My incredible journey with lithium — over 50 years of research and treatment

Janusz K. Rybakowski, MD, PhD, was the Head of Department of Adult Psychiatry, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 1995-2016, the Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Medical Academy, Bydgoszcz, 1985-1995, the NIH Fogarty Research Fellow, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1976-1977. He was the President of the Polish Psychiatric Association, 1998-2001, a Board Member of the Association of European Psychiatrists, 1998-2004, and has been a member of ten other international scientific associations. Prof. Rybakowski authored over 600 scientific articles on clinical psychiatry, neurobiology, and psychopharmacology, present Hirsch Index 55. He is the author of the books “The Faces of Manic-Depressive Illness” (2009) and “Lithium – the Amazing Drug in Psychiatry” (2020). He has been a member of the Editorial Board of 16 international journals. He is the only Polish psychiatrist among the top 2% scientists, according to recent report by the Stanford University and Elsevier. In 2012, Prof. Rybakowski received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the European Bipolar Forum, in 2015, the Lifetime Achievement Award in Biological Psychiatry of the World Federation of the Societies of Biological Psychiatry, and in 2018, the Mogens Schou scientific award of the International Society of Bipolar Disorders.

Kosma Sakrajda MSc is a PhD Candidate at Poznan University of Medical Sciences, affiliated with the Molecular and Cell Biology Unit (thesis advisor: Prof. Aleksandra Szczepankiewicz PhD). His main research interests are mood disorders, lithium treatment mode of action, and the role of inflammatory states in the course of psychiatric disorders. He is member of ECNP’s Early Career Academy Board.