University Seminars on Global Mental Health
About The Program
The Columbia University Seminars on Global Mental Health aims to facilitate professional collaborations and host programs that address and advance the scientific, policy, and practical aspects of making mental health a core component of the global health agenda. Since its foundation in 2012, the monthly seminars have hosted thousands of students, faculty, and community members to engage in thoughtful learning and networking.
Dr. Claire Greene and Dr. Kate Lovero began serving as the faculty co-chairs of the University Seminar Series during the 2021-2022 academic year, continuing and growing its mission of bringing together diverse scholars and community leaders for dynamic discourse that advances initiatives in global mental health. A complete archive of our University Seminars in Global Mental Health since 2012 can be found below.
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Complete Program Archive 2012-present
2023
January 30, 2023
Reaching Children in Context: Family - and Community-based Intervention Approaches
Eve Puffer, PhD · Associate Profesor, Psychology & Neuroscience and Global Health, Duke University
2022
December 12, 2022
Making climate "resilience" and "adaptation" real through mental health systems: Transformative prospects for the UN Race to Resilience
Gary Belkin, MD, PhD, MPH · Director, Billion Minds Project, Columbia University; Chair, COP2
November 14, 2022
Adapting scalable psychological interventions for refugee men in Uganda
Josephine Akellot · Mental Health Technical Leader and Acting Associate Program Director, HealthRight International Uganda
Lena Skovgaard Andersen · Assistant Professor, University of Copenhagen
Teresa Au · Consultant, WHO Department of Mental Health and Substance Use
Marx Ronald Leku · Project Coordinator, HealthRight International Uganda
Wietse Tol · Professor, University of Copenhagen
Moderator: Claire Greene · Assistant Professor of Forced Migration and Health, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
October 10, 2022
Mental health in the context of human mobility: Perspectives from researchers and practitioners
Camilo Ramirez · Country Director, HIAS Colombia
Diany Castellar · Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Program Officer, HIAS Colombia
Matthew Schojan · Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Research Manager, HIAS
Adam Brown · Associate Professor, The New School for Social Research
Bryan Cheng · Director of Research, Global Mental Health Lab, Teachers College
Lena Verdeli · Director and Associate Professor, Global Mental Health Lab, Teachers College
Jeremy Kane · Assistant Professor, Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
April 26, 2022
Competency of Non-Specialists in Global Mental Health: An Introduction to the WHO/UNICEF Ensuring Quality in Psychological Support (EQUIP) Platform
Brandon Kohrt, MD, PhD · Charles and Sonia Akman Professor in Global Psychiatry; Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Global Health and Anthropology; Director, Division of Global Mental Health, George Washington University
March 29, 2022
Challenges and Opportunities in Implementing the Collaborative Care Model in Vietnam and Nepal
Bibhav Acharya, MD · Associate Professor, University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Director, UCSF Psychiatry HEAL Fellowship in Global Mental Health; Co-founder, Possible
Victoria Ngo, PhD · Associate Professor, The City University of New York (CUNY) Department of Community Health and Social Sciences; Director, Center for Innovation in Mental Health; Director, Global Mental Health, Center for Immigrant, Refugee, and Global Health; Adjunct Behavioral Scientist, RAND Corporation
January 25, 2022
Shamiri: A Simple, Scalable, and Stigma-Free Mental Health Intervention for Adolescents in Kenya
Tom Osborn · Co-founder and CEO, Shamiri Institute; AB, Psychology, Harvard University
Katherine Venturo-Conerly · Co-founder and Scientific Director, Shamiri Institute; PhD Candidate, Clinical Psychology, Harvard University
Rosine Baseke · Research Associate, Shamiri Institute; Master of International Relations, United States International University-Africa
Moderator: Claude Ann Mellins, PhD · Professor of Medical Psychology (in Sociomedical Sciences and Psychiatry) at the Columbia University Medical Center
2021
December 7, 2021
Climate Change and Global Mental Health
Christy A. Denckla, PhD · Assistant Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University
