Prof. em. Dr. med. Dr. phil. Dr. h.c. mult. Heinz Häfner was born in Munich in 1926 and was Director of the CIMH from 1975 until his retirement in 1994. After studying medicine, psychology and philosophy in Munich and working as an assistant in Tübingen and Munich, he came to Heidelberg in 1958. In 1967, he was appointed to the Chair of Psychiatry at the Faculty of Clinical Medicine Mannheim at the University of Heidelberg.

Häfner was deputy chairman of the federal expert commission on psychiatry. As part of the psychiatric reform, he advised the state of Baden-Württemberg and other states.

Until 2008, he advised the World Health Organization as an expert on mental health, was a member of the Presidium of the German Council of Science and Humanities and worked as an expert for national and international research funding institutions.

He was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class and the Grand Cross of Merit of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. He was a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and other national and international institutions and received many national and international scientific awards. Heinz Häfner died in 2022 at the age of 96. Institutionen und hat viele nationale und internationale wissenschaftliche Preise erhalten. Heinz Häfner verstarb 2022 im Alter von 96 Jahren.

Prof. em. Dr. Dr. Fritz A. Henn was Director of the CIMH, Medical Director of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and Chair of Psychiatry at the Mannheim Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University from 1994 to 2006. Born in Alden, Pennsylvania (USA) in 1941, he studied biology and medicine and headed several psychiatric clinics and research institutions in the USA.

Under his leadership, a paradigm shift in research took place at the CIMH in the 1990s: After the epidemiological, etiological and clinical research focus of the first 20 years, new methods and techniques now made innovative approaches possible. The CIMH took up these developments at an early stage and incorporated new research areas such as molecular biology, imaging, addiction research and neuropsychology into its research spectrum. In addition, interdisciplinary research within the CIMH was strengthened.

After his time as Director of the CIMH, Henn continued his research on depression at Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (both in New York). In the meantime, he has largely retired from professional activities. However, he remains associated with Germany as a reviewer for research projects.

Prof. em. Dr. med. Karl F. Mann studied medicine in Mainz, Innsbruck and Vienna. He trained as a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and neurologist in Mainz, Tübingen and Paris and completed his habilitation in Tübingen. He was appointed to the ZI in 1999 and took over the first chair for addiction research in Germany. Until his retirement in 2014, he was Medical Director of the then newly founded Clinic for Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine at the ZI. From 2006 to 2014, he was Deputy Director of the ZI. Following the departure of Fritz A. Henn in 2006, he took over as acting director of the institute for nine months.

Karl Mann's research focuses on the development and consequences of addictive behavior, particularly in relation to alcohol, nicotine, gambling and internet addiction. He has been the spokesperson for several research networks funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in which, among other things, new approaches to the individualized treatment of addicts were tested. He has received national and international research awards for his publications (most recently the prestigious Jellinek Memorial Award 2020).

Karl Mann was the founding president of the European Federation of Addiction Societies) (www.eufas.net. He led the development and updating of evidence-based guidelines for alcohol and tobacco-related disorders. Karl Mann was a consultant to the World Health Organization and a member of the WHO working group for the development of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). From 2016 to 2021, he was a senior professor at the Mannheim Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University.

Prof. em. Dr. Dr. med. Heinz Schepank studied psychology and medicine at the Free University of Berlin and the University of Würzburg and received his doctorate in 1954. From 1960 to 1970, he worked as a doctor, lecturer and finally as a teaching analyst and head of the department for children and adolescents at the Central Institute for Psychogenic Diseases in Berlin. In 1970, he became a senior consultant at the Psychosomatic University Clinic in Heidelberg, where he qualified as a professor in 1971. In 1975, he was appointed to the Chair of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychoanalysis at the Mannheim Medical Faculty and Medical Director of the Clinic for Psychosomatic and Psychotherapeutic Medicine at the CIMH. 

Heinz Schepank has made significant contributions to research into the causes of mental disorders. With his studies on twins, he made an important contribution to assessing the significance of genetic factors in certain mental disorders. His studies on the epidemiology of psychosomatic illnesses are also worthy of mention.

With his work, Heinz Schepank has provided decisive impetus for health care policy, contributed significantly to the establishment of psychotherapeutic medicine in Germany and earned high scientific recognition at home and abroad. Heinz Schepank was awarded emeritus status in 1999. He deceased in 2018.

Prof. em. Dr. Dr. Martin H. Schmidt was born in Bautzen in 1937. He studied medicine and psychology at the Universities of Cologne and Bonn and received his doctorate in 1965 and his PhD in 1970. In 1975, he was appointed to the Chair of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry by the Mannheim Medical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg and at the same time became the first Medical Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinic at the CIMH. As clinic director, researcher and deputy institute director, he made a significant contribution to the development of research excellence at the CIMH.

Even after his retirement in 2006, he continued to work both scientifically and as a forensic expert in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry. One focus of his research work is the investigation of the course of mental illnesses in children and adolescents as well as epidemiological studies such as the Mannheim Risk Children Study. In this pioneering study, several hundred Mannheim residents have been examined since childhood with regard to the development and course of mental disorders. The results of his research have significantly expanded our understanding of mental illness in childhood and adolescence.

Martin H. Schmidt was involved in various professional associations. He was Chairman of the German Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy and is its Honorary Chairman. The development of guidelines for the treatment of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders has always been a focus of his commitment.