On Tuesday, April 22, 2025, Gerald Nestadt, MBBCh, MPH, gave a talk via Zoom, “OCD: A Broad Overview,” as part of the Alan Hu Foundation Mental Health Lecture Series. Dr. Nestadt covered the history, phenomenology (the study of consciousness and the objects of direct experience), epidemiology (the study of the distribution, determinants, and control of health-related states or events in populations), and treatment options for obsessive compulsive disorder. Alan Hu Foundation President Xiaofang Chen shared, “Many young people struggle with OCD. We want to offer help, hope, and support to them and their families. We appreciate Three Valleys Community Foundation for the generous grant to fund this webinar, and their commitment to mental health.”
6:42 What is OCD
12:05 Obsessive-compulsive personality
13:44 Medical Conditions: OCD
20:10 Clinical Features: Age at Onset
26:06 Medication Management
30:12 Treatment Guidelines
32:09 Behavioral Management
38:06 Neuro-Surgical Management
41:10 Q&A
Gerald Nestadt is the Rudolf Hoehn-Saric MD and Evanne Hoehn-Saric MD Professor of Anxiety and OCD Research at Johns Hopkins University. He completed his medical training in South Africa and his psychiatric training at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institution in Baltimore. He pursued additional training in psychiatric epidemiology. His primary academic focus is OCD (genetics, epidemiology, and computational), and has led both university-based and national collaborative groups studying the genetics of OCD. In addition to research endeavors, he has directed the Hopkins OCD clinic and taught students and residents for the past forty years.
The free webinar was held on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, at 5:00-6:00 pm PT via Zoom. It included 15 minutes for questions and answers following Dr. Nestadt’s presentation. The Mental Health Association for Chinese Communities at https://www.mhacc-usa.org provided simultaneous Chinese interpretation.
We were honored and privileged that Dr. Nestadt shared his knowledge and experience of OCD. We were grateful to our audience for tuning in across United States as well as from Aruba, Australia, Benin, Canada, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Thank you, MHACC Founder and President Elaine Peng. Thank you, I-Ching Ng, for simultaneous Chinese Interpretation.