Joaquin Fuentes

Joaquin Fuentes was born in San Sebastian, Spain and graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Zaragoza. Then, after taking a rotating internship at the Hospital of Gipuzkoa in his hometown, went for his Psychiatry residence to the Albany Medical Center / Albany Medical College in New York, USA and completed later a Child Psychiatry Fellowship at the Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic, University of Pittsburgh, USA.

He is the Head of the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Unit of Policlinica Gipuzkoa in San Sebastian, and has significantly contributed during the last two decades to the development of GAUTENA, a community initiative supporting persons with Autism Spectrum Disorders in the province of Gipuzkoa, Basque Country of Spain, where he serves now as their Scientific Advisor.

His professional tasks include his participation in diverse research and innovation projects in the Basque Country, the Spanish State and the European Union. He was a member of the Special Education Committee of the Basque Government; the DSM-IV field trial for autism as well as of the Child Mental Health Yale University International Program. He is advisor of Autism Europe and has been the scientific coordinator for the Autism Spectrum Disorder Study Group of the (National) Institute of Health Carlos III of Spain. He is currently member of the Executive Committee of IACAPAP (International Association of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions) and of the International and Program Committees of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.