Bernd Schulte

Bernd Schulte is a researcher at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Faculty of Medicine. His work focuses primarily on addiction medicine, mental health care, and public health approaches to substance use disorders, particularly alcohol-related conditions.

Dr. Schulte's research interests span across multiple domains including alcohol use disorders, collaborative care models for mental health, public health policy related to substance use, and the epidemiology of addiction. His work often involves analyzing healthcare systems and developing interventions for improving treatment access and outcomes for individuals with substance use disorders. He has conducted extensive research on alcohol consumption patterns, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has examined healthcare utilization patterns among individuals with alcohol use disorders.

His publication record demonstrates a strong focus on collaborative care models, particularly the COMET study which examines stepped care approaches for mental disorders in primary care settings. Much of his recent work involves data linkage studies to examine patient trajectories and care pathways for individuals with alcohol dependence, often using German routine healthcare data. His research has increasingly addressed the intersection of mental health and substance use disorders, particularly heavy drinking and depression.

Dr. Schulte has been actively involved in international collaborations, particularly with Latin American countries on scaling up primary healthcare-based prevention and management of heavy drinking and comorbid depression. His work also extends to policy research, including systematic reviews of alcohol marketing restrictions and their impact on consumption.