Dear WADD members, friends and colleagues,

It is both an honor and a privilege to serve as President of the World Association on Dual Disorders. I assume this responsibility with great enthusiasm and with a deep awareness of the importance of our mission. WADD continues to grow not only because of our collective work, but above all because the need for our organization has never been greater.

I would first like to pay tribute to our former President and founder, Professor Pedro Ruiz, who sadly passed away. Professor Ruiz served as President of the American Psychiatric Association, the World Psychiatric Association, and, finally, WADD. He was a pioneer in our field—first dedicating his career to addiction psychiatry and later becoming one of the earliest and most influential advocates for the recognition and treatment of dual disorders. Succeeding him is both a profound honor and a considerable responsibility.

Above all, I would like to thank every one of you for placing your trust in me to lead our association.

I am fortunate to be joined by a diverse and highly experienced Executive Committee:

• Icro Maremmani, Vice President
• Yatan Balhara, Secretary
• Javier Didia-Atta, Treasurer
• Rubén Baler
• Jun Chen
• Shalini Arunogiri
• Leo Sher
• Marta Torrens.
• Lars Lien

Although they need little introduction, I am delighted to present these valued friends and colleagues. I am deeply grateful for their commitment to WADD and to advancing the understanding and treatment of dual disorders worldwide.

Many scientific societies focus on mental disorders, while many others concentrate on addictions. WADD, however, is the only international scientific society dedicated specifically to dual disorders.

Epidemiological evidence and advances in neuroscience consistently show that dual disorders are the expectation rather than the exception. Nevertheless, they continue to be overlooked, underdiagnosed, and inadequately treated. Why does this remain the case?

As the Scientific Network of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs stated in “Managing Dual Disorders”:

“Lack of attention is driven in part by lack of training of clinicians on how to diagnose and treat dual disorders, as well as by the structural differentiation and lack of coordination, in many countries, between programs to treat drug use disorders and those to treat other mental illnesses.”

— Nora D. Volkow et al., World Psychiatry, October 2020 Addressing these gaps in training, diagnosis, treatment, and coordination will be central to our work.

In the years ahead, we will continue to strengthen WADD as a global scientific community. Much work lies before us, but I firmly believe that our shared effort will be worthwhile. As science advances across multiple fields, we must work together to develop and promote an integrated understanding of dual disorders grounded in neuroscience, clinical evidence, and precision psychiatry—an approach urgently needed in the third decade of the 21st century.

We will need your ideas, expertise, energy, and participation to build an even stronger WADD. This is what our patients, their families, healthcare professionals, and society rightly expect from us.

As President, I look forward to writing to you regularly through the WADD Newsletter «Dual Disorders Digest»so that we can maintain close and continuous communication. I am also confident that our World Congresses will remain exceptional opportunities to exchange knowledge, strengthen collaborations, and meet one another in person.

Thank you for your trust and commitment. I look forward to working with all of you.

With my very best wishes,

Nestor Szerman
President
World Association on Dual Disorders (WADD)