Professor Leweke is a clinical psychiatrist with broad interests in mental health conditions. In particular, he is interested in helping patients with early stages of mental health disorders as well as anxiety, mood disorders, disorders affecting attention and focus, and psychosis. He is an internationally renowned expert in diagnosing mental health conditions and their psychopharmacologic and general treatment.
Professor Leweke studied medicine at the University of Cologne, Germany and the University of New South Wales. He received his medical degree in 1991 and his doctoral degree in medicine in 1993, both from the University of Cologne. Subsequently, he received training in neurology at the Alfried-Krupp Hospital Essen and the Department of Epileptology at Bonn University, Germany. Further, he was trained as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist at Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany. He is board-certified as a specialist psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and neurologist by German State Medical Boards.
Following his training, he was appointed deputy head of the Department of Addiction at the Heinrich-Heine University Duesseldorf, Germany, in 1997. In 1999, he moved to the University of Cologne as a consultant psychiatrist, where he continued his clinical work in in- and outpatient psychiatry as well as his research and teaching. In 2004, he received his “venia legendi”, the right to work as a Professor of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. In 2009, he accepted a full professorship at Heidelberg University and Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH) Mannheim to become the Associate Clinical Director of the Department of Psychiatry at CIMH and the head of its Centre of Excellence in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Research. In 2016, he completed his Master of Arts in Healthcare Business Management and Health Economics at Fresenius University of Applied Sciences, Cologne, Germany.
Since 2017, he has been a Professor and Chair at the University of Sydney and a Consultant Psychiatrist at Sydney Local Health District. In 2019, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists accepted him as a Fellow.
His special clinical interests include early mental health disorders, including affective disorders, anxiety, and psychosis. He also has interests in trauma-related mental health conditions, disorders of emotional regulation and attention. He is devoted to an integrative view of mental health disorders and to accurate diagnostic procedures to find a conclusive diagnosis.
Among other honours, Professor Leweke was awarded the 2015 DGPPN Prize for Pharmacological Research of the German Association for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics for his work in the cannabinoid field.
Professor Leweke is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) and the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP). He is also a Member of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), the German Association for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (DGPPN), the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS), the Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP), and the Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS).