Kyle X. Hill, PhD, MPH · Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa / Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate / Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe; Assistant Professor, University of North Dakota; Associate Faculty, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Julian Eaton, MD, MRCPsych · Assistant Professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Mental Health Director, CBM Global
Ashlee Cunsolo, PhD · Founding Dean of the School of Arctic and Subartic Studies, Labrador Institute of Memorial University
Jura Augustinavicius, PhD · Assistant Professor, School of Population and Global Health, McGill University
October 26, 2021
Task-Shifting for Maternal Mental Health in Low Resource Settings: Challenges & Opportunities
Siham Sikander, PhD · Associate Professor, Health Services Academy Islamabad, Pakistan, and University of Liverpool, UK
Moderator: Lisa Bates, ScD · Vice Chair for Education and Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
September 28, 2021
Social Determinants of Mental Health: Challenges and Opportunities for Interventions
Crick Lund, PhD · Professor of Global Mental Health and Development, King’s College London, UK
Moderator: Kathleen J. Sikkema, PhD · Stephen Smith Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
May 10, 2021
Advancing Identification and Treatment for Individuals with Early Psychosis in Chile
Franco Mascayano · Doctoral Candidate at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and New York State Psychiatric Institute
Cristian Montenegro, BA, PhD · Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Ezra Susser, MD, DrPH · Professor of Epidemiology and Psychiatry, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and New York State Psychiatric Institute
Lisa Dixon, MD, MPH · Edna L. Edison Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
April 28, 2021
Effectiveness of the Common Elements Treatment Approach (CETA) in Treating Unhealthy Alcohol Use and Comorbid Mental Health Problems Among People Living with HIV in Zambia: The ZCAP Trial
Anjali Sharma, ScD · Senior Research Technical Advisor and ZCAP Site Principal Investigator, Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ)
Tukiya Kanguya, MSc · Research Coordinator and ZCAP Study Director, Centre for Infectious Disease Research In Zambia (CIDRZ)
Chipo Chitambi · Data Coordinator and ZCAP Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ)
Jeremy Kane, PhD · Assistant Professor, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
February 16, 2021
The Importance of Representation in Mental Health Care for Adolescents Living with HIV
Merrian Brooks, DO, MS · Pediatrician and Adolescent Medicine Specialist, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2020
December 7, 2020
Adversity, Resilience and Protective Processes in Child and Adolescent Mental health: Examples from Sierra Leone and Rwanda
Theresa S. Betancourt, ScD, MA · Salem Professor in Global Practice; Director, Research Program on Children and Adversity, Boston College School of Social Work
Alethea Desrosiers, PhD · Research Assistant Professor in Global Practice, Boston College School of Social Work
October 16, 2020
Mental Health Equity from Local Engagement to Global Dissemination
Sidney Hankerson, MD, MBA · Co-Director, Columbia University Wellness Center; Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
September 15, 2020
Global Mental Health and Stigma: Advancing Science by Reaching the Most Vulnerable Populations
Lawrence Yang, PhD · Associate Professor in Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Global Public Health, New York University
January 27, 2020
CAMINANDO: Assessing Pre, Peri, and Post-migration Risks for Mental Health Problems in Adolescent Latinos Migrating to NYC without their Parents
Manuela Orjuela-Grimm, MD, ScM · Assistant Professor in Epidemiology and Pediatrics (Oncology), Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Roberto Lewis Fernandez, MD · Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons; Director of the New York State (NYS) Center of Excellence for Cultural Competence and the Hispanic Treatment Program
2019
December 9, 2019
The Mental Health Crisis in Mexico
María Elena Medina-Mora, PhD · Founder of Center for Global Mental Health Research; Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Heath, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
November 4, 2019
Mothers’ Childhoods and the Intergenerational Transmission of Mental Health Risk in the Context of Adversity
Pamela Scorza, PhD · Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University
October 7, 2019
