1. science
2. medicine
3. psychology and psychiatry

Continuing Medical Education Office
The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Program (CAPP) at the American University of Beirut
Medical Center in collaboration with specialists from Duke University and The University of
Pittsburgh
present a workshop on
Diagnostic Mental Health Assessment in Children and Adolescents:
On the usage of semi-structured interviews
January 16-17, 2015
Program Highlights:
 Challenges in assessing a child psychological functioning
 The K-SADS- a semi-structured diagnostic interview assessing psychopathology in
children and adolescents
 Diagnosing preschoolers with psychiatric disorders
 Tools to screen for psychiatric disorders in preschoolers
Modalities:
 Skype and on site presentations
 Two half-day workshop
 Two follow up meetings with the trainers at one month interval each (3 hours each)
 One debriefing and closing session with the trainers at the end of the training (1
hour)
 CME credits for 12 hours in total (Skype, onsite, follow up and debriefing)
Location:
This activity will be held at the Hisham Jaroudi Auditorium, HSON.
Target Audience:
This activity targets Child Psychiatrists, Residents in Psychiatry, Clinical Psychologists
Masters graduates; Trainees of the Two-Year Certified Training Program in Clinical
Psychology
This activity can accommodate a maximum of 30 participants.
Continuing Medical Education Office (CME)
T: 01-350000 ext.4879 | F: 01-744467 | E: [email protected] | W : www.cme.aub.edu.lb
Continuing Medical Education Office
Registration fees:
Pre-registration fees before December 31 are 350 USD.
Regular registration after December 31 is 400 USD.
Fees include:
 Certificate of Attendance
 Workshop Material
 Coffee Breaks
Program
Friday, January 16, 2014
2:30-3:00
Registration
3:00-3:30
Opening session: Welcoming note
Challenges in assessing a child/adolescent mental health functioningFadi Maalouf, M.D
3:30-4:00
COFFEE BREAK
4:00- 6:00
(Skype Session) The K-SADS- a semi-structured diagnostic interview assessing
psychopathology in children and adolescents: Introduction, conducting
introductory and screening interviewsCandice Biernesser, L.S.W, M.P.H and Sarah Caligiuri, L.P.C, N.C.C
6:00-6:15
COFFEE BREAK
6:15-8:00
(Skype Session) K-SADS- Conducting supplement interviews, summary lifetime
diagnostic checklist, and consensus and reliability
Candice Biernesser, L.S.W, M.P.H and Sarah Caligiuri, L.P.C, N.C.C
Saturday, January 17, 2014
2:45- 3:10
Do preschoolers suffer from psychiatric disorders?
Leyla Akoury Dirani, Ph.D
3:10-3:30
Relational challenges with fathers and their role in development
Dr Suaad Moussa, M.D
Continuing Medical Education Office (CME)
T: 01-350000 ext.4879 | F: 01-744467 | E: [email protected] | W : www.cme.aub.edu.lb
Continuing Medical Education Office
3:30-4:00
COFFEE BREAK
4:00- 6:00
(Skype Session) Multidimensional psychiatric assessment in preschoolers
Helen Egger, M.D, and Lauren Franz, MBChB, MPH
6:00-6:15
COFFEE BREAK
6:15-8:00
(Skype Session) Screening tools to support clinical assessment and Introduction
to treatment modalities for preschool psychiatric disorders
Helen Egger, M.D, and Lauren Franz, MBChB, MPH
8:00- 8:30
CLOSURE AND WRAP UP
Follow Up Sessions:
January 31, 2015 from 4:00PM until 7:00PM and
February 21, 2015 from 4:00PM until 7:00PM
Follow up Skype session with the trainers (8 participants per group) where trainers will
present cases and a role play workshop will take place
Group A: Diagnosing Preschoolers;
Group B: Diagnosing children and adolescents using the K-SADS)
Debriefing session
March 21, 2015 from 4:00Pm until 5:00PM
In this debriefing session, trainees present their cases and receive feedback from attendees.
Continuing Medical Education Office (CME)
T: 01-350000 ext.4879 | F: 01-744467 | E: [email protected] | W : www.cme.aub.edu.lb
Continuing Medical Education Office
Speakers’ Biographies:
Candice Biernesser, LSW, MPH
University of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, USA
Mrs. Biernesser received her Bachelor Degree in Biology from
Slippery Rock University in 2006 while being heavily involved
with a Community-Service Learning AmeriCorps Program.
