Meet our Educators

Professor Joseba Achotegui Loizate is a renowned psychiatrist who was born in Durango, Spain on July 24th, 1952. He completed his primary and secondary education with the Jesuits in Durango and Bilbao, Spain. Later, he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Medicine from the University of Barcelona in 1976. He continued his studies and became a Psychiatry Specialist at the University of Barcelona in 1980, achieving the highest rating. 

Dr. Achotegui’s academic pursuits didn’t end there. In 1990, he earned his PhD in Medicine from the University of the Basque Country with cum “cum laude.” Throughout his career, he has contributed significantly to the field of psychiatry and has earned a reputation as a distinguished psychiatrist. His research work and publications have been highly regarded in the industry. Dr. Achotegui’s legacy continues to inspire many who aspire to make significant contributions to the field of psychiatry.

Professional Career:

• Coordinator of the conference “Assistance programs for immigrants with Ulysses Syndrome in the European Union” held in the European Parliament (October 19, 2017)
• Re-elected General Secretary of the Section of Transcultural Psychiatry of the World Psychiatric Association (since 2011)
• President of the Congress of the World Psychiatric Association “Mental health, migration and transculturality in the 21st century” (Barcelona, October 30 to November 1, 2010)
• Founding member of the World Association of Cultural Psychiatry (WACP), founded in Beijing and a member of the Advisory Board of that association (March 2009)
• Director of the Summer University of the Coimbra Group – a network of European universities – (2009)
• Regular collaborator to mental health issues for “Afectos en la noche”, a program on Radio Nacional de España and Radio Exterior de España (from 2008 to 2012)
• Director of the meeting “Migratory policies and health” of the Euro-Mediterranean Health Conference organized by the Ministries of Health of the European Union and the countries of the southern Mediterranean. (Barcelona, November 14-15, 2005)
• Director of the “Dialogue” entitled “Migrating and getting sick: Ulysses syndrome” of the Universal Forum of Cultures of Barcelona (September 1-5, 2004)
• Advisor to the Secretary for the Immigration of the Generalitat de Catalunya (since 2004)
• Coordinator of the group of experts created by the Ministry of Health of the Generalitat de Catalunya for the drafting of a protocol for action in the area of Mental Health and Migration (since 2003)
• Coordinator of the act held in the European Parliament “Assistance programs for immigrants with Ulysses Syndrome in the European Union” (2003)
• He has advised on the issues of  migration and family reunification to the Committee on Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights of the European Parliament (1998-2004)
• President of the Collegiate Section of Psychiatrists of the College of Physicians of Barcelona (1997-2001)
• Founder and Director of the SAPPIR (Psychopathological and Psychosocial Care Service for Refugee Immigrants) of the Sant Pere Claver Hospital in Barcelona (since 1994)
• Member of the CIPP (Psychopathological and Psychosociological Research Collective) of the Vidal i Barraquer Foundation in Barcelona specializing in Migration and Mental Health (1982-1994). This group won the 1987 research prize of the Spanish Society of Neuropsychiatry for their work “Migration and Mental Health” published as a book by the University of Barcelona in 1993.
• Research member of the European research R & D coordinated the project, SEJ20005-09170-C04-01 funded by the Ministry of Education and Science, “Psychological and psychosocial aspects of violence”.
• Coordinator of the international working group on “The Ulysses Syndrome” sponsored by the Committee on Citizens’ Rights and Freedoms of the European Parliament
• Reviewer of the journals “Transcultural Psychiatry” and “Advances in Latin American Psychology”.
• Editor and director of the “International Journal of Migration and Mental Health from Psychosocial and Communitarian Perspective”.
• Editor of the blog of the Diario Público, in particular, the section “Mental health in difficult times”