Otto Michael Lesch, MD, Specialist in psychiatry and neurology, the author is currently President of the Austrian Society of Addiction Medicine, . Since 1972 he is responsible for long term studies in alcohol dependence. He organized many international clinical trials and basic research in alcohol and tobacco dependence. He served 12 years as secretary of ESBRA and organized European networks for alcohol research. He always bridged the gap between basic and clinical research and developed clinical used tools to define subgroups of addiction for better treatment approaches. His assessment tools are now available in many different languages (www.LAT-online.at).
Henriette Walter, MD, has served as University Professor at the Medical University, Vienna. Dr. Walter is specialized in alcoholism since more than 20 years, both, practically and scientifically, with over 200 publications. She is secretary of the 'AUSAM', the Austrian Society of Addiction Medicine and an ESBRA board member. She is associate editor of the Journal "Hypnose", a field in which she takes an active scientific interest since 1982. She gives regular training courses in medical hypnosis.
Christian Wetschka, PhD, is social pedagogue, working in diverse social therapeutic and pastoral fields, supervisor, founder of Verein Struktur, Vienna, which provides commune-flats for alcohol dependent persons.
Michie N. Hesselbrock, PhD, is Professor Emeritus at the School of Social Work, and Professor of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine, University of Connecticut. She held the Zach's Chair, and was the founder and director of the PhD program at the School of Social Work before her retirement. She has served on several NIH study sections and VA Merit review committees as a regular member and as an ad hoc reviewer. Her research interests include epidemiology, behavior genetics, and health disparities of alcoholism and treatment.
Victor Hesselbrock,PhD, is currently Professor and Interim Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He holds the Physicians Health Services endowed chair in Addiction Studies. Dr. Hesselbrock is the Principal Investigator and Scientific Director of the University of Connecticut's NIH/NIAAA funded Alcohol Research Center and is co-PI of the NIH funded national Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). He is a past President of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA). Dr. Hesselbrock is Associate Editor of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, a Review Editor for Addiction, and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. His research interests include: the genetic epidemiology of alcoholism; co-morbid psychiatric conditions and substance dependence; and psychosocial, cognitive, and genetic risk factors for developing alcohol dependence and alcohol-related problems.
Samuel Pombo, PhD, is AssistantProfessor (Lecturer) of the University Clinic of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon and Clinical Psychologist of the Psychiatry Department and Mental Health of Santa Maria Hospital, Lisbon. Degree in Clinical Psychology and Master and Phd in addictive behaviors. Member of the Portuguese Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. He has developed research in the area of alcohol and drug addiction, clinical psychology, psychometrics, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, anxiety and panic disorders, adolescence. He is author of several research articles, book chapters and oral presentations, and reviewer in several scientific journals.
