Dr. Petr Winkler did his Ph.D. in Health Service and Population Research at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London. He established and has been leading the Department of Public Mental Health at the National Institute of Mental Health, Czech Republic (NIMH CZ), which, as of February 2021, has been designated as the WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Service Research and Development. In June 2021, he was appointed as a director of NIMH CZ.
In the recent decade, he has been involved in the development and implementation of the Czech mental health care reform and has been leading its three nation-wide projects focused on stigma, early interventions in psychosis, and system for evidence based mental health care development.
Petr co-authored both, National Mental Health Action Plan 2030 and National Suicide Prevention Plan of the Czech Republic. His research and practice is very much focused on improving mental health care in the region of Central and Eastern Europe.