
Academic background
Alma mater	Uppsala University
Thesis	Attempted suicide : the patient's family, social network and therapy  (1986)

Danuta Elizabeth Wasserman is a professor of psychiatry and suicidology at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. ^[1] She is a public mental health and medical educator. She is currently the President of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) 2023-2026. ^[2]

Early life

Wasserman was born in Warsaw, Poland to Nikolai Stefan and Stefania Maria (nee Smolarek) Wolk. Wasserman migrated to Sweden in 1968, where she now permanently resides in Stockholm.^{[ citation needed ]}

Education

Wasserman completed a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology in 1968 at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. She continued her medical studies in Sweden and in 1972 obtained a Clinical Medical Degree from Uppsala University. In 1979, Wasserman became registered as a specialist in General Psychiatry by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. Wasserman defended her PhD thesis in 1986 on “Attempted suicide – the patient’s family, social network and therapy” at Karolinska Institutet. In 1989, Wasserman concluded her psychoanalytic training at the Swedish Psychoanalytical Institute. ^{[3] [4]}

Career

Wasserman founded and became the head of the National Swedish Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of Mental Ill-Health (NASP) in 1993 and was the head of NASP until January 1st 2024. In this role, Wasserman has contributed to national suicide prevention strategies in Sweden. In 1990, Wasserman became an associate professor at Karolinska Insititutet. In 1995, she became a professor in suicide prevention at the National Institute for Psychosocial Medicine, and in 2002 she became a professor in psychiatry and suicidology at Karolinska Institutet. Between 2002 - 2007, Wasserman was the head of the Public Health Sciences department at Karolinska Institutet.

Since 1997 and presently, Wasserman is the director for the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Lead Collaborating Centre for Research, Methods, Development and Training in Suicide Prevention. ^[5] In 2020, Wasserman became the President-Elect of the World Psychiatric Association. ^[6] Since October 1, 2023, she is the President of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) 2023-2026.

Research

Wasserman’s research integrates social, psychiatric and genetic aspects and is oriented towards the prevention of mental health problems and suicide. ^[7] She is the Editor of Suicide an Unnecessary Death (2001), which has been translated to Japanese, Chinese, and Russian in 2006.

Selected publications

• Wasserman, Danuta (2016). Suicide:an unnecessary death. [London]: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0198717393. OCLC   47120102. ^[a]
• Wasserman, Danuta (2021). Oxford textbook of suicidology and suicide prevention (2 edn). [London]: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0191873805. OCLC   47120102.
• Wasserman, Danuta (2009). Oxford textbook of suicidology and suicide prevention (1 edn). [London]: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0199640461. OCLC   47120102.
• Wasserman, Danuta (2004). "Achieving equality, inclusiveness, and cultural sensitivity in mental health (EDIT)". World Psychiatry. 23 (2): 302–303. doi:10.1002/wps.21220. PMC   11083866 . PMID   38727045.
• Wasserman, D.; Sokolowski, M. (2020). "Genetics of HPA-axis, depression and suicidality". European Psychiatry. 25 (5): 278–280. doi:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2009.12.016. PMID   20444578.
• Buckland-Wright, Helen (October 2022). "Suicide: An Unnecessary Death Danuta Wasserman (Ed.) London: Martin Dunitz Ltd, 2001. pp. 227. (paperback). ISBN 1-85317-822-5". Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy; Cambridge. 30 (4): 507–512. doi:10.1017/S1352465802234116. S2CID   143380299.
• Persaud, Raj (2001). "Review of Suicide: An Unnecessary Death" . BMJ: British Medical Journal. 323 (7304): 114. doi:10.1136/bmj.323.7304.114. ISSN   0959-8138. JSTOR   25467388. S2CID   70906354.
• Heisel, Marnin J. (June 2004). "Suicide: An Unnecessary Death". International Psychogeriatrics; Cambridge. 16 (2): 242–244. doi: 10.1017/S104161020423037X . S2CID   145420694.
• Wasserman, Danuta; Cheng, Qi; Jiang, Guo-Xin (2005). "Global suicide rates among young people aged 15-19". World Psychiatry. 4 (2): 114–120. ISSN   1723-8617. PMC   1414751 . PMID   16633527.
• Wasserman, D.; Rihmer, Z.; Rujescu, D.; Sarchiapone, M.; Sokolowski, M.; Titelman, D.; Zalsman, G.; Zemishlany, Z.; Carli, V. (2012). "The European Psychiatric Association (EPA) guidance on suicide treatment and prevention" . European Psychiatry. 27 (2): 129–141. doi:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2011.06.003. ISSN   0924-9338. PMID   22137775. S2CID   1625392.
• Wasserman, Danuta (2011). Depression (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-163150-4. OCLC   801405497.
• Wasserman, Danuta; Hoven, Christina W.; Wasserman, Camilla; Wall, Melanie; Eisenberg, Ruth; Hadlaczky, Gergö; Kelleher, Ian; Sarchiapone, Marco; Apter, Alan; Balazs, Judit; Bobes, Julio; Brunner, Romuald; Corcoran, Paul; Cosman, Doina; Guillemin, Francis (2015-04-18). "School-based suicide prevention programmes: the SEYLE cluster-randomised, controlled trial" . The Lancet. 385 (9977): 1536–1544. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61213-7. hdl: 10651/33389 . ISSN   0140-6736. PMID   25579833. S2CID   8401201.
• Ringskog Vagnhammar, Susanna; Wasserman, Danuta (2017). Första hjälpen vid självmordsrisk (Andra upplagan ed.). Lund. ISBN   978-91-44-11300-5. OCLC   1016177683.

