Torleif Ruud is a semi-retired senior researcher at the R&D department for mental health services at Akershus University Hospital and professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of Oslo. He was earlier head of the R&D department, and he chaired the Third European Congress on Assertive Outreach in Oslo 2015. He has long clinical experience with people with severe mental illness as leader and psychiatrist at a community mental health centre in Western Norway. His work as a researcher includes clinical and mental health services research regarding ACT teams, crisis resolution teams, acute psychiatric departments, community mental health centres, shared care of primary care and mental health care, children with parental illness, patient experiences, and implementation of evidence-based practices for people with psychosis.