Professor Dinesh Bhugra awarded CBE

Professor Dinesh Bhugra has been awarded the title of CBE for services to psychiatry in the New Year Honours List 2012.

Professor Bhugra is an Honorary Consultant at the Psychosexual and Relationship Service at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM), as well as Chair of Mental Health and Cultural Diversity at the Health Service and Population Research Department at the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) at King's College London.

Professor Bhugra has been instrumental in developing training packages for health service professionals and strategies for psychiatric education around the world. He was Dean of the Royal College of Psychiatrists from 2003 to 2007, and President from 2008 to 2011.
 
He is also an honorary fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists, and earlier this year, became the first psychiatrist from the UK to be elected President Elect of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), a role he will begin in 2014. He is currently leading on a 23-country project looking at recruitment of medical students into psychiatry. 

His achievements have been recognised worldwide and over his career Prof Bhugra has received honours from the Indian Psychiatric Society, the American Psychiatric Society, the American College of Psychiatrists, the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, the Academy of Medical Sciences (Singapore) and the International Medical Sciences Academy. Since July 2011, he has also been Chair of the Mental Health Foundation. 

Prof Bhugra says: "It is a great honour and I am particularly delighted as the honour recognises psychiatry and the exciting and hard work we do in the field. It would not have been possible without the support of so many colleagues both in SLaM and in the IoP and I would like to pay tribute to them for their sterling support."

Professor Shitij Kapur, Dean and Head of School at the IoP says: 'Dinesh's research has significantly enriched the IoP's portfolio of scholarship, and his recent accomplishments as the President of the Royal College and his election as the President of the WPA will allow Dinesh to leave a lasting impact on the profession of psychiatry and medicine. The work of Dinesh and his colleagues is recognised worldwide so it is only fitting that it be recognized at home. This award is an honour for Dinesh and reflects positively on the IoP, SLaM and King's.'