Implementation Science Backwards: How to Evaluate and Improve Psychosocial Interventions in Humanitarian Settings
Sabrina Hermosilla, PhD · Investigative Researcher, University of Michigan Institute for Social Research
April 15, 2019
Every 40 Seconds: A Global Perspective on Suicide Prevention
Tahilia Rebello, PhD · Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center; Research Program Manager, World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Global Mental Health, Columbia University; Project Coordinator, Global Field Studies for ICD-11 Mental, Behavioural, and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Department of Mental Health and Substance Use, World Health Organization
February 4, 2019
Improving the Community-Based Registry and Treatment System for Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses in China
Michael Phillips, MD · Director, Suicide Research and Prevention Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine; Executive Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention; Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Clinical Epidemiology, Columbia University
2018
December 10, 2018
Building Global Research Capacity: Ethiopa Case Study
Christina P.C. Borba, PhD, MPH · Director, Research in the Department of Psychiatry; Director, Global and Local Center for Mental Health Disparities, Boston Medical Center; Assistant Professor, Boston University School of Medicine
November 26, 2018
Research Methods in Geographic Information Systems for Disaster Response
Brian Tomaszewski, PhD · Adjunct Professor, Centre for Disaster Management and Mitigation, Vellore Institute of Technology, India; Associate Professor, Department of Information Sciences and Technologies, Rochester Institute of Technology, NY, USA
October 15, 2018
E-Mental Health to Improve Access to Specialized Services
Graciela Rojas, MD · University of Chile and JW Goeth University in Frankfurt, Germany
April 16, 2018
Expanding Youth Mental Health Care Access in LMICs: Lessons from a School-Based Study in Haiti
Anne Becker, MD, PhD, SM · Maude and Lillian Presley Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
APRIL 2, 2018
The Soldier Must be Buried: Experiences of Appetitive Aggression, Avoidance, and Ways of Belonging among Former Forcibly Recruited Children and Youth
Helle Harnisch, PhD · PhD Fellow, Aarhus University, Department of Education and Danish Institute Against Torture
March 26, 2018
Violence, Mental Health and Early Childhood Development in Brazil: Initial Findings from a Collaborative Study
Silvia Martins, PhD · Co-Director, NIDA T32 Substance Abuse Epidemiology Training Program; Faculty member of the Psych-Neuro cluster of the Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
March 12, 2018
Intimate Partner Violence, Mental Health and Community Interventions in Low/Middle Income Countries
Cady Carlson, PhD · Assistant Professor, University of Alabama School of Social Work
February 12, 2018
The Psychology of Healthcare Decision Making (or How and Why We Fail to Do What the Data Tell Us?)
Sara Gorman, PhD · Public health and behavioral science expert and author of Denying to the Grave: Why We Ignore Facts That Will Save Us
January 29, 2018
Global Mental Health Meets Neuroscience: Synergy and Opportunity
Dan J. Stein, PhD · Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town; Director of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Unit on Anxiety Disorders, and Visiting Professor of Psychiatry at Mt. Sinai Medical School in New York
2017
November 24, 2017
Fountain House: Improving the Health of People with Serious Mental Illness: The Case for Community
Ralph Aquila, MD · Medical Director, Fountain House
James Knickman, PhD · Director of Health Evaluation and Analytics Program (HEAP), NYU Wagner School of Public Service
November 13, 2017
Child Psychiatry in a Least Developing Country: The Only Child Psychiatrist in Nepal Shares his Experience
Arun Raj Kunwar, MD · Chief Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Kanti Children’s Hospital
October 16, 2017
Community Mental Health: Politics, Policy and Practice in NYC: 1979-2017
Ellen Baxter · Founder and Executive Director; Broadway Housing Communities
September 25, 2017
Future Directions of the Canada Grand Challenges TEAM Grant
David Ndetei, MD, PhD · Professor of Psychiatry, University of Nairobi; Founding Director, Africa Mental Health Foundation
Victoria Mutiso, PhD · Director of Research, Administration and Finance; Africa Mental Health Foundation
April 17, 2017
Implications of Theories of Etiology and Implications for Stigma: Does the Medical Model Really Reduce Stigma for Mental Illness?
