Sophia ACHAB – Genève

Achab Sophia is psychiatrist, senior lecturer, lead researcher and Head of WHO Collaborating Centre for Training and Research in Mental Health at Faculty of Medicine of Geneva University,

She has been part of several Boards and Panels on public health issues, policy making and capacity building regarding addictive behaviours for Swiss Federal Office of Public Health and other Swiss regional bodies and for WHO. She is part of the Lancet Commission for Global Action on Problematic Internet Use.

Her Research line is “Populational and clinical perspectives of addictive behaviours* and she contributed to the efforts leading to their inclusion in ICD-11, including directing Swiss Field Testing of ICD-11 criteria for addictive disorders (WHO research project on their utility, feasibility and added value). She published more the 205 papers, total citations (8631) ,  and h-index(40) .

She runs the Swiss pioneering treatment Centre ReConnecte specialized in addictive behaviours (Gambling, gaming, shopping, work.) since 2007 at University Hospitals of Geneva in Switzerland.

She has been invited to join different scientific boards in the field of Addiction Medicine, Mental Health and Global Health:

-Board of Directors of International Society of Addiction Medicine; Geneva Health Forum; and International Society for the Study of Behavioral addictions (ISSBA) 

-Chair of Addictive Behaviours Scientific Section of European Psychiatric Association 

-Executive Committee and Representative of Europe of Addiction Scientific Section of World Psychiatric Association

Educational background :

-Medical doctorate achieved in 2009, France

-PhD in Life Sciences-Neurosciences-Human behaviours completed, France (2014)

-Degree in Psychiatry and psychotherapy of Addiction Medicine, Switzerland (2017)

-Master’s in advanced studies in Strategic Management of Health institutions at Geneva executive School for Business and Management, University of Geneva, Switzerland (2020)

-Improving Quality and Safety in Global Health, Harvard Global Health Institute, USA (2020)

-The Science of Happiness, University of California, Berkeley, USA (2021)

-Drug Policy by Global Health Centre, Graduate Institute, University of Geneva, Switzerland (2021); and

-Mental Health Leadership: Transformation Through Innovation, Harvard Global Health Institute, USA (2024).