Following graduation, she worked as a clinical case manager at
a crisis shelter for homeless and runaway youth in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida. She went on to received her Master
Degrees in Social Work and Public Health from Tulane
University in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2008. While at Tulane,
she designed and facilitated psychosocial programming with Save the Children Domestic
Emergencies Unit and assisted with HIV/AIDS programming and grant writing for a communitybased organization in Mumbai, India. Following graduation from her Masters programs, she
worked as a Program Evaluator for an adult male homeless shelter in Post-Katrina New Orleans.
In 2009, Mrs. Biernesser joined the Familial Pathways study under the supervision of David
Brent, M.D. at the University of Pittsburgh. The Familial Pathways study began with
recruitment of two comparison groups from inpatient psychiatric populations: adult patients
hospitalized for depression and history of suicide attempts; and adult patients hospitalized for
depression without history of attempt. The patients from these groups and their children were
studied longitudinally for a 13 year period to identify paths to early onset suicide attempts in
families. Parents and offspring have been evaluated through the use of the K-SADS PL for
children and the SCID for adults as well as through neuropsychological testing.
Ms. Biernesser currently serves as a clinical and administrative coordinator for David Brent’s
research projects. She supervises clinical interviewers, manages Internal Review Board
reporting requirements, reports progress to the National Institute of Mental Health, and manages
the reliability and quality of clinical interviewing at multiple sites.
Continuing Medical Education Office (CME)
T: 01-350000 ext.4879 | F: 01-744467 | E: [email protected] | W : www.cme.aub.edu.lb
Continuing Medical Education Office
Sarah Caligiuri, LPC, NCC
University of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, USA
Mrs. Caligiuri joined the Services for Teens At Risk (STAR)
outpatient clinic, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and
directed by David Brent, M.D., in May 2008 as an individual
therapist for adolescents and group therapist for STAR
Intensive Outpatient Program after completing a year
internship at STAR. While at the STAR Clinic, Mrs. Caligiuri
has worked on the development of the Intensive Outpatient
Program, trains interns in assessing and treating adolescents
with self-injury and suicidality, and provides clinical trainings
nationally. She worked as a milieu therapist for Western
Psychiatric Institute Clinic (WPIC) Adolescent and Young
Adult inpatient unit for 3 years providing individual and group
counseling for patients with mood disorders, PTSD, anxiety drug and alcohol addiction, and
family issues. Prior to her work at WPIC she worked at the Bradley Center Residential
Treatment Facility and for Butler County as an in-home therapist with adolescents that were part
of the juvenile probation system with a mental health diagnosis.
Helen Egger, M.D
Duke University, North Carolina, USA
Dr. Egger is an Associate Professor within the Department of
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences with secondary appointments in
the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychology and Neuroscience. In
her role as Chief of the Division of Child and Family Mental Health
and Developmental Neuroscience, she leads the clinical,
educational, and research efforts in pediatric mental health within
the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Egger is founder and leader of
the Early Childhood Mental Health Program within the Duke
Center for Developmental Epidemiology. Her research program
focuses on presentation, course, and biological and environmental
causes of psychiatric disorders, particularly anxiety disorders, in
preschool children (children ages 2 through 5 years old). She has been a leader in the
development of measures for assessing psychiatric symptoms and disorders in young children.
Dr. Egger is lead author of the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA), the first
comprehensive structured parent interview for assessing psychiatric symptoms and disorders in
preschool children, as well as lead developer of the ePAPA, a computerized version of the
interview.
Continuing Medical Education Office (CME)
T: 01-350000 ext.4879 | F: 01-744467 | E: [email protected] | W : www.cme.aub.edu.lb
Continuing Medical Education Office
Lauren Franz, MBChB, MPH
Duke University, North Carolina, USA
Dr Lauren Franz graduated the Global Health Psychiatry Pathway in
2014 and is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Division of Child and Family
Mental Health and Developmental Neuroscience and Assistant Research
Professor in the Duke Global Health Institute. She completed a seven
year integrated training program at Duke that included adult psychiatry,
child and adolescent psychiatry, developmental epidemiology, and
global health. She received her medical degree from Stellenbosch
University, in South Africa in 2002. Dr Franz’s interest in early identification and prevention led
her to complete a Master in Public Health degree at Emory University in Atlanta in 2005, where
she conducted research on the effects of stigma on treatment delay in patients experiencing their
first psychotic episode. She worked at the Center for Developmental Epidemiology for four
years, under the mentorship of Dr Helen Egger. For her research, titled The KwaZulu-Natal
Autism Study, Dr. Franz was awarded a Fogarty Global Health Fellowship. The project focused
on the largely Zulu but multi-cultural community in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South
Africa. The primary purpose of the KwaZulu-Natal Autism Study is to explore how best to
identify Zulu children who have an autism spectrum disorder. The long term goal of this study is
to lay the groundwork for a cross-cultural multi-country study on the epidemiology of autism
spectrum disorders where questions around incidence, prevalence, and causation can be
addressed.
