Psychiatrist honoured

Schizophrenia International Research Society has named Rangaswamy Thara, the 2020 Outstanding Clinical and Community Research Awardee.

According to a press release, Dr. Thara will receive the award at the 2021 Congress of the Schizophrenia International Research Society in Toronto, Canada.

Dr. Thara is a psychiatrist by training and the co-Founder of SCARF (Schizophrenia Research Foundation), which is a Collaborating Centre of the WHO for mental health research.

After receiving her Ph.D. at Madras University on the subject of disability in schizophrenia, she passionately lobbied for the inclusion of mental disability in the Indian Disabilities Act and was largely instrumental in the development of IDEAS, a measuring tool used to measure disability in mental disorders.

Dr. Thara pioneered the use of mobile tele psychiatry to deliver high quality care for schizophrenia in resource-less rural communities, which is now serving more than 1,500 patients.

She has been largely instrumental in forging collaborations with premier institutions around the world. She is on the Advisory Committee to the Director General of the World Health Organisation, Geneva and was a member of the Institute Body of NIMHANS.

In 2012, Dr. Thara was awarded the President’s Gold Medal from the Royal College, UK and in 2014, the Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK. She has served on the Editorial Board of numerous reputable journals, including Schizophrenia Bulletin. She has authored over 180 research publications.