Department of gerontological psychiatry

Victor Anatolyevich Kontsevoy is the head of the Department of gerontological psychiatry, doctor of medical sciences, professor. In 1966 he upheld his PhD thesis “Transient attacks of schizophrenia” and in 1976 he defended his doctoral thesis “Schizophrenia with an attack-like clinical course”. His scientific interests involve important problems of gerontological psychiatry: affective disorders of the elderly (depressive, bipolar disorders, dysthymia), late schizophrenia, chronic delusional psychoses, organic mental disorders of old age. He created a new direction of research in the national psychiatry, namely - clinical gerontological psychopharmacology. He developed new principles of organization of out-patient mental health care for the elderly. He has 95 scientific publications, including 3 monographs. Under the supervision of V.A. Kontsevoy, 12 PhD's and 3 doctoral theses were upheld. V.A. Kontsevoy is Chairman of the Problem Commission on gerontological psychiatry of the Inter-institutional Scientific Council on Mental Health Problems RAMS, Deputy Chairman of the Commission on gerontological psychiatry of the Russian Association of Psychiatrists, member of the Section on Psychiatry of the Scientific Council, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the MHRC RAMS ethics committee.

A Clinical Unit for the study of mental disorders in the elderly was created in the Centre in 1982, on the basis of the Department of psychoses of old age of the Institute of Psychiatry AMS USSR, headed by Prof. E.Ya. Sternberg (1962-1980). In 1998, the unit was transformed into the Department of gerontological psychiatry. Its clinical bases are the in-patient unit of the MHRC RAMS, gerontological out-patient centre within the psychoneurologic out-patient centre #10.

The Department is staffed with 9 research fellows, as well as with psychiatrists, internists, neurologists and medical psychologists.

The structure of the Department consists of in-patient and out-patient units of gerontological psychiatry.

Scope of research activities of the Department:

1. Study of the symptomatology, clinical picture, dynamics and outcomes of affective disorders of the elderly.

2. Evaluation of the influence of co-morbid somatic diseases on the clinical course and outcomes of depression in the process of brain ageing.

3. Elaboration of psychopathological, psychological, genetical and epidemiological aspects of delusional psychoses in old age.

4. Clinical and morphological assessment of vascular and frontotemporal dementia.

5. Elaboration of problems of clinical gerontological psychopharmacology.

6. Clinical and epidemiological assessment of out-patient cohorts of old age.

7. Improvement of specialized out-patient care for elderly mental patients.