Matt Lebowitz · Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Center for Research on Ethical, Legal and Social Implications of Psychiatric, Neurologic and Behavioral Genetics at Columbia University
March 27, 2017
Psychosocial Support for War-Affected Children and Challenges to Mental Health Systems: A View from Ukraine
Mike Wessells, PhD · Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
February 27, 2017
Dementia and Global Neurology
Hiral Shah, MD · Assistant Professor of Neurology in the Division of Multispecialty Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center
2016
December 5, 2016
Faith Healers and Western Medicine in Global Mental Health: Points of Conflict and Consensus
Ezra Susser, MD, DrPH · Director, Psychiatric Epidemiology Training program; Co-Founder, Global Mental Health Program, Columbia University
Megan Campbell, PhD · Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Mental Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa
November 14, 2016
Mental Health Impacts of Global Climate Change: Beyond a Disaster Framework
Thomas Doherty, PsyD · Licensed Psychologist; Faculty in the Ecopsychology Certificate Program, Lewis and Clark Graduate School; Past President, APA Div 34, Society for Environment, Population and Conservation Psychology
October 24, 2016
Applications of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015
Harvey Whiteford, PhD · Professor of Population Mental Health, University of Queensland School of Public Health, Australia
Holly Erskine, PhD · Research Fellow, Psychiatric Epidemiology and Burden of Disease Group (PEABOD), University of Queensland School of Public Health, Australia
May 2, 2016
Mental Health and the Economic Crisis in Europe: What Changed? Who Changed
Kai Ruggeri, PhD · Affiliated Lecturer, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge
March 7, 2016
OSITA: Outreach, Screening, and Intervention for Trauma for Internally Displaced Women Residing in Bogota, Colombia
James Shultz, MS, PhD · Director, Center for Disease and Extreme Event Preparedness (DEEP Center); Senior Fellow, Comprehensive Drug Research Center (CDRC), University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
February 9, 2016
24 and Ready to Die: The Ethics of Physician Aid in Dying and Mental Illness
Tia Powell, MD · Director, Montefiore Einstein Center for Bioethics; Professor, Clinical Epidemiology and Clinical Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
January 25, 2016
What We Can Learn from the Asylum: A Documentary Quest
Lucy Winer · Filmmaker, Kings Park: Stories from an American Mental
2015
December 14, 2015
Developing Apps to Transform Mental Health Care Globally
Reuben N. Robbins, PhD · Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychology (in Psychiatry), Columbia University
November 9, 2015
Global Mental Health Priorities and Opportunities
The WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Capacity Building in Mental Health at Columbia University, Department of Psychiatry
April 27, 2015
Neurological disorders in resource-limited settings: esoteric or overlooked?
Ana-Claire L. Meyer, MD, MSHS · Assistant Professor of Neurology, Yale Medical School
March 9, 2015
Global Mental Health and Poverty: Points of Intersection and Influence
Claude A. Mellins, PhD · Professor of Medical Psychology, Departments of Psychiatry and Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University; Research Scientist and Co-Director, HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies
Fred Ssewamala, MSW, PhD · Associate Professor of Social Work and International Affairs, Columbia School of Social Work; Director, Columbia University International Center for Child Health and Asset Development
Mary McKay, BSW, MSW, PhD · McSilver Professor of Poverty Studies & Director, McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research, NYU School of Social Work
Feb 23, 2015
A Global Perspective on Diagnostic Classification and Clinical Practice for Eating Disorders
Robyn Sysko, PhD · Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Eating and Weight Disorders Program, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
2014
November 10, 2014
OSITA: Stepped-Care Program for Internally Displaced Women (IDWs) in Bogota, Colombia
Yuval Neria, PhD · Professor of Clinical Psychology, Departments of Psychiatry and Epidemiology, Columbia University; Director of Trauma and PTSD, New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI)
Liat Helpman, PhD · T32 fellow, Global Mental Health Programs at Columbia
October 6, 2014
Assessing the full value of interventions for improving mental health: a conceptual framework
Chris Desmond, MCom, PhD · Chief Research Specialist, HIV/AIDS, STIs and TB (HAST) research program, Human and Social Development Department (HSD), Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), South Africa
September 29, 2014
How does social change influence mental disorders and mental health services in rural China?
