Amir Kalali, M.D. is currently Vice President, Medical and Scientific Services, and Global Therapeutic Team Leader CNS, at Quintiles Inc., focusing on developing novel compounds for the treatment of disorders of the central nervous system. He is globally responsible for the medical and scientific aspects of development programs in psychiatry and neurology. He is also Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego. He was the Founding Chairman of the Executive Committee of the International Society for CNS Drug Development (ISCDD), and currently its Executive Secretary. In this capacity, he is active in facilitating scientific collaboration between academia, government, and pharmaceutical industry scientists. Dr. Kalali received his M.D. from the University of London, United Kingdom. He completed his psychiatry training at University College and Middlesex School of Medicine, London University. He was then appointed to a clinical research faculty position at the University of California Irvine, where he also held several positions including Director of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Clinical Research Program, and the Director of the Consultation Liaison Psychiatry Program at the Clinical Cancer Research Center. He was also involved as an investigator on several NIH Center research programs, including the Center for Neuropathological and Genetic Abnormalities in Depression, and the Center for Neuroscience and Schizophrenia, investigating Neurobiological Brain Abnormalities in Schizophrenia. Dr. Kalali has been an academic investigator in over 70 psychopharmacological clinical trials and at Quintiles has had medical and scientific responsibility for over 100 clinical trials. He is an expert in CNS clinical trial methodology, including clinical rating scales, and has trained investigators from over thirty countries. Dr. Kalali regularly presents at national and international scientific meetings, and lectures frequently on psychopharmacological and drug development topics. Dr. Kalali is the Editor of the journal Psychiatry, and is on the editorial board of several other journals. Dr. Kalali is an active member of many professional societies including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of Pharmaceutical Physicians, the American Society for Clinical Psychopharmacology, the American Psychiatric Association, the Canadian College of NeuroPsychopharmacology, the Collegium Internationale Neuro Psychopharmacologicum, the Drug Information Association, the International Society for CNS Drug Development, the International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, United Kingdom, and the Society for Neuroscience.