My research addresses key questions in global mental health using an interdisciplinary approach that integrates economics, social sciences and psychiatry. It spans three interconnected areas: the social and economic consequences of mental health problems across the life course; the development and evaluation of interventions to improve access to care and support; and the advancement of equity through stigma reduction and the translation of research to policy and practice.
1. Social and Economic Consequences Across the Life Course
I use longitudinal cohort data to estimate the long-term social and economic costs of childhood and adolescent mental health problems and to understand how these interact with risk factors, precursors and other vulnerabilities and to identify critical periods for intervention and investment.
Mentalkit
Mentalkit is a free app bringing together scientific evidence on evidence-based interventions to prevent and treat mental health problems among children and adolescents in Brazil and similar settings. It includes a toolkit to estimate the potential costs and returns to investment of implementing various interventions under different scenarios. Co-developed by researchers at LSE, the Federal University of Alagoas, the State University of Mato Grosso do Sul and the University of the Far West of Santa Catarina, with input from policymakers, practitioners and people with lived experience across all five regions of Brazil.
OOTLES — Long-term economic impact of childhood mental health
OOTLES estimates the long-term social and economic consequences of childhood and adolescent mental health problems on a wide range of mid-life outcomes including health service use, education, employment and productivity losses using three British birth cohorts (1946, 1958 and 1970) and drawing out implications for policy and service provision.
2. Developing and Evaluating Interventions
I develop and evaluate interventions to improve access to care and support, addressing not only individual-level determinants of mental health but also the structural conditions including poverty, climate-related stressors and inequalities in service systems that shape mental health risk and recovery. A particular focus is on combining mental health support with anti-poverty interventions to disrupt the dynamic between mental health and socio-economic disadvantage.
Heat Resilience and Mental Health: Engineering Pathways to Reduce Depression and Anxiety in Schools in Nepal and Sri Lanka
An interdisciplinary project bringing together structural engineers, educators and mental health researchers to evaluate whether structural school modifications, such as cooling roofs and improved ventilation, can reduce the impact of climate-related heat stress on adolescent depression and anxiety in Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Improving uptake of digital mental health support among low-income university students in Brazil
Principal Investigator · 2023–2027 · Funded by the Medical Research Council and Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases
Develops and evaluates a tailored digital mental health intervention designed to improve uptake of mental health support among low-income university students in Brazil.
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ALIVE — Improving Adolescent Mental Health by Reducing the Impact of Poverty
Co-Investigator · 2021–2026 · Funded by the Wellcome Trust
Develops and pilots an intervention that addresses both poverty and self-regulation to support adolescent mental health in urban settings in Colombia, Nepal and South Africa. Builds directly on CHANCES-6 insights and youth engagement structures.
CHANCES-6 — Improving the life chances of young people in poverty
CHANCES-6 advances understanding of the dynamics between poverty, mental health and life chances in young people in low- and middle-income countries. It examines the impact of cash transfer programmes on mental health, drawing on data from Brazil, Colombia, South Africa, Liberia, Mexico and Malawi.
3. Stigma Reduction and Translating Research to Policy
I advance equity through structural interventions and the translation of research to policy and practice, particularly through evaluations of large scale anti-stigma programmes and the development of resources for advocates, practitioners and policymakers.
STRiDE — Strengthening responses to dementia in developing countries
Co-Investigator · 2017–2022 · Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Global Challenges Research Fund
STRiDE worked across seven low- and middle-income countries: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico and South Africa, to strengthen national responses to dementia. The programme generated comparative evidence on dementia prevalence, costs of care and the experiences of people living with dementia and their carers, supporting policymakers and civil society to translate that evidence into national dementia plans, services and anti-stigma initiatives.
Indigo Partnership — International Study of Discrimination and Stigma Outcomes
The Indigo Partnership develops and tests interventions to reduce stigma and discrimination experienced by people with mental illness in low- and middle-income countries, working across seven sites in China, Ethiopia, India, Nepal and Tunisia.
STRiDE-Stigma — Understanding and measuring dementia stigma in England
Principal Investigator · 2024–2027 · Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Three Schools’ Dementia Research Programme
Develops and validates stigma measures for people living with dementia, carers, professionals and the public across diverse ethnic groups in England, building on the 2019 and 2024 World Alzheimer Report survey instruments. Combines qualitative research with a representative national survey to generate baseline data and culturally tailored recommendations for anti-stigma programmes.
Time to Change
Evaluation workstreams · 2008–2021 · England
England's largest mental health anti-stigma programme, recognised by the Royal Society for Public Health as one of the top 20 public health achievements of the 21st century.