Muhammad Irfan – President

Prof. Muhammad Irfan is the President of the World Association of Cultural Psychiatry and Vice President of the Pakistan Psychiatric Society. He also serves as Director of Research and Innovation at the Asian Cognitive Behavioral Therapies Association. Previously, he has served as the President of the Pakistan Association of Cognitive Therapists and the Pakistan Association of Medical Editors, and he has contributed to the global editorial community as one of the first voices elected from Asia to the Council of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Prof. Muhammad Irfan is currently working as a Professor of Psychiatry and Public Health at Peshawar Medical College, where he also chairs the Department of Mental Health, Psychiatry, and Behavioral Sciences. In addition, he serves as Director of Research and Chairs the Institutional Review Board.
Prof. Muhammad Irfan’s academic journey began at Khyber Medical College, followed by Membership and Fellowship in Psychiatry from College of Physicians and Surgeons and a Master’s and Ph.D. with Summa Cum Laude (on his work on culturally adapted interventions in conflict-affected areas) from the New University of Lisbon, Portugal.

With over 120 peer-reviewed publications, multiple culturally adapted self-help books and chapters with publishers such as Oxford, Wiley, and Elsevier, and numerous National and International awards to his credit, Prof. Muhammad Irfan has made significant contributions to research on culturally adapted interventions, global/ digital mental health, non-pharmacological interventions in psychiatry, capacity-building in research ethics, and the interface of socio-cultural factors with mental health.