Honors and awards

In 2022 she received the Pascal-Boyle Prize for outstanding achievement by a woman working to improve mental health care in Europe. ^[8] In 2021 she received the Morselli Medal from the International Academy for Suicide Research from USA, ^[9] In 2017 she received Gold Medal of 8th size in the ribbon of the Order of the Seraphim for her contribution to suicide research from the King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf, ^[10] . In 2012 she received the British Medical Association Book Award for Public Understanding of Science for Depression – The Facts. In 2008 she received the Public Health Prize from the Nordic Council of Ministers of Health for outstanding contributions to public mental health research and prevention. In 2005, Wasserman received the research award from the American Foundation for Suicide Research. ^[11] and in the same year, she received the Hans Rost Prize from the German Association for Suicide Prevention for contributions to suicide research and prevention. In 1993 she received the Stengel Research Award for outstanding contributions in suicide research and prevention from the International Association for Suicide Prevention and Crisis Intervention (IASP), and in 1993 she received the Swedish Medical Association Award to Senior Researcher.

She is an Honorary member of the Hungarian and Romanian Psychiatric Association, Honorary fellow of the European Society of Social Psychiatry, Royal College of Psychiatrists, and European Psychiatric Association.

Notes

1. Reviews of Suicide - an unnecessary death

References

1. "Danuta Wasserman | Karolinska Institutet". staff.ki.se. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
2. "Home page | WPA". wpanet.org. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
3. Tenfält, T. (11 September 2019). "Politikerna satsar för lite på den psyksika hälsan" [Politicians invest too little in mental health]. Läkartidningen (in Swedish).
4. Frangou, Sophia (2016-09-01). Women in Academic Psychiatry: A Mind to Succeed. Springer. pp. 105–113. ISBN   978-3-319-32177-6.
5. Karolinska Institutet. Danuta Wasserman (Internet). Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet; (date unknown). (cited 2020 Apr 24) Available from: https://staff.ki.se/people/danwas
6. "Executive Committee". WPA. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
7. Tenfält, Torbjörn (2019-09-11). ""Politikerna satsar för lite på den psykiska hälsan"". Läkartidningen (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-12-17.
8. "2022 Winner". European Psychiatric Association. Archived from the original on 2023-02-08. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
9. "The Morselli Medal". International Academy of Suicide Research. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
10. "8:E STORLEKEN I SERAFIMERORDENS BAND". SWEDISH ROYAL COURT. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
11. "AFSP Research Award Recipients". American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. 2020-09-04. Retrieved 2022-12-17.

External links

• Prof. Danuta Wasserman, President Elect, WPA - "Meet the Leaders" Interview on YouTube