Head: Prof. Dr. med. Undine Lang

My primary concern is the improvement and renewal of psychiatric clinical practice in order to advance the discipline, the well-being of patients and the image of psychiatry among the next generation medical doctors as a modern medical discipline. Since my residency at the department of psychiatry at the Charité Medicine Berlin I have been working on least restrictive treatment strategies, i.e. an Open Door Policy in Psychiatry. In this context in Basel in the last ten years, coercive measures have been reduced up to tenfold, more emphasis has been placed on psychotherapy, assessments have been professionalized, patient satisfaction has increased massively, appeals decreased, complications decreased and in particular, an attitude has been developed that focuses less on security, restriction and control and more on relationships, support and trust. In this context, our department won the FMH Swiss Prix de Qualite in 2021 for the performed open door strategy. Moreover, based on neurobiological findings in the context of my habilitation, where the role of neurotrophins, i.e. BDNF in psychiatric disorders has been evaluated, different treatment approaches were implemented and the knowledge about metabolic, immunological cardiovascular and neurodegenerative aspects of depression expanded and explored in clinical samples. In the context of a unique translational research concept basic neuroscience concepts have been implemented in clinical care and result in better outcomes and in whole in a less stigmatized image of psychiatry and a high acceptance and utilization of psychiatric care in Basel. In this context, several randomized controlled clinical studies showed to improve treatment quality in psychiatric care, i.e. several life style modifications were examined especially in the context of depressive disorders (i.e. nutrition, exercise, exergaming, sleep, animal assisted treatment, resilience, mindfulness etc.). Moreover, the therapeutic potential of the brain gut axis, i.e. treatment with probiotic medications, serine and ketogenic diet interventions and the therapeutic potential of treatment with psychedelics have been evaluated mainly in the private hospital. In this context, we evaluated prospectively newly implemented treatment approaches based on neuroscientific theories.

In the past ten years, the habilitations of Daniel Sollberger, Thorsten Mikoteit, Johannes Wrege, Sylvie Petit-Jean, Marc Vogel, Johannes Beck, Serge Brand, Felix Müller, Dragos Inta, André Schmidt, Sebastian Euler among others have been supported. Planned habilitations that will be partly financed through the Professorship for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy will be the ones of Timur Liwinski, Jana Krückl, Eva Kowalinski, Christoph Linnemann, Tobias Melcher, Jan Sarlon, Maximilian Meyer, Nina Schweinfurth, Michael Schneider and Carl Roth.

Members of the research group

Timur Liwinski (timur.liwinski@upk.ch)

Felix Müller (Felix.mueller@upk.ch)

Eva Kowalinski (Eva.kowalinski@upk.ch)

Publications: Link

Orcid: Link