Vikram Patel MSc MRCPsych PhD FMedSci

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Background

I am a psychiatrist with a special interest in global mental health. My passion is to contribute to the goal of closing the astonishing treatment gap and to protect the human rights of people with mental disorders worldwide. The Wellcome Trust has supported my work since 1996 and I am currently a Senior Clinical Research Fellow in Tropical Medicine. I am based for most of the year in Goa, India, working with Goan NGOs and the Government of Goa's Directorate of Health Services. I consider four contributions as being especially significant in my work. First, I am a co-founder of Sangath (www.sangath.com), a Goan NGO which won the MacArthur Foundation's International Prize in 2008. Second, I was an editor of the influential Lancet series on global mental health (2007). Third, I have been a leader in setting up the new Movement for Global Mental Health (www.globalmentalhealth.org). Finally, I wrote the book "Where There Is No Psychiatrist", a mental health care manual for non-specialist health workers, which is widely used in developing countries. Another passion of mine is making India's health system more equitable and just; I am currently leading the development of a new Lancet series on universal health care for all in India

Teaching

I corodinate a study module on international mental health for the MSc programs at the LSHTM (jointly run with the Institute of Psychiatry, London) and an annual one week intensive Short Course on Research Methods in International Mental Health (also jointly with the IoP) in London each year in August/September. I also coordinate two short courses run by Sangath in India: a two week short course on Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions (which includes the LSHTM Short Course on Clinical Trials); and a two week short course on Leadership in Mental Health (www.sangath.com) which aims to impart skills on scaling up services for people with mental disorders. Finally, I supervise a number of PhD students in the fields of international mental health and/or public health in India.

Research

My main research in recent years has been on the social and cultural determinants, epidemiology and treatment of mental disorders in community and primary health care settings in India and other resource poor settings. Examples of my recent research include: the association of poverty and gender based violence with depression and suicide; the relationship of mental disorders with other health priorities such as gynecological morbidities, adolescent health, HIV/AIDS and maternal and child health; and the development and evaluation of complex interventions for mental disorders integrated in routine care settings including in schools and primary health care. Recently, I have become increasingly involved in researching child mental disorders and developmental disabilities, and in research on chronic diseases which seeks to integrate mental health care with that for other chronic diseases.

Selected publications

• Patel, V.; Kirkwood, B.R.; Pednekar, S.; Pereira, B.; Barros, P.; Fernandes, J.; Datta, J.; Pai, R.; Weiss, H.; Mabey, D.; Gender disadvantage and reproductive health risk factors for common mental disorders in women: a community survey in India. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 2006; 63(4):404-13
• Patel, V.; Mental health in low- and middle-income countries. Br Med Bull, 2007; 81-82:81-96
• Patel, V.; Flisher, A.J.; Hetrick, S.; McGorry, P.; Mental health of young people: a global public-health challenge. Lancet, 2007; 369(9569):1302-13
• Wilcox, C.E.; Washburn, R.; Patel, V. Seeking help for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in developing countries: A study of parental explanatory models in Goa, India Social Science & Medicine, 2007; 64(8):1600-1610
• Patel, V.; Araya, R.; Chatterjee, S.; Chisholm, D.; Cohen, A.; De Silva, M.; Hosman, C.; McGuire, H.; Rojas, G.; van Ommeren, M.; Treatment and prevention of mental disorders in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet, 2007; 370(9591):991-1005
• Patel, V.; Simbine, A.P.; Soares, I.C.; Weiss, H.A.; Wheeler, E.; Prevalence of severe mental and neurological disorders in Mozambique: a population-based survey. Lancet, 2007; 370(9592):1055-60
• Collins, P.Y.; Holman, A.R.; Freeman, M.C.; Patel, V.; What is the relevance of mental health to HIV/AIDS care and treatment programs in developing countries? A systematic review. AIDS, 2006; 20(12):1571-1582
• Patel, V.; Chisholm, D.; Rabe-Hesketh, S.; Dias-Saxena, F.; Andrew, G.; Mann, A. Efficacy and cost-effectiveness of drug and psychological treatments for common mental disorders in general health care in Goa, India: a randomised, controlled trial Lancet, 2003; 361(9351):33-9

Full publications listing (since 2001)