Antoni Gual i Solé

Antoni Gual i Solé (Igualada, 1956) is a Catalan psychiatrist and researcher specialized in alcoholism and other addictions. He has been the head of the Addictive Behaviors Unit at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and the Clinical Addictions Research Group at the August Pi i Sunyer Institute for Biomedical Research (IDIBAPS) . 
Among his most outstanding milestones is being one of the introducers of motivational interviewing and brief interventions for alcoholism in Spain, as well as having led the research teams that standardized consumption measures as the Standard Drinks and the Standard Joint Unit . He has also been a leading researcher on research teams involved in pharmacological studies for the treatment of alcoholism (nalmefene, acamprosate, naltrexone) and cocaine dependence https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Antoni-Gual.
== Biography ==
Born in Igualada (Anoia, Catalonia), he is the first child of six. He is the father of two daughters, and the grandfather of two grandchildren. He is married in second nuptials.
His family moved to Lleida when he was very young and attended the Marist school in the capital of Segrià.
He studied Medicine and Surgery at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Barcelona (1973-1979) and specialized in Psychiatry (1983). He received his doctorate in Medicine with cum laude (1990) with his thesis "Group therapy in alcoholic patients: experimental evaluation of its effectiveness.https://www.educacion.gob.es/teseo/mostrarRef.do?ref=72378"
From 1985 until his retirement (2021) he was head of the Addictive Behaviors Unit of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and from its creation (2018) until his retirement (2021) head of the Clinical Addiction Research Group of IDIBAPS. He had previously developed a long research activity as a principal investigator in the IDIBAPS psychiatry research group. In addition, he has been an associate professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Barcelona, co-founder and co-head of the Bonanova Center, and member and director of several scientific societies. He is vice-president of INEBRIA (since 2005), has been president and vice-president of the Spanish Scientific Society for the study of alcohol, alcoholism and other drug addictions (SOCIDROGALCOHOL) (1996-2004 and 1984-1987), president of the Catalan delegation of Socidrogalcohol (1989-1996) and president of the European Federation of Addiction Societies (2014) http://www.eufas.net/. He is chairman of the Motivational Interview Spanish Working Group (GETEM) . He has been a temporary advisor to the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization, and a member of the Mental Health and Addictions Advisory Council of Catalonia and the Standing Committee of the Mental Health and Addictions Advisory Council of Catalonia. He was the founder and chief clinician of the Comprehensive Care Program for the Sick Doctor (PAIMM) of the Council of Medical Associations of Catalonia (1997).
He has been a member of the Addictive Disorders Network (RETICS) and the Consortium on the Study of Alcoholic LiVer disease in Europe (SALVe).
He is a member of the editorial board of the journal Adicciones, the journal Alcoologie et Addictologie, the journal Trastornos Adictivos and the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry. He was a member of the editorial board of Alcoscope. He is also an advisor to the journals “Mental Health and Substance Use: Dual Diagnosis”, “Medicina Clínica” and “The Open Addiction Journal”.
He has published more than 150 articles in prestigious scientific journals , countless book chapters, papers at national and international conferences, workshops and other trainings. He has directed 6 doctoral theses, more than 10 international projects and several projects with competitive national and international public funding as well as private projects.
Since his retirement at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona (March 2021), he is an emeritus researcher at IDIBAPS and continues to practice clinical psychiatry in private practice.
== Awards and acknowledgments ==
* Prize 'Reina Sofia to the research in drug addictions 1990' granted by CREFAT (Spanish Red Cross, Foundation for the Attention to the Drug Addictions) on the occasion of his doctoral thesis.
* Second prize for the best poster at the XII Congress of the Association of European Psychiatrists, held in Geneva (Switzerland) in 2004 with the poster entitled: Gender differences in inpatient impaired physicians. Authors: Pilar Lusilla, Miquel Casas, Antoni Gual
* Second prize in the Reina Sofia Prize in the category 'Prevention in the field of education and community' 2006 by CREFAT (Spanish Red Cross, Foundation for the Care of Drug Addictions) in the Technical Body of Drug Addictions of the Ministry of Health paper program 'Drink Less', which has been developed under his supervision since 1998.
* Award for the best Poster in the VI National Congress of Prevention and treatment of smoking, Logroño 28/10/2006. 'Impact of the training of health professionals in minimal intervention in smoking for hospitalized patients'. Authors: Neva G, Ballbé M, Gual A, Mondon S, Walther M, Saltó E.
* Award from the Center for Industrial Technological Development of the Ministry of Science and Innovation, in acknowledgment of the leadership of the European Project Alice Rap (2011).
Category:1956 births
Category:Spanish psychiatrists
Category:Spanish researcher
Category:People from Anoia
Category:University of Barcelona alumni