Giampaolo Perna

Education

He grew up in a multiethnic and multicultural environment (Italian father, Japanese mother; nations he lived in during the first 6 years of his life: USA, Japan, Norway, Italy) and has developed an excellent ability to adapt.

He is fluent in English (mother tongue) and Italian and holds dual citizenship (USA & Italy).

He has played individual (tennis) and team (American football) sports, developing effective teamwork skills and competencies such as perseverance and determination.

During his educational career, he has never missed a goal: scientific high school, degrees in medicine and surgery, doctorate in psychiatry and relationship sciences, residency in psychiatry.

His professional development was encouraged by several leading figures in the field of psychiatry: Prof. Donald Klein (Columbia University, NY), Prof. Laura Bellodi (Vita Salute San Raffaele University, Milan-Italy), Prof. Koen Schruers (Maastricht University, NL), Prof. Francesca Brambilla (Milan), Prof. Charles B. Nemeroff (University of Miami, USA), Prof. Alan Schatzberg (Stanford University, USA), Prof. Ned Kalin (University of Madison-Wisconsin, USA) and Prof. Thomas Schlaepfer (University of Fribourg, Germany)

Career

Research

His career as a scientific researcher led him to publish in the most cited psychiatry and mental health journals (American Journal of Psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry, etc.) before the age of 35, consistently in peer-reviewed journals, resulting in the publication of more than 200 papers indexed in the Journal of Citation Index with a global impact factor (JCR 2025) of over 1300 with an average IF/journal of 6.5 and an H-index of 63/51 (Google Scholar/Scopus) He has participated as Co-Investigator in research projects funded by the Italian Ministry of Research and University (MIUR) and he was Principal Investigator of a four-year project funded by the Cariplo Foundation (until 2022) (313,000 euros). From 2019 to date, based on the scientific production of the last 10 years, he has been ranked 1st in Italy and in Europe and 2nd worldwide in the field of panic disorder and 1/3rd in Italy in the field of anxiety disorders by the US rating agency Expertscape (www.expertscape.com)

Academic Teaching

He developed his teaching skills and worked for 7 different universities (Humanitas University in Milan, State University of Milan, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan, State University of l’Aquila, Lumsa University of Rome, University of Maastricht, University of Miami). He has supervised more than 100 students in obtaining degrees in medicine and psychology, doctorates and residencies in psychiatry and clinical psychology (Milan, L’Aquila, Maastricht, Yale, Rio de Janeiro). He is currently Professor (full) of Psychiatry at Humanitas University (Milan, Italy); Honorary Professor at the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, Miami University (USA), Associate Professor at the Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University (NL), Director of the Summer School in Affective Neuroscience, University di Maastricht (NL) & University di Firenze (IT). In 2014 he obtained the national scientific qualification to work as Associate Professor and in 2017 as Full Professor at Italian Universities.

Leadership, Management & Marketing

His personal commitment to the study of leadership, management and marketing led him to attend a postgraduate course in “Management of Technology” at the State University of Milan. He has gained important teaching experience in leadership and marketing by teaching for the Publitalia master’s in marketing & communication, for the “Leaders for the Future” project of the Ambrosetti European House and for the “Skills & Behaviour” project of the Carlo Cattaneo University (LIUC), obtaining excellent evaluations from the students.

He demonstrated effective self-presentation skills and became a national leader in the field of anxiety disorders, gaining more than 250 new patients per year. He developed excellent skills in communicating with the general population, obtaining for soe years a column in the most read female weekly newspaper (Donna Moderna – Mondadori) and the weekly health newspaper (StarBene – Mondadori) with multiple and regular participation in national TV programmes (Rai, Mediaset) and national radio (Radio 24, Radio 1, Radio Montecarlo). He has published 6 popular books on mental health topics, which have sold more than 25,000 copies and have been translated into Polish and Spanish. His LinkedIn profile has more than 9000 links.

Networking

He has strong network-building skills. Among the psychiatric institutions that belong to his network, we find the following: The University of Texas at Austin -USA (Prof. Charles Nemeroff), the University of Miami - USA (Prof. Radu Savenau), Stanford University -USA (Prof. Alan Schatzberg), the University of Madison - USA (Prof. Ned Kalin), Maastricht University – Netherlands (Prof. Koen Schruers), the University of Fribourg – Germany (Prof. Thomas Schlaepfer), King’s University – London UK (Prof. Carmine Pariante), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - Brazil (Prof. Antonio E. Nardi), all of whom can issue a letter of recommendation.

He has been a member of several editorial boards of international scientific journals and is currently co-editor with Prof. Charles Nemeroff (University of Miami) of the scientific journal Personalized Medicine in Psychiatry, published by Elsevier in 2017.

Clinical Activity

He has more than 20 years of experience in treating patients with mental disorders and has become one of the leading experts in the field of anxiety and emotional disorders. He has a continuous clinical career in well-known Italian hospitals. At the age of 36, he became Deputy Head of the Department of Clinical and Scientific Anxiety Disorders at San Raffaele Hospital in Milan and at the age of 44, Head of a 75-bed psychiatric rehabilitation unit with 8 psychiatrists and 15 psychologists. Since 2013, he has been Chairman of the Clinical Neurosciences Department of Villa San Benedetto Menni – Hermanas Hospitalarias with a 75-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit, a day clinic, 2 outpatient facilities near Como and in Milan and a research centre. From 1^st January 2025, he is the Head of Mental Health Area, Sisters Hospitaller in Italy - ETS branch (Third-Sector Institution) including 3 centres in Italy for with more than 200 psychiatric beds, day care and day hospital units and outpatients’ facilities. From 1 June 2019, he is the Chief of the “Centre for Personalized Medicine for Anxiety and Panic Disorders” at Humanitas San Pio X Hospital in Milan and Scientific Director of PsicoCare at Humanitas Medical Care. From February 2025 he has been appointed as Head of the Mental Health Center of Humanitas Group (8 general hospitals, 23 out-patient facilities). From July 2025 he is the Scientific & Strategic Director of CRA-Mirabilis, a highly intensive rehabilitation community, Mantovani Foundation. In all the areas of responsibility described, he brought a strong innovative and pragmatic approach, resulting in high standards of clinical quality and effective financial profitability.

Scientific Speaker’s Activity

He has been a speaker at more than 90 national and international conferences and congresses and at more than 20 conferences for the general public on various mental health topics.

Non-Profit activities

He has donated his unpaid services to several charitable organizations. He was one of the founders and member of the Scientific Committee of the non-profit association FreeFromFears in Milan and from 2013 to 2019 Scientific Director and member of the Executive Committee of the non-profit International Foundation for the Support of Psychiatric Research. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Italian Associate Chapter of Association for Behavior Analysis International (IACABAI) and Chairman of the Section of Personalized Psychiatry of the World Psychiatric Association – WPA. He was a member of the Executive Committee and President of the Scientific Committee of AIAMC (Italian Association for Behavior Analysis and Modification) (www.aiamc.it). He is President of the Scientific Committee of the non-profit association ALPA (Free from panic and anxiety) (www.infoalpa.it) and a member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

He has participated in several fundraising meetings for mental health issues and coordinated research projects in collaboration with the above non-profit organizations.

Other Interests

He is particularly interested in factors related to physical and mental well-being. in 2007 he published the popular bestseller “Psicofitness” and in 2008 he was the founder and scientific director of the Mental Fitness Institute in Milan, where he developed an anti-stress program for managers and top athletes until 2010.