Prof. Robert Haim Belmaker (; born 8 July 1947), is an Israeli psychiatrist who has had major academic positions in Israeli psychiatry since 1974. He had a formative influence on biological directions in Israeli psychiatry.Bernard Lerer, MD, From freud to biology, from genes to medicines:a 40 year perspective, Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences 55 (3), 2018 pp. 65–71 He was Hoffer-Vickar Professor of Psychiatry at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheva Israel (holding the first named Chair of Psychiatry in Israel) until his retirement and is now Emeritus.
He was President of the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2008–2010, President of the Israel Psychiatry Association 2015–2018, and Organizing Chair of the World Psychiatric Association Congress on Psychiatry and Religion held in Jerusalem, Israel in December 2019International Congress in Spirtuality and Psychiatry, World Psychiatric Association He has contributed editorials in the areas of treatment of bipolar disorder in 2007 and then in 2014 on antipsychotic treatment of bipolar disorder, on the potential of transcranial magnetic stimulation as a new frontier (1995) and on the future of randomised clinical trials (2015). An oral history of his research contributions is available at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology video archivesCalabrese, Joseph. "Robert Belmaker by Joseph Calabrese". American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. ACNP.
Education Prof. Belmaker received his BA from Harvard College in 1967; his MD from Duke Medical School in 1971; and was a Clinical Fellow at US National Institute of Mental Health 1972–1974.
Research focus/interests
Prof. Belmaker has researched the mechanism of action of lithium in bipolar disorder throughout his careerWhat's new in research in lithium? 29th ECNP Congress, 2016 and focussed interest on second messenger systems in the brain, Biological Psychiatry, 1993, New England Journal of Medicine, (2007). He was one of the first psychiatrists to study a continuum between the molecular genetics of temperament and that of bipolar disorder and edited a seminal volume. He was one of the first investigators to see the potential for transcranial magnetic stimulation of the brain as a treatment for depression, the first to study it in animal models of depression, and co-edited the first handbook of this treatment for psychiatric disorder that was widely influential for many years. In 2023 Springer Nature published his text (with Prof P. Lichtenberg) "Psychopharmacology Reconsidered: A Concise Text Exploring the Limits of Diagnosis and Treatment", the first textbook of psychopharmacology to emphasize the absence of any biological test for any psychiatric disorder, the lack of correlation between DSM-5 diagnoses and psychopharmacologic indication and mechanisms, high placebo response rates, and indications for withdrawing psychopharmacological treatment.Robert Haim Belmaker, Pesach Lichtenberg, Psychopharmacology Reconsidered - A Concise Guide Exploring the Limits of Diagnosis and Treatment, Springer, 2023 - Springer Website
Appointments
1. President of the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) 2008–2010Haim Belmaker Bio. Loop 2. Vice-president of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) 2012–2014Haim Belmaker Profile. Emed Events 3. President of the Israel Psychiatric Association 2015–2018Mental health: Where to turn for help in Israel. Jerusalem Post 4. President of the International Neuropsychiatry Association 2016–2018Belmaker Elected. Psych News 5. Deputy Director of the Mental Health Center in Beersheba 1994–2012Health Science News. BGU
Published works (Partial List)
Books Robert Haim Belmaker, Pesach Lichtenberg, Psychopharmacology Reconsidered - A Concise Guide Exploring the Limits of Diagnosis and Treatment, Springer, 2023
Articles Transcranial magnetic stimulation: a potential new frontier in psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry 38 (7), 1995 Treatment of bipolar depression, New England Journal of Medicine, 356 (17), 2007 Lurasidone and bipolar disorder, American Journal of Psychiatry, 171 (2), 2014 Editorial: the future of randomised clinical trials, Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 52 (1), 2015
Collaborative works . . .
George & Belmaker (eds.), Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) in Neuropsychiatry. Washington DC: APA Press, 2000. Benjamin, Ebstein & Belmaker (eds.), Molecular Genetics and Human Personality, Washington DC: APA Press, 2002.
Awards He has received the Anna Monika Prize for Research in Depression (1983),AMS. "AMS Award Winners". Anna-Monika-Stiftung the Ziskind-Somerfeld Prize for Senior Research in Psychiatry (1993) and the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Lilly Research Award (1996),ECNP Neuropsychopharmacology Award Winners". ECNP neuroscience applied. and the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Lifetime Achievement Nola Maddox Falcone Prize for research in affective disorder (2000),News @ BGU, Ben Gurion University of the Negev (prestigious prize to BGU depression researcher) and the research prize of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (2004). In 2018 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement award of the Israel Psychiatric Association.
Family Prof. Belmaker is married (since 1967) to Ilana Belmaker, the former Director of Public Health in the Negev, a pediatrician and a preventive medicine specialist. They have six children and 13 grandchildren.
References
External links Prof. Robert Haim Belmaker Website Prof. Robert Haim Belmaker Page in Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Website Prof. R.H Belmaker – "Why do children turn out the way they do? A neuropsychiatric viewpoint" 14th MV Arunachalam Endowment Oration, INA India Symposium, 2016 Prof. R.H Belmaker – What’s new in research in lithium? 29th ECNP Congress, 2016