About GSMRC

Founder and Director of GSMRC. Head of the psychiatry residency programme, Full Professor at the Georgian-American University (GAU), and Head of GSMRC's accredited CME programmes. PhD, Dr.P.H. Currently pursuing doctoral research at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). More than two decades of clinical practice; academic teaching since 2009. Teaches lecture courses in psychopharmacology and clinical psychiatry for psychiatrists and physicians of other specialties. In recent years his work has focused on multidisciplinary approaches to mental health problems and on the treatment of comorbid conditions. In the same field he teaches multidisciplinary courses. He is also the author of two public-facing projects — the YouTube podcasts “When the Clinic Closes” and “A Hundred Questions for a Psychiatrist” — which work towards the destigmatisation of mental illness and psychoeducation, and build knowledge of multidisciplinary approaches among both the general public and physicians. Founder of the club “Experts for Mental Health” — a forum that brings together experts from a range of specialties to discuss mental health issues at expert level and from a multidisciplinary perspective. Member of the expert group of the NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme since 2018. Author of more than 20 scientific papers and publications. Clinical researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Clinical Trials Network and Institute.

Mariam Darbaidze is an Academic Doctor (PhD) of Biology, a professor, and a specialist in higher-education quality assurance and institutional management, with more than 25 years' experience across academic, scientific and administrative fields. Since September 2024 she has been Vice-Rector for Quality Assurance at Georgian International University (GIU). Her work spans the strategic management of higher-education institutions, authorization and accreditation, educational-programme development, the strengthening of internal quality-assurance systems, and academic integrity. Engaged in authorization and accreditation expert work since 2006, she chaired the national Authorization Council for higher-education institutions. She also holds extensive leadership experience at the David Aghmashenebeli National Defence Academy of Georgia, where she led teaching and quality-assurance directions, and has served as vice-rector, rector and chancellor’s adviser. Her academic foundation is in biology and physiology: in 2006, at the Ivane Beritashvili Institute of Physiology, she defended a doctoral dissertation on the effect of manganese-chloride intoxication on learning and memory. Her research interests include neurophysiology, the biological bases of behaviour and memory, oxidative stress and hyperthermia-induced hormesis; she collaborates actively with the Ivane Beritashvili Center of Experimental Biomedicine on behavioural-neuroscience research. She is the founder of the innovative platform “Psychonauts” and a mentor to young people, and her international professional development includes initiatives with the Universities of Uppsala and Vienna, NATO-Georgia and PFPC DEEP. A holder of Georgia’s Order of Honour, she combines academic research, modern management and a vision for the systemic transformation of education.