Fadi Maalouf, M.D
American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Dr. Fadi Maalouf is currently the Director of the Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry Program (CAPP) at the American University of Beirut
Medical Center and Associate Professor of Psychiatry within the
Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Maalouf also holds an adjunct appointment
with the University of Pittsburgh, USA. After receiving his MD from
AUB in 2001, Dr. Maalouf completed his Psychiatry residency training in
Massachusetts at the VA Boston Healthcare system and Harvard Medical School. He then
completed a two-year fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Massachusetts
General Hospital, Mclean Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Prior to joining AUBMC in
September 2009, he was an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. He
is the recipient of several awards including the 2007 Outstanding Resident Award from the
American Academy of Child, Adolescent Psychiatry, the 2009 Young Investigator grant award
from the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, and the Multidisciplinary Award for
Doctors from the American University of Beirut Medical Center in 2011. Dr. Maalouf’s research
interest focuses on neurocognitive deficits in pediatric depression, and on a larger scale, he is
interested in the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents in the Arab
world. On the clinical level, Dr. Maalouf established a multidisciplinary approach to child
psychiatric care within the department of Psychiatry at AUBMC that has developed to become
the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Program.
Continuing Medical Education Office (CME)
T: 01-350000 ext.4879 | F: 01-744467 | E: [email protected] | W : www.cme.aub.edu.lb
Continuing Medical Education Office
Leyla Akoury Dirani, Ph.D
American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Dr. Akoury-Dirani, PhD in clinical psychology and psychopathology from
Université René Descartes-Paris 5, was the first professional to establish a
psycho-education program for autistic children in Lebanon. She was
among the first who introduced the practice of inclusive education for
children with special needs in Lebanese schools.
In parallel with her private practice as clinical psychologist for children
and adolescents, Dr. Akoury-Dirani was a professor at the Saint Joseph University of Beirut for
20 years where she was in charge of different academic projects and programs, one of which was
the Institut Libanais d’Educateurs.
At the national level, Dr. Akoury-Dirani collaborated with the Lebanese government and the
United Nations agencies to develop more equitable policies towards the most vulnerable children
and adolescents, mainly children with disabilities or those who are maltreated.
In December 2008, Dr. Akoury-Dirani joined the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine
at the American University of Beirut, as an assistant professor. Since then, she has provided
psychological services to children and adolescents and participated in the teaching and training
of medical and clinical psychology students.
Souad Moussa, MD
Cairo University
Professor of Psychiatry and Consultant in Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry . Dr. Moussa is the founding president of Egyptian Child &
Adolescent Psychiatry Association ECAPA, member of IACAPAP.
Graduated from American University in Cairo (AUC) with a BA in
Psychology in February 1984 and from Cairo University, Faculty of
Medicine in November 1984. She received her training in psychiatry in
both Egypt and UK. She had her Postgraduate Certificate in Applied
Systemic Theory from the University of East London and the Tavistock
Clinic in 1998. Her main interests in child psychiatry are the disruptive disorders, infant
psychiatry and infant/child-maternal dyad problems. She is a member of the Association for
Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) since 1999. In 2006 she started a specialist
register for Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists in Egypt.
2004 – 2007 she was WHO Temporary Adviser for Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
2007 – 2009 she was a member of executive committee in charge of Child and Adolescent Units
of the General Secretariat for Mental Health- Ministry of Health & Population.
2008 – 2009 she was a member of the WPA taskforce for setting the guidelines for the Protection
& Promotion of Mental Health in Children of Persons with Severe Mental Disorders.
2009 till present the coordinator of the first Master Degree for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
in Egypt.
2013-2014 member of the subcommittee for developing training curriculum for child &
adolescent psychiatry for the Arab Board of Medical Specialization.
Continuing Medical Education Office (CME)
T: 01-350000 ext.4879 | F: 01-744467 | E: [email protected] | W : www.cme.aub.edu.lb
Continuing Medical Education Office
Contact Information
For more information about this course, please contact:
Continuing Medical Education Office
American University of Beirut
Tel: +961-1-350 000 ext 4717/8
Fax: +961-1-744 467
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://cme.aub.edu.lb
Continuing Medical Education Office (CME)
T: 01-350000 ext.4879 | F: 01-744467 | E: [email protected] | W : www.cme.aub.edu.lb