Dr. Riyal Das is a distinguished physician, psychiatric epidemiologist, clinical researcher, academician, and mental-health entrepreneur with extensive experience in neuropsychiatric research, preventive psychiatry, clinical practice, and mental-health program development. Since December 2020, Dr. Das has been serving as Head of Department & Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatric Epidemiology, Institute of Psychiatry–Centre of Excellence (IOP-COE), Kolkata. In this role, Dr. Das leads research and academic activities focused on prevention, early detection, treatment, and understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders, with particular emphasis on psychopathology, pathophysiology, and cognitive function.

Professional Experience

Dr. Das has held several significant positions across academia, clinical research, healthcare, and industry. Prior to the current leadership role, Dr. Das served as Medical Officer in Psychiatric Epidemiology at IOP-COE from 2018 to 2020, contributing to psychiatric services, community outreach, mental-health awareness, and research data collection.

Dr. Das is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CopeApp Healthcare (India), a mental-health consultation organization providing access to psychiatric and psychological services. Through this initiative, Dr. Das has contributed to mental-health consultation, behavioral-neuroscience research, employee training, quality assurance, and suicide-prevention research involving adolescents.

Internationally, Dr. Das gained valuable clinical research and pharmacovigilance experience through positions at Genentech, USA, working on neuroscience, neuromedicine, clinical trials, medical devices, adverse-event monitoring, regulatory compliance, and product development. Earlier experience with the American Red Cross involved mental-health epidemiology, suicide prevention, mood disorders, stakeholder interviews, and implementation of preventive programs.

Teaching, Mentoring & Academic Leadership

Dr. Das teaches postgraduate courses in Preventive Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology within the Neuropsychiatric Medicine program. Dr. Das actively mentors postgraduate students in Neuropsychiatric Medicine, Clinical Psychology, and Psychiatric Social Work and provides research supervision on topics involving OCD, schizophrenia, caregiver burden, expressed emotion, resilience, psychological wellness, and social support.

Research Contributions

Dr. Das has developed a multidisciplinary research portfolio covering psychosis, mood disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, addiction, suicide-related stress, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, and mental-health consequences of emerging health conditions.

Notable publications include research on cognitive impairment in Long COVID patients with psychiatric sequelae, first-episode psychosis associated with asymptomatic COVID-19 infection, psychosocial interventions in bipolar disorder and alcohol dependence, and combined cyproheptadine and dexamethasone dependence. Dr. Das has also contributed to research examining anxiety and psychological assessment tools across regional and cultural settings.

Research Supervision & Ongoing Projects

Dr. Das serves as principal investigator and research supervisor for several projects addressing clinically relevant psychiatric and public-health questions. Current research includes studies on serum magnesium and psychiatric disorders, vortioxetine in major depressive disorder, antidepressant-related metabolic effects, Internet Gaming Disorder, caregiver stigma and burden in families of children with autism, resilience among people living with HIV/AIDS, and family and peer relationships in children with ADHD.

Mental-Health & Community Impact

Beyond academic research, Dr. Das has demonstrated a strong commitment to mental-health awareness, disease prevention, suicide prevention, and community-oriented psychiatric services. Dr. Das has been involved in developing and implementing mental-health awareness and assistance programs and has worked toward strengthening preventive approaches to psychiatric illness.

Key Areas of Expertise

• Psychiatric Epidemiology
• Preventive Psychiatry
• Neuropsychiatry and Neuroscience
• Psychosis and Mood Disorders
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Mental-Health Research
• Clinical Research and Pharmacovigilance
• Suicide Prevention
• Psychosocial Interventions
• Research Supervision and Postgraduate Mentoring
• Mental-Health Awareness and Community Programs

Eligibility for Best Researcher Award 

Dr. Riyal Das is eligible for the Best Researcher Award in Scientific Laurels based on a strong combination of academic leadership, multidisciplinary research, peer-reviewed scientific publications, postgraduate research supervision, principal-investigator responsibilities, international clinical research experience, and sustained contributions to psychiatric epidemiology and preventive mental health. Dr. Das's work addresses significant and emerging public-health challenges, including psychosis, mood disorders, addiction, suicide-related stress, autism, ADHD, and mental-health consequences of infectious diseases. The combination of research leadership, scientific output, mentoring, clinical expertise, and community impact makes Dr. Riyal Das a strong candidate for recognition as Best Researcher Award.