Janos Marton, Ph.D., Wins 4th Annual Dr. Guislain "Breaking the Chains of Stigma" Award

GHENT, Belgium, Oct. 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Dr. Guislain Museum and Janssen Research & Development, LLC, announced that Janos Marton, Ph.D., director, The Living Museum in Queens, New York, has been named the 2015 winner of the Dr. Guislain "Breaking the Chains of Stigma" Award. The award honors Dr. Marton for his extraordinary efforts and distinctive ability to nurture creativity of individuals living with mental illness and for establishing a groundbreaking and flourishing artistic community within a mental health care setting.  He will be recognized for his contributions tomorrow during a ceremony and concert in his honor at the Opera House Ghent, in Belgium.

Over the last 30 years, Dr. Marton has fostered an environment of artistic expression at The Living Museum located within the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center. At The Living Museum, people with mental illness are encouraged to transform their experiences to artistic expression, a shift that can have profound implications for a patient's overall well-being. Driven by a desire to empower his patients, Dr. Marton is the curator of the largest collection of art by people living with a mental illness in the United States.

Through The Living Museum, Dr. Marton has positively impacted the lives of many patients, volunteers, students, artists and mental health professionals. To date, this concept of creating an artistic atmosphere for mental health patients has sparked similar creative centers regionally and globally, from Long Island to Switzerland to Holland.   

"Having studied art earlier in my education, I had the privilege of meeting great academics and practitioners who helped me formulate the treatment approach that resulted in The Living Museum," said Dr. Marton. "Creating a protected space for people with mental illness to express themselves is one of the defining achievements of my life and to see patients benefit is extremely gratifying. I am truly honored to have been considered and selected for this award." 

"Dr. Marton's enthusiasm for his patients has altered many lives and perceptions over the past three decades," said Brother Rene Stockman, general manager of the Dr. Guislain Museum. "It's an honor to acknowledge the accomplishments of someone whose patient-focused actions so closely resemble that of Dr. Guislain."

"Janssen is pleased to recognize the life-changing work of Dr. Marton to remind society of the great potential and abilities of people touched by brain disorders," said Husseini K. Manji, M.D., Global Therapeutic Area Head for Neuroscience, Janssen Research & Development, LLC. "We honor Dr. Marton for his work to break down stigma and for creating a best practice to help the treatment and recovery of patients with mental illness."

The Dr. Guislain "Breaking the Chains of Stigma" Award is named for, and honors, the legacy of Dr. Joseph Guislain (1797-1860), the first Belgian psychiatrist to provide scientifically based treatment for patients with mental illness and a staunch patient advocate. Both Dr. Guislain Museum and Janssen are organizations with a rich heritage and long-standing involvement in the field of mental illness research, treatment and education. For nearly 30 years, the Museum has existed to educate the public and rectify the misunderstandings and prejudice associated with treatment for mental illness.

The Dr. Guislain Award program is a joint project of the Dr. Guislain Museum and Janssen Research & Development, LLC. Janssen provides financial and in-kind support for the program. Dr. Marton will receive a $50,000 prize that must be used toward further work to reduce societal stigma about mental health and disorders of the brain.

Janssen's sponsorship of this award reflects its more than 50-year commitment to helping find solutions for patients with mental illness. The Award is an important component of the Healthy Minds initiative of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, which aims to encourage collaboration among biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and public-sector partners to accelerate the discovery of new therapeutic solutions for diseases and disorders of the brain, as well as support the mental health community and various advocacy organizations and projects.

Dr. Guislain Museum issued the call for nominations for the Dr. Guislain "Breaking the Chains of Stigma" Award on 27 January, 2015. More than 54 nominations were received from across the globe, after which a jury of international mental health advocates and renowned authorities in the field selected Dr. Marton.

About the Dr. Guislain "Breaking the Chains of Stigma" Award
Individuals, organizations or projects all over the world that have made an exceptional contribution in dealing with, or promoting the awareness of, mental health care are eligible to receive the Dr. Guislain "Breaking the Chains of Stigma" Award. The Award is given to an individual(s), organization or project that:

• has made an exceptional contribution to mental healthcare in the broadest sense on a cultural and/or social level;
• has provided a genuine contribution to decreasing stigma around mental health conditions;
• has promoted attention for mental health care; and
• has done all this with passion, creativity and innovation.

The jury is comprised of:

• Mohan Agashe – Actor, psychiatrist, member of Governing and Executive Council at Children Film Society of India
• Lisa Appignanesi – London-based author, former president of English PEN, chair of trustees of the Freud Museum in London
• Siri Hustvedt – Essayist, novelist and poet
• Patrick Kennedy – Former U.S. Congressman and the co-founder/co-chairman of One Mind for Research
• Vikram Patel – Professor of International Mental Health and Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow in Clinical Science at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, co-director of the Public Health Foundation of India's Centre for Chronic Conditions and Injuries, co-founder of Sangat and fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences
• Bernard Sabbe – Professor of medical psychology and psychiatry at University of Antwerp and Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and psychiatrist/psychotherapist at Sint-Norbertus Psychiatric Hospital in Duffel
• Erik Thys – Psychiatrist in the University Psychiatric Centre at the KU Leuven in Kortenberg and the Psycho-Social Centre St. Alexius Ixelles in Brussels

About Dr. Guislain Museum
The Dr. Guislain Museum was founded in 1986 in Ghent, Belgium, and its exhibits address the history of psychiatry in a permanent collection and through a series of half-yearly changing thematic exhibitions. The Museum features an array of psychiatric photographs, two centuries of comprehensive archives and an extensive library chronicling the history of psychiatry. Comprehensively, the Museum seeks to educate the public and rectify the misunderstandings and prejudice associated with treatment for mental illness. The Museum Dr. Guislain attracts 70,000 visitors each year.

About Dr. Joseph Guislain
Dr. Joseph Guislain (1797-1860) was a driven activist for patients with mental illness and the first Belgian psychiatrist to provide scientifically-based treatment for these individuals. As a passionate advocate for those with mental illness, Dr. Guislain worked tirelessly to stand up for the rights of patients and help improve their social position. He lectured and published extensively about mental illness and enjoyed considerable recognition by his contemporaries.

For more information, about the Dr. Guislain Award, please visit www.drguislainaward.org.

Contact:
Patrick Allegaert
Dr. Guislain Museum 
+32 479.33.28.67 
[email protected]

SOURCE Dr. Guislain Museum

Related Links

http://www.drguislainaward.org