Campaign goes to USA
Posted on 08/11/2010
Professor Trainor and Professor Wessely
Following the launch of the College’s £500 million fundraising campaign, alumni and friends in the United States will have the opportunity to hear first hand from the Principal about the Campaign, in particular the Neurosciences & mental health theme, at a series of topical debates tackling war and mental health issues.
The debates entitled ‘Are we losing the battle for mental health?’ begin this evening in Washington D.C., then are followed by the second in New York on Wednesday 10 November and in Boston on Friday 12 November. The Principal, Professor Rick Trainor, will host the New York and Boston events.
They will be chaired by one of the world’s leading experts in the mental health of military personnel Professor Simon Wessely, Head of the Department of Psychological Medicine, and Director of the King’s Centre for Military Health Research at King’s College London.
He will be joined by a number of distinguished panellists drawn from American universities, the health services and the Armed Forces.
Professor Wessely comments ahead of the debates:
‘The US and the UK have now been allies in Afghanistan and Iraq for twice as long as we fought together in World War II. We have struggled against the same enemy, facing the same risks, in the same terrain, and latterly taking the same proportional casualties. Yet there have also been some differences in the impact of the campaign on the health of our Forces.
‘In these debates, we will look at what we have in common, some of these differences, how we manage these problems, and what can we learn from each other that we cannot always learn from ourselves.’
Professor Wessely is also Honorary Consultant Advisor in Psychiatry to the British Army. In the mid 1990s he obtained support from the US Department of Defence for the first UK epidemiological study of what was then known as Gulf War Syndrome. This was followed by a series of studies, some with US support, on issues such as Forces Health Protection, psychological injury, reactions to chemical/biological terrorism, military health, screening, psychological support for military personnel and population resilience.
Debates
The Washington debate is entitled
Iraq and Afghanistan: What is the cost of War? Trauma? Anxiety? Change? and is being held at The National Press Club at 18.00.
The New York the debate is entitled
Battle in the Big Apple: What is the New York State of Mind? Aging population? Terror? Yankees? and is being held at the New York Academy of Science at 18.00
The Boston the debate is entitled
Veteran’s mental health: Is their battle just beginning? Suicide? Shock? Support? and is being held at The Harvard Club of Boston at 18.00.
For details about the debates and the panellists, see:
https://alumni.kcl.ac.uk/Page.aspx?pid=198
The King’s College London Fundraising Campaign was publically launched at an international event on 3 November. This campaign, World questions| King’s answers, spearheads a new era in university fundraising as the money raised will fund research to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges ranging from providing for an ever-ageing population to conflict resolution, to better treatments for cancer.
King’s aims to raise £500 million by 2015 – and to date has raised nearly £200 million - for three key research areas where King’s is exceptionally well-placed to make a substantial contribution to finding answers: Neuroscience & mental health, Leadership & society, and Cancer. See:
www.kcl.ac.uk/kingsanswers
Notes to Editors
King’s College London
King’s College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (2010 QS international world rankings),
The Sunday Times ‘University of the Year 2010/11’ and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King’s has nearly 23,000 students (of whom more than 8,600 are graduate students) from nearly 140 countries, and some 5,500 employees. King’s is in the second phase of a £1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.
King’s has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly £450 million.
King’s has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe; no university has more Medical Research Council Centres.
King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King’s Health Partners. King’s Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit:
www.kingshealthpartners.org.
Further information
Public Relations Department
Email:
pr@kcl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7848 3202