Mao-Sheng Ran, B.Med, M.Med, PhD · Associate Professor and Director of the MSocSci (mental health) Programme, Department of Social Work and Social Administration, University of Hong Kong
May 12, 2014
Sexual Health and Sexual Disorders: The Science and Implications of Changing Diagnoses in the ICD
Richard Krueger, MD · Medical Director, Sexual Behavior Clinic, New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI); Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons
April 21, 2014
Questions from Inside: A Critical View of Global Mental Health
Alex Cohen, PhD · Course Director, Global Mental Health MSc Program & Senior Lecturer; Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
January 27, 2014
Engaging a Network of Partners to Move Mental Health Forward in Low-Income Communities: A Close-up View of Burundi
Sonali (Allie) Sharma, MD, MSc · Deputy Director, Department of Psychiatric Emergency Services at Lincoln Hospital (South Bronx); President & Co-Chair, Advisory Committee, Society for Emotional Well-being Worldwide (SEWW)
2013
December 9, 2013
The Development of Effective Treatments to Address Interpersonal Violence in the Congo
Judith Bass, PhD, MPH · Assistant Professor, Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
November 4, 2013
The Global Burden of Disease Study: A Close-up on Mental Health
Theo Vos, MD, PhD · Professor of Global Health, Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), University of Washington
October 16, 2013
Engaging the Arts to Advocate for Individuals with Mental Illness
Robin Hammond · Award-winning freelance photojournalist dedicated to documenting human rights and development issues around the world
April 10 - April 12, 2013
The Global Mental Health Seminar ICD-11 Scientific Advisory Conference
Leadership Team:
Kathleen M. Pike, PhD · Executive Director and Scientific Co-Director, Columbia Global Mental Health Program, Clinical Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry
Michael First, MD · Technical and Editorial Consultant on the WHO’s ICD-11 revision and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry (CUMC).
Sandro Galea, MD · GMHP Scientific Co-Director; Chair, Department of Epidemiology(MSPH)
Oye Gureje, MD · Professor, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria; Member (PI) of the WHO’s mental Health Research Mapping Project Group & the Global Forum for Health Research
Maria Elena Medina Mora, PhD · General Director of the National Institute of Psychiatry de la Fuente Muniz in Mexico and Chief Director of Epidemiological and Social Research at the National Institute of Psychiatry
Harold A. Pincus, MD · GMHP Scientific Co-Director; Vice-Chair Department of Psychiatry (CUMC) and Co-Director of the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research at Columbia
Geoffrey Reed, PhD · Senior Project Officer of the WHO’s Revision of ICD-11 Mental Health and Behavior
Pratap Sharan, MD · Professor Psychiatry at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences; President of the Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Ezra Susser, MD · GMHP Scientific Co-Director; Professor of Epidemiology (MSPH) and Psychiatry (CUMC)
January 30, 2013
The Next Generation of Community Based Health Systems in the US: Insights from Global Low-resource Settings
Prabhjot Singh, MD, PhD · Director of Systems Design, Earth Institute’s Center for Globalization and Sustainable Development; Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
2012
November 20, 2012
So...What’s the Big Deal About “Global Mental Health?”: Design, Knowledge, & Mental Capital
Gary Belkin, MD, PhD, MPH · Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Director, Program in Global Mental Health, New York University School of Medicine; Senior Director for Psychiatry, NYC Health & Hospital Corporation
October 24, 2012
The Social Determinants of Psychosis: An African Journey in Social Epidemiology
Jonathan Burns, MD, PhD · Professor & Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine (NRMSM), University of KwaZulu-Natal; Academic Leader of Research for the NRMSM, South Africa
October 3, 2012
Global Mental Health: Directions at NIMH
Pamela Collins, MD, MPH · Director, Office for Research on Disparities & Global Mental Health; Director, Office of Rural Mental Health Research, NIMH/NIH